Nikolai Nikitich Isanin

Nikolay Nikitich Isanin was a Soviet scientist specializing in shipbuilding. He was Chief Designer of TsKB-16 from February 1, 1950 to December 18, 1963, and Chief Designer of SKB-143 from December 18, 1963 to April 5, 1974, and from 1974 the two were merged into TsKB "Malachite". Isanin was an Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1970) and Hero of Socialist Labor (1963). Member of the CPSU since 1926. Isanin graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute in 1935. He was a deputy to the seventh and eighth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. A recipient of the State Prize of the USSR in 1942 and of the Lenin Prize in 1959, he has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.

With the direct participation of Isanin on the stands and experimental boats, the first missile systems with ballistic missiles were worked out. and cruise missiles (D-2, D-4, D-5, D-9, Amethyst, P-120). Isanin led the work on the equipment of the submarine of the B611 project, with which for the first time in the world ballistic launch was carried out of missiles (16.9.1955), as well as the development of submarines of project 629 with the D-2 complex and the world's fastest nuclear-powered submarine with a titanium hull (project 661), armed with the first submarine-launched cruise missiles.

The uniqueness of N. N. Isanin may be illustrated by a story recalled by G. A. Matveyev, former chief of the Central Scientific Research Institute imeni A. N. Krylov: "In 1964 I had the opportunity to visit the Ansaldo firm in Italy. They remembered there that there was a certain young person among the apprentices who came there in 1937 to study the experience of cruiser construction. They had some difficulty recalling his name, and it was only after some consultation among themselves that they arrived at 'Isanin.' There was something about Nikolay Nikitich that caught their attention, considering that they could still remember him almost 30 years later." And that time, the apprentice was only 33 years old.

Nikolay Nikitich was a slender, handsome man. His black hair, sharp nose and dark complexion imparted to him a certain similarity to Nehru. He was active and energetic, and he had a sense of humor. It is said that when he was elected to the academy, as he received congratulations from USSR Academy of Sciences president A. P. Aleksandrov, Nikolay Nikitich asked: "And so what am I supposed to do now?" Anatoliy Petrovich replied, playing along with him "Oh, nothing, just come here when its time and get your money, and that's all!" Nikolay Nikitich came back with: "Do I have to? I've already got so much money I don't know what to do with it!"

Nikolai Nikitich Isanin was born on April 22 (May 5) 1904 in Moscow in the family of a worker. He began his career at 13 years as a worker in the city of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). In 1930 he graduated from the working faculty of the Leningrad Electrical Institute and was sent to the Shipbuilding Institute, after which from 1935 in the CCB-17 went from a design engineer to deputy chief designer of light cruisers (including the type "Chapaev").

From 1946-1970, He was the chief designer of the bureau (transformed into TsKB-16), engaged in the creation and development of naval equipment, including the heavy cruiser Project 82. N.N.Isanin's management designed submarines with a single A615 engine, transport boats, mine barriers, submarine tankers (projects 632, 648, 664 and 717). With his direct participation on the stands and experimental boats practiced the first missile systems with ballistic and cruise missiles (D-2, D-4, D-5, D-9, Amethyst, P-120).

The rapid development of science and technology in the first post-war decade led to the arrival of the submarines armed with a new type of weapon, ballistic missiles. In 1954, TsKB-16, in close cooperation with NII-88’s KB-1 design bureau, under the supervision of Chief Designers Nikolai Isanin and Sergei Korolev, developed the design of the V611, the first domestic submarine missile carrier. On September 16, 1955, after a series of tests and development testing of the launch complex on shore and marine test stands, a missile was launched from the surfaced Project V611 submarine B-67, built at the Northern Machine-building Enterprise (Sevmash) in the city of Severodvinsk. It was the world’s first launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine.

The Malakhit Central Design Bureau of the Russian Shipbuilding Agency is a leading Russian Design Bureau of nuclear-powered attack submarines and their weaponry. The circumstances of Isanin's move from TsKB-16 to SKB-143 are a bit obscure. From 18 February 1953 to 16 April 1958, SKB-143 had been headed by Vladimir Nikolaevich Peregudov, who was considered the “Tupolev” of Russian shipbuilding. He was the chief designer of the first Soviet nuclear submarine Project 627. Pergudov fell ill in 1958 and was soon "released" from this post [he finally died in 1967, though in 1958 he had seemed at death's door]. Vladimir Ivanovich Dubovichenko was Chief Designer of SKB-143 from April 16, 1958 to November 20, 1962. The circumstances of his departure are unclear. Dubovichenko was a participant in the construction of the first nuclear submarine, chief technologist, chief engineer of Sevmash, and a State Prize laureate. Dubovichenko, a submarine designer well-known in the country, worked for a long time as the Chief Engineer of the Northern Sea Maintenance System in Severodvinsk, and then returned to Leningrad to one of the closed design organizations (by the way, Vladimir Ivanovich is one of the heroes of Lev Kassil’s Shvambrania story, Vovka Labanda, fascinated by mathematics, and famously reading books "upside down"). Subsequently the acting head of SKB-143 was Boris Konstantinovich Razletov, who from 1958 to 1974 was the chief engineer of SKB-143.

Then Isanin became Chief Designer of SKB-143 from December 18, 1963 to April 5, 1974. Under the leadership of N.N.Isanin (1963-1974), SKB-143 , which worked on the creation of nuclear submarines, continued the innovative style of its predecessor V.N. Peregudov. Malahit Maritime Bureau of Mechanical Engineering. It was established in 1948 as Specialised Design Bureau No. 143, in 1966, it was reorganized into the All-Union Design and Assembly Bureau of Mechanical Engineering. In February 1974, it was merged with TsKB-16 Volna Central Design Bureau.

The development of the world’s first titanium-hull high-speed nuclear-powered submarine of Project 661, led first by Chief Designer Nikolai Isanin and then by Nikolai Shulzhenko, was a peculiar stage of the bureau’s activity. The ship incorporated all the latest achievements of science and technology in shipbuilding, machine building, metallurgy and electronics. A huge contribution to its development was made by the Prometei Central Research Institute of Structural Materials, now part of the Kurchatov Institute. The submarine constructed at Sevmash successfully passed its builders sea and official trials and was transferred to the Navy in 1969. Along with its high indices of combat effectiveness, it reached a top submerged speed of 44.7 knots, an unsurpassed world record.

Decree of the Presidency of the Supreme Council of the USSR (with the notice "not subject to publication") of April 28, 1963 for great service in the creation and production of new types of missile weapons, as well as nuclear submarines and surface ships equipped with this weapon, and the rearmament of the ships of the Navy, Nikolai Nikitic Isanin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the award of the Order of Lenin gold medal "Hammer and Sickle."

On 24 November 1970 he was elected a full member of the USSR. Decree of the Presidency of the Supreme Council of the USSR (with the "secret") of April 19, 1974 for the creation of the nuclear submarine Project 661 and in connection with the 70th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Nikitich Isanin, he was awarded the Order of Lenin and the second Gold Medal "Hammer and Sickle." Honorary Member (1972), Chairman (1977-1987) and Honorary Chairman (1988) of the NTO named after Academician A.N. Krylov. He was awarded in 2 Orders of Lenin (April 28, 1963, 16.04.1974), the Order of the October Revolution (16.12.1981), 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (24.09.1954, 04.05.1984), medals, including 2 medals "For Labor Valor" (02.10.1950, 21.11.1957). Laureate of the Lenin Prize (1959), Stalin Prize 1st Degree (1942).

In St. Petersburg, a monument to Isanin was erected in Moscow Victory Park (1984) and a memorial plaque on the building of the Malachite Central Design Bureau. His name was given to a research vessel. In accordance with the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 11, 1973, the Leningrad Executive Committee in 1974 decided to create an alley in Leningrad of twice Heroes of Socialist Labor. Bronze busts began to be installed on the central alley of Moscow Victory Park, which became a continuation of the Alley of Heroes founded in 1948 with busts of twice Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants of the Great Patriotic War. The bronze bust of academician N.N. Isanin was installed in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1974 in 1984.

He lived in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). He died on March 1, 1990. He was buried in Leningrad at the Serafimov cemetery.

The obituary on Academician N.N.Isanin in the 4 March 1990 edition of LENINGRADSKAYA PRAVDA: "The scientific and technical foundations of creating missile submarines were laid under his guidance in the 1950s. Submarines of which N. N. Isanin was the chief designer were the first to launch ballistic missiles."