How fast does a submarine go? Do you know? These are some of the questions that I have answered on this page. If you want to know how fast a submarine goes and what the fastest submarine ever made is.
In an earlier article, I divulged how fast 100 knots is underwater and how difficult it is for a ship or submarine to achieve such a speed. You might not know this, but achieving a top speed of around 100 knots in water is difficult.
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What is a submarine?
A submarine or a ‘sub’ as most people call it is a watercraft capable of travelling underwater. The history of subs dates as far back as the 19th Century when designs of such crafts first appeared.
Subs are used by navies and their first major use was during World War 1. These watercraft come in different sizes and lengths but despite the sizes, they are regarded as boats rather than ships.
Navy subs that are purposely made for war are equipped with torpedo missiles that aid them to destroy their targets. There are other weapons available that help the subs to attack surface ships as well.
Subs are not used only for fighting marine wars. Some of the subs are also used by scientists and archaeologists for deepsea explorations.
How Fast Does A Submarine Go?
You might not know this but achieving some form of speed underwater can be very difficult even for engineers to achieve.
So far, I have not heard of any sub that achieved 50 knots (57.539 Miles Per Hour) yet. This means that there is no way a sub can move faster than a water surface boat or ship.
The fastest sub to ever exist is believed to be the Soviet submarine K-222. This sub has a top speed of 44.7 knots (51.43984 Miles Per Hour). It is also a battle sub so it is equipped with all weapons necessary for destroying enemy targets.
Some of the fastest subs
There are other subs that can also go fast. Not as fast as the Soviet sub K-222 but they can also achieve some awesome speeds. Let us take a look at some of the subs that can achieve some good speeds.
- Soviet Alfa Class
This is another Soviet sub. It can reach speeds up to 41 knots (47.182 Miles Per Hour). This might not be the fastest but is second to the fastest sub.
- US Seawolf Class
This is the fastest sub from the United States of America. It can reach up to 35 knots (40.2773 Miles Per Hour) which is the only sub from the United States that can achieve such speed.
- British HMS Ambush
The British also have a sub that can hit up to 30 knots (34.5234 Miles Per Hour) of speed. This is a nuclear-powered sub that was made by the British.
- China’s Supersonic Submarine
China is on the verge of creating a super cavitating sub that is believed to be able to go over 2,500 knots of speed. This is almost impossible to achieve. China’s supersonic submarine is only a concept at the moment until it is fully done and tested.
Torpedoes could achieve up to 230 knots of speed but so far, no sub has ever achieved such a speed.