Fastest Submarines in the World

Introduction

Now those of us who understand the working of a submarine would know that fast and submarines are not exactly synonyms; forget synonyms they are not even used in the same sentence together. But here we are doing exactly that – why? We will answer that but first let’s understand why submarines cannot be fast.

It is a known fact that water is a denser medium as compared to air and the movement in a denser medium requires a lot more energy or power than in lighter medium. So, you can expect a car to move fast on the road but not a submarine under water. You can test this – try running on road and if possible through water which is shin high. Feel the difference? You will automatically slow down. The same thing happens with moving vehicles too.

Just extending the argument to one more point that if the power of the submarine is increased then can it go faster. Yes, but then we are talking about really high power and then one other aspect – noise. At times with higher power you are talking about grunting engines which creates noise good enough for the enemy vessels to hear. That is counter-productive to the objective of a submarine. It is supposed to lay deep, silent and stalk its prey; being noisy is not exactly stalking.

So, a compromise between denser medium, noise and speed is arrived and that is the kind of participants who would be occupying this list. So, basically we are talking about submarines which can do about 20-30 knots, right? Well, see for yourself.

Let’s get to the list then?

Fastest: China’s Supercavitating Submarine

This is the fastest submarine expected to be out there. It is, however, a concept still. But when ready the submarine is expected to move at nearly six times the speed of sound. What?? We just saw why submarines can’t be fast and now we say that six times the speed of sound? That is faster than the SR-71 which flies in the air. What are we talking about?

Okay, got it but what you heard is true. But how? Well, in all the argument that we spoke about it is clear that the water is a denser medium so the Chinese tried to figure out if it can be made rarer? The answer was yes and based on the design of torpedos developed by the Russians. The concept is called Supercavitation and it is caused by the tip of the missile bubbling out air bubbles as it moves through water. The air bubbles gather around the moving missile and reduces the water drag. In other words, it is as good as moving through air and hence the expected speeds.

See this video on the China's Submarine Concept

These supercavitating submarines are expected to do around 6,440 kmph. On your face lighter medium!

Second Fastest: Soviet K-222 Papa Class Submarine

This was the fastest submarine ever built and hold the Guinness World Record for the speed it achieved. In a world where supercavitation submarine was still a concept, the K-222 was and still is the fastest submarine of all time.

It, however, suffered from what we discussed under the introduction – noise. It was noisy and hence easy to detect. Though it could reach a place in good speed but it could not hide itself at those speeds. As expected, it was not used for the exact purpose that a submarine is used during non-war times.

The K-222 could do a 82.8 kmph. This is the speed that most cars would do legally on roads. On your face again lighter medium!!

Third Fastest: Russian Alfa Class Submarine

The Alfa class was slower than the Papa class alone and these submarines could do a speed of 76 kmph. That is quite close to the K-222 too. The two fastest submarines come from the Russian arsenal, however, both found it difficult to be quiet. In other words, though, they could go fast they would hardly do so to avoid detection.

Fourth Fastest: American Seawolf Class Submarines

The Seawolf class could do a speed of 65 kmph but this is sub which came to being long after the Russian ones. In fact, around the time the Seawolf entered service with the Americans, the K-222 was retired from the Russian arsenal. So, that’s the difference.

That said, the Seawolf benefitted from newer technologies allowing it to be silent when accelerating as much as during its top speed. So, those are benefits of coming in late to the party.

Fifth Fastest: British Astute Class Submarines

This one comes from the United Kingdom and one of its latest additions, the HMS Ambush, belonging to the Astute Class is touted as the world’s most sophisticated sub. The Ambush could do about 55 kmph.

Take a look at the video on HMS Ambush

Much like the Seawolf, the Ambush too benefits from the technology advancements. In fact, coming to service in 2013 it has more of the newer technologies incorporated than any other submarine at the moment.

Parting Shot

So that completes our list of five top submarines. The onset of the supercavitation based submarines, puts other countries on the race too. While China develops these subs, the Russians already knows the technology (after all their torpedos work on it) and the Americans wouldn’t like to be left too far behind. So, expect to see more of such submarines

On a personal note, wouldn’t the bubbling of air around the submarine be noisy? Would that kind of nullify the aspect of staying low? Or is it that at the expected speed being noisy hardly matters? Whatever is the case it would be interesting to know how the submarine technology develops from here.

That said, we are through with the list of the fastest submarines in the world. You can go through a more detailed and extended list here.

I hope readers enjoyed reading the article! Enjoy and have fun!

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Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

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