Russian submarine Dmitri Donskoi (TK-208)

RFS Dmitri Donskoy (TK-208) is a Russian Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarine, designated Project 941 Akula class (NATO reporting name Typhoon).

History
Hull number TK-208 was the lead vessel of the Soviet third generation Project 941 Akula class (NATO reporting name Typhoon) of ballistic missile submarines. She was laid down at the Severodvinsk shipyards on March 3, 1977 and launched on September 23, 1980. At 175 metres in length, she became the world's largest submarine, a record which she still holds today along with her five sister ships.

1990-present
In 1990, she entered the dry dock in Severodvinsk for upgrades and repairs. Due to both economic and technological problems, the completion was severely postponed. In 2000, work on her was intensified.

In June 2002, now serving in the Russian Navy, the TK-208 finally left the Severodvinsk dry dock. After 12 years of overhaul and modifications, she had now received the name Dmitry Donskoy, named after the Grand Duke of Moscow (1359–1389). The twenty launchers for the R-39 missiles she originally carried were replaced with launchers for the most advanced submarine-launched ballistic missile to date, the RSM-56 Bulava. Although she was built as a third generation submarine, she is now referred to as a fourth generation submarine due to her extensive modifications.

The first launch of a Bulava missile was carried out by the Dmitry Donskoy on September 27, 2005. The vessel was surfaced and fired the missile from a point in the White Sea. On December 21, 2005, the new missile system was tested underwater for the first time. It successfully hit a target on the Kura Test Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

In August 2009, Patriarch Kirill visited the submarine and met her crewmen.

On December 9, 2009, the Dmitry Donskoy launched a Bulava missile which had a failed third stage and was visible in Norway making a glowing spiral in the sky.

On October 7, 2010, she launched another Bulava ballistic missile from the White Sea. Targets at the Kura Test Range in the Russian Far East were successfully hit.

Future
The Dmitry Donskoy and the rest of the Akulas are to be replaced by the first "real" Russian fourth generation submarine class, the Borei.