B-49 was laid down on 12 October 1966 at the Sudomekh shipyard in Leningrad. She was launched on 24 December 1966 and commissioned into the Soviet Navy on 30 June 1967. Used during the Cold War era the Soviet Navy used the designation “B-“ meaning Bolshaya which means large.
She is a Soviet Project 641 class submarine also known by the NATO designation Foxtrot. A crew of 77 manned B-49, she was armed with 10 torpedo tubes, 6 in the bow and 4 in the stern and had a compliment of 22 torpedos on board.
B-49 was part of the Soviet Northern Fleet until November 1974 when she was reassigned to the Baltic fleet. Operating out of Riga, Latvia she was also used as a training vessel for crews overseas who would be using the foxtrot class submarines.
After a 27 year career she was decommissioned and sold into private hands. Subsequently she has became known as Foxtrot B-39 U-475 Black Widow although the Soviets never used the U designation for their submarines and very rarely named them. Having spent some time in London and Folkestone as a museum, B-49 now sits on the River Medway awaiting restoration and investment.