State-of-the-art Soviet expertise went into the design of the Komsomolets, which was distinctive for the depths it might attain. It was anticipated by Nato to be the primary in a category of huge assault submarines, however no additional vessels of its type have been constructed. In response to a 1994 BBC Horizon documentary, “The Komsomolets was to be the Soviet Union’s secret invincible weapon, the one submarine on the earth in a position to cruise and launch nuclear missiles from 1,000m [0.62 miles] deep, twice the depth at which Western submarines can function. At this time, the Komsomolets is a technical and scientific catastrophe.”
