Soviet nuclear missile submarine
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A Soviet nuclear missile submarine (ソ連ミサイル原子力潜水艦 appears in the Soren misairu genshiryoku sensuikan)1984 Toho Godzilla film The Return of Godzilla.
Design
The Soviet nuclear missile submarine's design is inspired by the Project 941 Akula-class submarines built by the Soviet Union from 1976 to 1989, the largest submarines ever built.
Development
The prop for the submarine is 2.7 meters long (1/40 scale).[2] Filming took place on a simulated underwater set at TOHO Studios Stage 8.[2] Special effects director Teruyoshi Nakano had hoped to film the scene underwater, but this was prevented by the inability to build an aquarium that would fit the size of the miniatures and the difficulty of disposing them.[2] The interior of the command center was filmed on a set.[2] Because Soviet documents were not available at the time, the layout was based on American nuclear submarines.[2] The set also had a water tank on top, which released a large amount of water into the command center during the destruction scene.[2] As of 2019, the miniature is still in existence.[2]
The mini documentary "The Making of Godzilla (1984)" goes into further detail of the production for the submarine scene in the film. The command center was built as a "rolling" set that could sway back and forth with the assistance of crew members. In addition, the water pump device could dump 6 tons of water at once from a height of 10 meters, with a wooden ramp built to pour it into the command center. Both of these, when combined, created the illusion of a dynamic scene.
History
- The Return of Godzilla (1984)
Heisei era
The Return of Godzilla
In the Pacific Ocean 50 kilometers northwest of Aogashima, a Soviet nuclear submarine detected an object 3 nautical miles and 300 meters deep heading toward the starboard bow. One of the officers thought it was an attack, but after an acoustic signal analysis, the object was identified as neither an enemy nor ally. The crew became confused, with an officer asking if it was a whale. The captain dismissed his idea, explaining that whales don't emit active sonar. The officer then suggested it was an American Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine. As the object approached closer, the captain ordered to fire two torpedoes at the object and began an emergency dive to 400 meters. Both torpedoes made direct hits, with the captain warning if the enemy wanted to sink their submarine, they should be prepared for a nuclear conflict. The object began approaching again, coming 100 meters above the submarine. The captain ordered to continue diving, but the object remained above the vessel. Moments later, a leak burst the starboard side, flooding the control room. The captain yelled for both propellers to go full speed, but to no avail as the entire submarine flooded and was destroyed by Godzilla.
The Soviets believed the attack was orchestrated by the Americans and a diplomatic crisis ensued which threatened to escalate into nuclear war.
Capabilities
Armament
The Soviet nuclear submarine was armed with six to eight torpedo tubes on the bow and eighteen SS-NX20 strategic missiles on the front of the bridge[3]. Two of the submarine's torpedoes made direct hits but were ineffective against Godzilla.
Pressure resistance
The Soviet nuclear submarine could operate at 300 meters beneath the ocean, and was able to dive to 400 meters and possibly beyond.
Gallery
Production
The Making of Godzilla (1984)
Screenshots
The Return of Godzilla
Post-production
Merchandise
Toys
The Return of Godzilla (1984) Soviet nuclear submarine ornament with Godzilla photo included by Cast
Trivia
- The miniature built for the Soviet nuclear submarine was slightly modified and reused to represent the Musashi-2 in the 1991 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah and the United States nuclear submarine in the 2003 Toho Godzilla film Godzilla: Tokyo SOS[2].
- The Soviet submarine in the movie is slightly longer than the real-life Project 941 that was 175 meters in length.
References
This is a list of references for Soviet nuclear missile submarine. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
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Bibliography
- Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Kawakita, Koichi (1 January 1990). Encyclopedia of Godzilla. Gakken.
- Tanaka, Tomoyuki; Kawakita, Koichi; Mae, Haruhiko (10 December 1992). Encyclopedia of Godzilla (New Mothra Edition). Gakken.
- Hobby, Japan (31 January 2019). Godzilla 1984 Completion. Hobby Japan. ISBN 4798618535.
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