(New Vanguard)
by Edward Hampshire (Author), Adam Tooby (Illustrator)
The Soviet Union's cruise missile
submarines, from the modified Whiskey to the Oscar II classes, were
among the most formidable vessels of the Cold War. They were initially
designed to carry land attack nuclear-tipped cruise missiles designed to
strike targets on the eastern coast of the United States. By the late
1960s, however, submarine-launched ballistic missiles made the nuclear
land-attack mission unnecessary, so existing classes were converted to
the "carrier killer" role, armed with antiship cruise missiles designed
to destroy US super-carriers and other important naval targets.
This
fully illustrated study examines these powerful machines that were some
of the largest and fastest submarines ever built. If war had broken
out, they would have been at the forefront of the Soviet Navy's campaign
to destroy NATO's sea power and cut America's sea link with Europe.
