OVERVIEW: The DELTA I (Project 667B) is a nuclear powered ballistic missile submarine.

DETAILS:   The DELTA I SSBN is an enlargement of the previous Yankee SSBN. When commissioned, the DELTA I was the largest undersea craft built.   Unlike the earlier YANKEE class, the DELTA I was armed with the longer-ranged SS-N-8 SLBM.  This allowed the Delta-class submarines to deploy in areas adjacent to the Soviet Union, avoiding the need to transit through NATO ASW barriers to reach patrol areas.
  
NOTES: 
      Displacement: 11,750 tons submerged.
       Speed: approximately 25 knots submerged
       Reactors: 2 pressurized water 
       Complement: 120 (approx.)
       Hulls built:  18
       Period of Service: 1972-1998

SOURCES: Norman Polmar, "Guide to the Soviet Navy, 3rd ed. (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1983), 86-87 ; Navy.mil Home Page. "Cold War Strategic ASW." Accessed November 23, 2013. http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_27/asw2.html ; Federation of American Scientists. "667B DELTA I - Russian and Soviet Nuclear Forces." Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/667B.htm.



