November-class submarine Komsomol" was first underway under nuclear power on 4 July 1958 and became also the first Soviet submarine to reach the North Pole in July 1962, 4 years after the USS "Nautilus". Project 627 had much better performance specifications (for example, submerged speed and depth) than the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine USS "Nautilus". The first commander of "K-3" was Captain 1st Rank L.G. Osipenko (future admiral and Hero of the Soviet Union). All other Novembers except "K-3" belonged to modified project – project 627A. The main visual differences of project 627A were a bow sonar dome in the keel
French submarine Espadon (S637) front of her sail. On 13 August 1963 a fire in the torpedo room wounded and intoxicated four sailors, one of whom later died of his wounds. In May 1964, "Espadon" and "Marsouin" steamed under sea ice in the Norwegian Sea as far as 70° north. "Espadon" undertook significant modifications from 1966 to 1968, notably upgrading the boat's sonar, sail and rudders. "Espadon" has been a museum ship at the "ville-port" of Saint-Nazaire in the German-built submarine base since 1987. French submarine Espadon (S637) Espadon was a "Narval"-class submarine of the French Navy. Along with sister boat "Marsouin", the boat