Zaporizhzhia (U-01) (Ukrainian: Запоріжжя) is a project 641 or ‘Foxtrot’ class) diesel-electric submarine and was the only submarine of the Ukrainian Navy up until her seizure in 2014 by Russian forces during the events of March of that year. She formerly carried the Soviet Navy pennant number B-435. Zaporizhzhia was designed at the Rubin Design Bureau (Saint Petersburg).
Captured by Russian forces on 22 March 2014 (during the 2014 Crimean crisis), most of the Ukrainian personnel, among them the captain of the submarine, had left the vessel, while the others had chosen to begin their service in the Russian Black Sea Fleet with the submarine.
The Soviet ‘Foxtrot’ was designed to replace the earlier ‘Zulu’ class which suffered from structural weaknesses and was deemed the most unsuccessful of designs. The first ‘Foxtrot’ keel was laid down in 1957 and commissioned in 1958 and the last was completed in 1983. A total of 58 were built for the Soviet Navy at St. Petersburg. Eleven additional hulls were built for other countries.
The Foxtrot class was comparable in performance and armament to most contemporary designs. However, its three screws made it noisier than Western designs. Moreover, the Foxtrot class was one of the last designs introduced before the adoption of the teardrop hull, which offered much better underwater performance. Although the Foxtrot was larger than a Zulu Class Submarine, to of its three decks were dedicated to batteries which gave it an underwater endurance of 10 days, but the weight of the batteries made the Foxtrot's average speed a slow 2 knots at its maximum submerged time capability. Onboard conditions were crowded with space being relatively small even when compared to older submarines and the class was completely obsolete by the time the last submarine was launched.
The Russian Navy retired its last Foxtrots between 1995 and 2000 when units were scrapped and disposed of for museum purposes. Some were even transported by barge to blyth in Northumberland for scrapping. The last known operational unit, Zaporizhzhia, (the subject of this kit) served in the Ukrainian Naval Forces until it was captured by the Russians. Its subsequent status was unknown.
Mikromir’s 1/350 kit contains 27 parts moulded in light grey plastic and a set of PE/Brass decks and propellors. Fit overall appears good but some work is required to level the areas of deck before attaching the PE parts. Decals come for four submarines (Soviet) in addition to the title subject.
Having spent some of my early years finding and tracking these submarines, this model is understandably a must-build for my growing fleet.