Whiskey - class submarine Whiskey - class submarines ( known in the Soviet Union as Projects 613 , 644 , and 665 ) are a class of naval submarine s that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period . Design . The initial design was developed in the early 1940s as a sea - going follow on to the S - class submarine . As a result of war experience and the capture of German technology at the end of the war , the Soviets issued a new design requirement in 1946 . The revised design was developed by the Lazurit Design Bureau based in Gorkiy . Patrol variants . Between 1949 and 1958 a total of 236 of an envisaged 340 submarines of this type were commissioned into the Soviet Navy . The vessels were initially designed as coastal patrol submarines . These patrol variants are known in the west as " Whiskey I , II , III , IV , and V " and were called " Project 613 " in the Soviet Union . Missile variants . In the 1950s and 1960s some Whiskey submarines were converted to guided missile submarines . These boats had the capability to fire one to four SS - N - 3 Shaddock cruise missile s . In 1956 , the first prototype was ready . It was a regular Whiskey - class submarine which was fitted with a launch tube aft of the sail that contained a single SS - N - 3c land - attack missile . This vessel was known in the west as " Whiskey Single Cylinder " . Between 1958 and 1960 , six additional Whiskey - class submarines were converted to carry guided missiles . These boats had two missile tubes behind the sail , and were known in the west as the " Whiskey Twin Cylinder " ( Soviet designation : " Project 644 " ) . Between 1960 and 1963 , six boats received an extended sail that could contain four Shaddock missiles . These were called " Whiskey Long Bin " in the West and " Project 665 " in the Soviet Union . All guided missile variants of the Whiskey class carried the P - 5 / NATO SS - N - 3c Shaddock land - attack missile , and had to surface in order to fire their missiles . The boats of the single and twin cylinder class also had to raise their missile tubes , which were normally positioned horizontally . The " Long Bin " boats did not handle well , the missile launchers caused stability problems and water flow around the missile fittings was very noisy . All were soon retired from service . Four were converted to " Project 640 " radar picket boats ( which were called " Whiskey Canvas Bag " ) . Two vessels were converted to submarines for ' fishery research ' and ' oceanographic research ' purposes . In the Soviet navy , the patrol variants of this class were replaced by Romeo - class submarine s . The guided missile variants were replaced by Juliett - class submarine s . Production programme . The Soviet Union built a total of 236 or 215 Whiskeys ( sources vary ) . Vice Admiral Burov , head of the Soviet Defense Ministry ' s Shipbuilding Institute from 1969 - 1983 , confirms 215 units built . Patrol submarines of the Whiskey class were exported to : Cuba and Syria ordered used Whiskey - class submarines for use as battery charging hulks . The guided missile and radar picket boats were never exported . By 1982 , only 60 boats remained in the Soviet Navy ( 45 active , 15 in operational reserve ) ; all were retired by the end of the Cold War .