View source for Soviet submarine M-256

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image= [[File:Quebec class SS.svg|300px]]
|Ship caption= Scheme of Quebec class
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Soviet Union
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
|Ship name= ''M-256''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=23 September 1953<ref name=Miramar>{{cite Miramar | id = 6123740 | shipname = M-256 | accessdate = 23 September 2009 }}</ref>
|Ship launched=15 September 1954<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship completed=21 December 1955<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=  
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship fate= Wrecked by fire and sunk, 26 September 1957
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header= 
|Header caption= 
|Ship class=[[Project 615 submarine|Quebec-class submarine]] 
|Ship displacement={{convert|460|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} surfaced<br />{{convert|540|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|56|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|5.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|3.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth= 
|Ship propulsion=Kreislauf system: 2 × 700 hp (520 kW) conventional diesel engines<br />1 × 900 hp (670 kW) AIP (LOX) diesel engine<br /> 1 × electric creep motor; three shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|18|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}} surfaced<br />{{convert|16|kn|mph km/h}} submerged 
|Ship range= {{convert|2750|nmi|km|lk=in|abbr=on}} at cruising speed on surface
|Ship complement=30 officers and men
|Ship sensors= 
|Ship EW= 
|Ship armament=4 × {{convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes in bow<br />8 × anti-submarine/anti-ship torpedoes
|Ship notes= 
}}
|}
'''''M-256''''' was a [[Project 615]] ([[NATO reporting name|NATO]]: "Quebec-class") short-range, [[Diesel engine|diesel]] attack [[submarine]] of the [[Soviet Navy]]. She was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] into the [[Baltic Fleet]].

==Design==
Project 615 submarines were fitted with two regular diesel engines and a third, closed-cycle diesel engine, which used [[liquid oxygen]] (LOX) to provide [[air-independent propulsion]] while the submarine was submerged. This system produced remarkable submerged speed and range, and greatly increased the hazard of a fire. Project 615 submarines were referred to by their crews as "cigarette lighters."{{Fact|date=October 2008}}

==Sinking==
On 26 September 1957, while operating in [[Beaufort scale|gale conditions]] in the [[Gulf of Finland]] of the [[Baltic Sea]], one of ''M-256''’s [[diesel engine]]s exploded.  Fire immediately engulfed the diesel compartment, and soon spread to the next compartment. The boat surfaced and because of the likelihood of further explosions her crew evacuated onto her weather deck.  None of the four ships keeping station nearby were able to take her under tow or evacuate her crew because of the gale conditions.  About four hours after the beginning of the fire the boat suddenly lost longitudinal stability, took on a steep down-bubble, and sank.  Of the 35 men on the boat's deck, only seven were rescued.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* [http://submarine.id.ru/memory/M256.htm Книга памяти - M-256]

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{{Quebec class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:M-256}}
[[Category:Quebec class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1953 ships]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1957]]
[[Category:Soviet submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:1957 in the Soviet Union]]

[[ja:M-256 (潜水艦)]]
[[pt:Submarino soviético M-256]]