The Project 613 (Whiskey class) submarine was one of the most built post war Soviet submarines. It was also exported to several Soviet-friendly and Warsaw Pact countries. This was not a nuclear powered sub, but a standard WWII style diesel-electric boat. None of them were ever used in war, though the opportunity was there for some of them. Typical of some of the nations who operated them, the boat was, in some occasions operated well past when the Soviets had scrapped them.

The book starts with a general history of the type, but that is a fairly small section as the purpose of this study is to cover its operations in other navies. The first nation covered is Albania. The Soviets hoped to provide a complete base for their submarines in Albania so that they would have easy access to the Mediterranean. As was usually the case, the built a base and provided Albania with four boats. As often happens, the Albanians had a change of heart over the type of communism the Soviets were espousing at the time and while they got their boats, the basing deal fell through.

Next is Bulgaria, which operated two boats in the Black Sea for several years. This is followed by Egypt, which had a chance to operate their boats against Israel during the 1956 war but never did. One of the larger users was Indonesia which had a lot of territory to patrol and did so with their submarines. Another operator was North Korea and little is known of their use of the subs, but they probably kept them going for a large number of years.

Cuba wanted the submarines, but only got a hulk that was used as a floating power station. By far the largest and most active user was China, which built most of their Whiskeys in country, later using them as training boats. Then there is Poland which was also quite active with their boats, taking them out into the North Sea and North Atlantic on several sorties. Finally, another anomaly is Syria with very little known about their operation of the submarines or even if they actually received any.

The book is very well written with a lot of research. The author admits when he was unable to find distinct information, which I appreciate, as few nations are all that willing to talk about their military. There are the usual number of good period photos, some of them in color. Missing from this book are the usual pages of color profiles, but to be honest, they would be a waste as all the boats only differed by pennant number. A book I found fascinating and I am sure you will too. Highly recommended.

June 2026

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