Early history Model 53-27 (1927) with of
TNT was developed domestically in the so-called , and it had a poor range at . In 1932 USSR bought in Italy several types of torpedoes, and the model of
Whitehead Torpedo Factory in
Fiume (in the Soviet Union it was designated 53F) was considered superior. After adapting several features from the latter in unsuccessful 53-36 the decision was made to copy 53F. Resulting 53-38 (3 speed regimes, range up to , of
trotyl in warhead) was later upgraded to 53-38U ( of TNT, roughly the same characteristics) and then redesigned in 53-39 (, up to ), considered to be one of the fastest in the world at the time (another were secret Japanese oxygen torpedoes and the Italian Siluro Tipo W. 270/533, 4 × 7,20 Veloce).
World War II The 53-38/53-38U, which had entered service in 1938–1939, were the main Soviet torpedoes in
World War II; they proved to be fairly reliable and effective. The two deadliest sinkings in history (the German 25,484-
ton military transport and the troop transport ) were performed by two Soviet submarines using 53-38s on 30 January and 16 April 1945; both ships were hit on first attempt and sank within minutes despite difficult visibility conditions and the presence of escorts. Notably, all three torpedoes launched against
Wilhelm Gustloff hit and exploded with catastrophic results, not a common feat in those times and conditions. Another notable sinking with 53-38/53-38Us was the 14,660-ton . During the
Black Sea campaigns (1941–44), Soviet submarines sank at least 29,000 tons of enemy shipping, mostly using mines, shellfire and 53-38 torpedoes. The new 53-39 (entering service in 1941) was very fast and effective but only available in limited numbers, while the ET-80 (1942–1943) was the first Soviet electric torpedo and crews did not trust it because of its teething and rushed induction problems.
Cold War The first Soviet torpedo with passive-homing capability was the SAET-50, which was an anti-ship weapon used on submarines. It entered service in 1950 and was based on the German
T5 torpedo.
UGST The last entry in the class is the
UGST (Fizik-1) heavy deepwater torpedo with a range of up to (export versions are limited to 40 km). It differs from most previous Soviet and Russian torpedoes in that unlike the previously dominant electric or
peroxide propulsion, it uses the
Otto fuel axial engine, which allows it to have much extended range while keeping the speeds of up to 65 knots. It also features an updated homing system, which, in addition to the traditional passive
wake homing, features a
phased array active sonar and an improved
wire guidance system: previous Soviet torpedoes had the guidance wire spool in the torpedo body, with the wire released through the hollow
propeller shaft, which had the disadvantage of the wire being prone to breakage, while the UGST has the wire release port on the side. Together with the towed extender spool, kept in the calmer portion of the wake, this makes the wire much more durable than before, though not as durable as the tube mounted spool (not used by the Soviets/Russian Navy as it interferes with the automatic reload systems). It was supposed to enter service in the 1990s, but the teething problems and the lack of funding during that period made the deployment sluggish, and it entered the widespread service only in the 2015 by the Fizik name, being quickly replaced by the new-generation
Futlyar (
Fizik-2). Sources refer to them as heat-seeking torpedoes. ==Variants==