List of Soviet and Russian submarine classes

Submarines of the Soviet Navy were developed by numbered "projects", which were sometimes but not always given names. During the Cold War, NATO nations referred to these classes by NATO reporting names, based on intelligence data, which did not always correspond with the projects. See:

The NATO reporting names were based on the British (and later American) habit of naming submarines with a letter of the alphabet indicating the class, followed by a serial number of that class. The names are the radiotelephonic alphabet call sign of a letter of the alphabet. For security purposes, the "pennant numbers" of Soviet submarines were not sequential, any more than those of Soviet surface vessels were.

Most Russian (and Soviet) submarines had no "personal" name, but were only known by a number, prefixed by letters identifying the boat's type at a higher level than her class. Those letters included:

К (K): крейсерская (kreyserskaya, "cruiser")
ТК (TK): тяжёлая крейсерская (tyazholaya kreyserskaya, "heavy cruiser")
Б (B): большая (bolshaya, "large")
С (S): средняя (srednyaya, "medium")
М (M): малая (malaya, "small")

Any of those prefixes could have С (S) added to the end, standing for специальная (spetsialnaya) and meaning "designed for special missions":

New weapon, engines and armament testing
Submarines for long-range radio communications
Target submarines for anti-submarine training
Rescue service submarines
Covert operations

Diesel-electric

Russo-Japanese War

Delfin
Kasatka-class submarine
Som-class submarine
Forel single unit/one off unit (class of its own)^[1]
Osetr-class submarine

World War I era

World War II era

Project	Series	Built	Assignment
Dekabrist-class submarine	Series I	6	large positional submarine
Leninets-class submarine	Series II, XI, XIII, XIII-1938	25	Minelayers
Shchuka-class submarine	Series III, V, V-bis, V-bis-2, X, X-1938	86	Medium-sized patrol submarines.
Pravda-class submarine	Serie IV	3	Squadron submarines.
Malyutka-class submarine	Series VI, VI-bis, XII, XV	110	Small submarines for coastal patrols.
S-class submarine	Series IX, IX-bis	41	Medium submarines, built using German project (early version of Type IX).
K-class submarine	Serie XIV	11	Cruiser submarines with combined arms.
TS-class submarine		3	Former submarines of the Royal Romanian Navy: Rechinul (TS-1), Marsuinul (TS-2) and Delfinul (TS-3)

Post-World War II era

Attack submarines

Project	NATO reporting name	Built	Assignment
611	Zulu class	26	Large oceanic submarines
613	Whiskey class	215	Medium multi-purpose submarines
615	Quebec class	30	Small submarines with full-diesel propulsion
617	Whale class	1	Experimental submarines which had a Walter engine fuelled by high test peroxide (HTP)
633	Romeo class	20	Medium submarines
641	Foxtrot class	75	Large oceanic submarines
641B Cом (Som, catfish)	Tango class	18	Large oceanic submarines
690 Кефаль (Kefal, mullet)	Bravo class	4	Target submarine for torpedo exercises
877, 877E, 877EKM, 877V, 877LPMB, 877EK Палтус (Paltus, halibut)	Kilo class	43	Large submarines
636, 636М Варшавянка (Varshavyanka, after Warsaw Pact)	Improved Kilo class	30	Large submarines
677 Лада (Lada, goddess of love)	St. Petersburg	1	Large submarines
1650 Амур (the Amur River)		0	Modification of Lada class for export
865 Пиранья (Piran'ya, piranha)	Losos class (Salmon)	2	Midget submarines

Guided missile submarines

Project	NATO reporting name	Built	Assignment
P613	Whiskey Single Cylinder		1 × SS-N-3 cruise missile
644	Whiskey Twin Cylinder		2 × SS-N-3 cruise missile
665	Whiskey Long Bin		4 × SS-N-3 cruise missile
651	Juliett	16	Four SS-N-3 Shaddock (P-5 or P-6), or SS-N-12 Sandbox (P-500 4K-80 Basalt)

Ballistic missile submarines

Project	NATO reporting name	Silhouette/Image	Built	Assignment
V611, 611AV	Zulu		6
629, 609, 601, 605, 619	Golf		24	3 × Project 629 boats D-1 launch system with R-11FM missiles

Auxiliary submarines

Project	NATO reporting name	Built	Assignment
940 Ленок (Lenok)	India	2	2 × Poseidon class DSRV's
1710 Макрель (Makrel, mackerel)	Beluga	1	It was an experimental vessel used for testing propulsion systems, hull forms, and boundary-layer control techniques.
1840	Lima	1	Large special. It was used for trying out new technologies, research, or special mission support