The Quebec class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project A615.

Quebec-class submarines were fitted with two regular diesel engines and a third, closed-cycle diesel engine, which used liquid oxygen to provide air-independent propulsion while the submarine was submerged.

The Quebec class had a streamlined conning tower with a fixed snorkel housing at the rear end. They were armed with four torpedo tubes in the bow, for which no reloads were carried, and earlier boats also had a twin 25 mm anti-aircraft gun faired into the forward end of the tower, making them some of the last submarines to be constructed with deck guns.

The Quebec-class was plagued with problems caused by liquid oxygen evaporation. Their endurance was limited to 10 days due to continuous evaporation of the oxygen and lack of a re-liquefaction system, and the propulsion system led to several serious incidents. In 1957 two submarines were lost due to accidents caused by the oxygen system. M-256 suffered a fire off Tallinn in the Baltic, which led to the loss of 35 men, while M-351 sank in the Black Sea with no casualties. Other incidents caused oxygen-fueled flames to burst out from the boats, which led to their crews to nickname them zazhigalka ("cigarette lighter").

Submarine M-296 laid down 01 February 1955 at the Shipyard No.196, Leningrad (yard No.702), launched 04 April 1956, commissioned 23 December 1958 and was assigned to the Black Sea Fleet.

30 March 1965 the submarine was placed in the reserve fleet, 01 June 1971 reactivated. From 03 August 1977 - MS-296.

Submarine M-296 was decommissioned and excluded from the lists of the Black Sea Fleet 05 June 1979 and transferred to Odessa as museum-submarine. 01 March 1980 the submarine was installed as an exhibit on the Museum of Heroic Defense of Odessa (411th Battery).