The Whiskey 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 613.

Construction of the class spanned from 1949 to 1958 and, as finalized, the boats displaced 1045 tons when surfaced and 1342 s submerged with dimensions that included a length of 76 meters, a beam of 6,3 meters, and a draught of 5 meters. A standard crew complement numbered 55 personnel.

Propulsion was conventional and involved a combination diesel-electric arrangement in which the diesel units carried the boat during surface running and the electric motors powered the boat underwater. This required the boat to surface to charge its battery packs and expel any built-up CO2 gas. Surfaced speeds reached 18 knots and submerged speeds fell to 13 knots. Operational range was out to 8580 nautical miles when surfaced and 353 miles when submerged - enough provisions were on hand to supply the crew on 30 day long patrols. As designed, the Whiskey-class was primarily intended for coastal patrolling though its role would expand throughout its service tenure.

In terms of armament, the Whiskey-class continued established attack submarine tradition by being fitted with 6 x 533mm (21") torpedo tubes arranged in four bow (forward facing) mountings and two stern (rear facing) mountings. This allowed the frontal four tubes to be used to attack forward targets and the pairing at the rear to engage trailing targets. Twelve torpedo reloads were carried though this could be substituted with twenty-two naval mines as needed.

Between 1949 and 1958 a total of 215 submarines of this type were commissioned into the Soviet Navy. The Whiskey-class was sold to various Soviet-aligned nations including Albania, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Indonesia, North Korea, and Poland.

Submarine S-197 laid down 15 May 1954 at the Krasnoe Sormovo Shipyard named after A.A. Zhdanov, Gorky (yard No.413), launched 17 September 1954, commissioned 01 April 1955 and was assigned to the Northern Fleet.

29 July 1969 she was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet.

19 April 1990 the submarine S-197 was decommissioned, excluded from the lists of the Black Sea Fleet and scrapped in Inkerman.