The most dangerous submarines lying at the bottom (5 Videos). Six submarines lost under unclear circumstances

Submarine accidents (1945-2009) The list of submarine accidents since 1945 documents incidents that occurred after World War II. Among the sunken submarines were at least nine nuclear submarines, some with missiles or torpedoes equipped with nuclear warheads, and at least two diesel boats with nuclear weapons. Some currently available data on environmental contamination by radioactive materials are also presented. The class of incident is indicated by codes: NS - emergency situation; Emergency - emergency; NS - accident; A - accident; K - disaster. .== List == Date Name NATO Classification State Lost Saved Class Notes 12/15/1952 C-117 (former Shch-117 “Mackerel”) “Pike” series V-bis USSR 52 0 K Diesel-electric submarine from the Pacific Fleet died in the Sea of Japan. The exact cause and place of death are unknown. 08/12/1956 M-259 Project A615, Quebec USSR 4 A→NS Diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Baltic Fleet. Diesel explosion and fire in the engine room. The fire was extinguished, the boat surfaced and returned to base. 1956 M-255 Project A615, Quebec USSR 7 A→NS Diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Baltic Fleet. Fire in the engine room. 11/23/1956 M-200 “Revenge” “Malyutka” XV series USSR 28 6 K Diesel submarine from the Baltic Fleet. She died in the Suurup Strait of the Baltic Sea as a result of a collision with the destroyer Statny of the Baltic Fleet. 08/22/1957 M-351 Project A615, Quebec USSR 0 A Diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Black Sea Fleet. While practicing the command “Urgent dive!” The air ducts to the diesel engines were not closed. As a result, up to 40 tons of water entered the diesel compartment and the boat sank almost vertically under the water and stuck into the ground at a depth of 83 meters. On August 26 it was raised to the surface, the crew was rescued. 09.26.1957 M-256 Project A615, Quebec USSR 35 7 K Diesel submarine from the Baltic Fleet. She died in the Tallinn Bay of the Baltic Sea as a result of a diesel explosion that caused a leak in the pressure hull. 10/13/1960 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR A→NS Nuclear submarine. A cooling pipe ruptured in one of the reactors, resulting in a leak of coolant. Three crew members showed visible signs of acute radiation sickness, and 10 crew members received significant doses of radiation. 01/26/1961 S-80 Project 644, Whiskey Twin-Cylinder USSR 68 0 K The Project 644 diesel-electric missile submarine from the Northern Fleet sank in the Barents Sea as a result of the compartments being flooded with sea water through the RDP device. It was raised on July 24, 1969. 06/01/1961 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR A→NS Nuclear submarine. During combat training tasks, the steam generator ruptured. One person was discharged with an acute form of radiation sickness. Some of the personnel received various doses of radiation. 04/12/1961 K-19 Project 658, Hotel-I USSR 0 Emergency On Cosmonautics Day, K-19 almost collided with the world's first nuclear submarine USS "Nautilus" (SSN-571). As a result of the evasive maneuver, the boat hit the ground with its bow. There was no significant damage. 1961 K-19 Project 658, Hotel-I USSR 1 NS Even before the boat left on its first ill-fated voyage, it lost a crew member. While loading missiles into the silos, a sailor was crushed to death by a hatch cover. 07/03/1961 K-19 Project 658, Hotel-I USSR 8 96 A→NS Nuclear submarine with ballistic nuclear missiles. During the Arctic Circle exercise, when the nuclear submarine was heading to the North Atlantic for firing practice. In the area of the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, the emergency protection of the port side reactor was activated. The cause of the accident was a sharp drop in water pressure in the reactor cooling system. During emergency work to create a backup cooling system for the reactor, 8 crew members received doses of radioactive radiation that became fatal. They died from radiation sickness, having lived from one to three weeks after the accident. Another 42 people received significant doses of radiation. 10/08/1961 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR 0 A Nuclear submarine. While practicing an attack by a group of ships for the Navy championship, a leak from the steam generator re-opened. 01/11/1962 B-37 and S-350 Project 641, Foxtrot and Project 633, Romeo USSR 122 (59 on B-37 + 11 on S-350 + 52 on shore) K Diesel submarine B-37 from the Northern Fleet died as a result of a fire and explosion of the entire ammunition of the first compartment. The submarine stood at the pier in the Ekaterininskaya harbor of the base of the village of Polyarny; the crew carried out a routine inspection and check of weapons and technical equipment. Bulkhead hatches in all compartments were open. The two bow compartments of the boat were completely destroyed. The entire crew of the B-37 (59 people) died instantly as a result of exposure to the shock wave and poisoning by gaseous products of the explosion. The second hull to the B-37 was the S-350 submarine. After the explosion, a crack formed in the durable hull of the first compartment of the S-350, and the first and second compartments filled with water. 11 people died. During the explosion on the B-37, drill training was taking place directly on the pier. 52 sailors and midshipmen were killed. This accident in terms of the total number of victims (122) still remains the largest in the domestic submarine fleet and the second in the world in post-war history (after the American Thrasher in 1963). 02/12/1965 K-11 Project 627A, November USSR? ? A→NS On 02/07/1965, at the plant in the city of Severodvinsk, reloading of the reactor core began. When the reactor cover was blown up, a release of steam-air mixture from under the cover and a sharp deterioration in the radiation situation were recorded. No work was carried out for five days; specialists tried to find out the cause of the incident. Having made the wrong conclusions, on February 12, 1965, they began to blow up the lid again, and again violated the technology (they used a non-standard system for fixing the compensating grids). When the lid was separated from the body, a radioactive vapor-air environment was released from under the lid and a fire started. As a result, part of the nuclear submarine personnel died, the rest received large doses of radiation. Official data on the levels of radioactive contamination and exposure of personnel has not yet been published. The reactor compartment was cut out of the boat and sunk in the Novaya Zemlya area, and the boat was transferred to the Pacific Fleet. 09.25.1965 M-258 Project A615, Quebec USSR 4 38 A→NS Diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Baltic Fleet. A battery explosion in the hold of the sixth compartment. The bulkhead hatch killed 4 sailors in the seventh compartment. The fire was extinguished and the boat was towed to the base. 11/20/1965 K-74 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 0 A Nuclear-powered missile submarine. Broken main turbine blades. 07/15/1967 B-31 Project 641, Foxtrot USSR 4 71 A→NS Diesel submarine B-31 from the Northern Fleet. During the Six Day Arab-Israeli War, she patrolled the coast of Egypt. In the Tunis Strait of the Mediterranean Sea, a fuel fire occurred in the hold of the central post. Due to a malfunction of the fire extinguishing equipment, the compartment was abandoned by the crew and battened down. 4 sailors died in the smoke. 09/08/1967 K-3 “Leninsky Komsomol” Project 627A, November USSR 39 65 A→NS Nuclear submarine. Fire in compartments I and II while on combat duty in the Norwegian Sea. I returned to the base on my own. It was discovered that in the fitting of the hydraulic machine, instead of the standard sealing gasket made of red copper, there was a washer, roughly cut from paronite. Someone's hand changed the gaskets during the dock repairs of the ship. Red copper, although not a precious metal, was highly valued among craftsmen. All kinds of crafts were made from it. A copper ring worth thirty-nine lives... . 03/08/1968 K-129 Project 629A, Golf-II USSR 97 0 K A diesel-electric missile submarine from the Pacific Fleet died at a point with coordinates 40°06′ N. w. 179°57′W d. (G) (O), 750 miles from the island of Oahu. It was armed with nuclear weapons (torpedoes and missiles). Partially recovered on August 12, 1974 as a result of the secret CIA operation “Project Azorian” from a depth of about 5,000 meters. 05/24/1968 K-27 Project 645 ZhMT, November USSR 9 (in other sources - 5 within a month). Emergency→NS Nuclear submarine. The first serious incident with the ship was the release of radioactive gas into the reactor compartment. While correcting the problems, many crew members received various doses of radiation; it is difficult to clearly judge the causes of their subsequent death. 10/09/1968 K-131 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 0 Emergency Collision with an unknown foreign submarine. 11/15/1969 K-19 and Gato (SSN-615) Project 658M, Hotel-II and Thresher (Permit) USSR and USA 0 A Nuclear submarine with ballistic nuclear missiles. While practicing training tasks at a training ground in the White Sea (Western sources talk about the Barents Sea), at a depth of 60 m it collided with the American nuclear submarine Gato (SSN-615). After an emergency ascent, she returned to base under her own power. 04/12/1970 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR 52 73 A→K A nuclear-powered missile submarine from the Northern Fleet died in the Bay of Biscay. The first loss of the Soviet nuclear fleet. The fire started almost simultaneously in compartments 3 and 7 on April 8 at about half past 11 at night. Several days of struggle for the survivability of the boat led to nothing. The emergency crew (22 people), by order of commander Bessonov, remained on the boat on the night of April 12; everyone died along with the boat, not counting those killed in the fire. There is still debate about the presence and quantity of nuclear weapons on board the boat. According to Soviet data, two shutdown reactors and 4 nuclear torpedoes sank with the boat. 06/20/1970 K-108 and Totor (SSN-639) Project 675, Echo-II USSR and USA 0 109 (104?) A nuclear submarine with cruise missiles. At a depth of 45 meters, it collided with the US nuclear submarine SSN-639 “Totor”. She quickly began to fall into the depths with a large trim on the bow, but was soon able to maintain the depth, then surfaced. The reactors, which had been shut down by automatic protection, were started up, but when they tried to start, it turned out that the right propeller was jammed. An approaching tug brought the boat to the base, where damage was discovered to the stabilizer, light hull in the area of the 8-10th compartment and a dent in the durable hull in the 9th compartment. On the American boat, the fence and hatch of the wheelhouse were damaged, the strong wheelhouse itself filled with water, and there were no casualties. 02/24/1972 K-19 Project 658M, Hotel-II USSR 30 (28 and 2 rescuers) 76 A→NS Nuclear submarine with ballistic nuclear missiles. While returning to base from a combat patrol in the North Atlantic, a massive fire occurred in the ninth compartment. In the 10th compartment, 12 people were cut off. They were only released at the base 23 days after the fire. 06/14/1973 K-56 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 27 140 A→NS A nuclear-powered missile submarine from the Pacific Fleet died as a result of a collision with the research vessel (in foreign sources - an electronic intelligence vessel) "Akademik Berg" during its return to the database. The captain saved the crew by throwing the boat onto the sandbank. The collision of the “Akademik Berg” with the K-56 was classified as a “navigation accident with serious consequences.” 16 officers, 5 midshipmen, 5 sailors, and one civilian specialist from Leningrad were killed. At the burial site of 19 sailors in the center of the cemetery in Shkotovo-17 (now Fokino) a memorial “Grieving Mother” was erected 01/25/1975 K-57 (later K-557, B-557 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 2 A→ NS Nuclear missile submarine with cruise missiles. After painting work was carried out inside the submarine, the fire extinguishing system of the fifth compartment occurred, as a result, two submariners were poisoned by a mixture of ethylene varnish and freon vapors 12/11/1975 K-447 "Kislovodsk" Project 667B "Murena" , Delta USSR 6 Emergency The nuclear missile submarine was at the base. A hurricane suddenly hit. The boat was removed from the moorings and went out to sea. The mooring crews were still cleaning the lines when the boat was covered by several powerful waves; the bodies were found only the next morning. 03/30/1976 K-77 Project 651, Juliett USSR 2 76 A Diesel boat with cruise missiles (renamed B-77 in 1977). A fire occurred in the 5th compartment, extinguished by the LOC system (boat volumetric chemical using freon). But freon was also mistakenly supplied to compartment 7, where 2 people died; the ship’s doctor managed to save 9 more people from this compartment. The cause of the fire was a wrench forgotten on the switch, the cause of the freon supply error was incorrect markings on the LOX system. The shipyard was found to be the culprit. 09/24/1976 K-47 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 3 101 A Nuclear missile submarine. Fire on board while sailing in the North Atlantic. 10/18/1976 K-387 Project 671RT, "Salmon", Victor-II USSR 1 A Nuclear torpedo submarine. Power plant failure (main capacitor rupture). 01/16/1977 K-115 Project 627A, "Kit", November USSR 1 103 A→NS Nuclear torpedo submarine. As a result of oil getting into the IDA regenerator cartridge, it ignited. One person suffered burns to 60% of his body and died. 12/11/1978 K-171 Project 667B "Murena", Delta USSR 3rd Emergency→NS The nuclear missile submarine returned after firing to the base on the surface. As a result of incorrect actions by the crew, several tons of water spilled onto the reactor lid. The commander of the warhead-5 did not report to the commander of the boat and tried to evaporate the water and ventilate the compartment. To check the situation, he and two other submariners entered the compartment and battened down, after which, due to the increase in temperature and pressure, they were unable to open the hatch and died. 08/21/1980 K-122 Project 659T, Echo-I USSR 14 A→NS Nuclear torpedo submarine. Fire in compartment 7 east of the Japanese island of Okinawa. After the repair, the condition of the boat was regarded as unsatisfactory, it never went to sea again and after 15 years of sludge was cut into metal in 1995. 05/23/1981 K-211 Project 667BDR “Squid”, Delta III USSR 0 Emergency While submerged, a collision occurred with an unknown submarine , which, without surfacing, left the accident area. The Soviet commission then, based on the nature of the debris stuck in the hull, concluded that this was an American Sturgeon-class submarine. Later there were allegations that it was the English HMS Sceptre (S104). Neither one nor the other has been officially confirmed. 10/21/1981 S-178 Project 613, Whiskey USSR 34 (31 bodies found + 3 missing) 31? The Project 613B diesel medium submarine from the Pacific Fleet was lost as a result of a collision with the RFS Refrigerator-13 in the narrow Zolotoy Rog Bay in sight of Vladivostok. The submarine tried to avoid the collision. The submarine was mistaken for a fishing ship. Due to a poorly organized rescue operation, many people froze and died in the water near Vladivostok and the Refrigerator-13 RVS. When part of the crew tried to escape independently through the torpedo tubes, three disappeared without a trace. The main blame belongs to RFU Refrigerator-13. The commander of S-178 and the first mate of RFS-13 were sentenced to 10 years. On November 15, 1981, the S-178 was raised to the surface, after draining the compartments and unloading the torpedoes, the boat was towed to the Dalzavod dry dock. Restoring the boat was considered impractical. 10.27.1981 S-363 Project 613, Whiskey USSR 0 Emergency Diesel medium submarine of Project 613. As a result of a serious error by the navigator in calculating the location of the boat (the error was 57 miles), the boat ran aground on the surface at night in Swedish territorial waters, several dozen meters from the shore. There were no casualties, but the incident received unpleasant international publicity. Navy wits nicknamed the boat “Swedish Komsomolets”. She was refloated by an auxiliary vessel on November 6 and returned to base on November 7. Subsequently, after decommissioning and dismantling of the equipment, it was sold to Sweden. 12.1981 BS-486 "Komsomolets of Uzbekistan" Project 940 "Lenok", India USSR 2 103 A Diesel rescue boat. While sailing in the Sea of Okhotsk, the exhaust valve sealing ring burned out and carbon monoxide leaked into the compartments. 86 people out of 105 on board lost consciousness, two died. 04/08/1982 K-123 (later renamed B-123) Project 705K, "Lira", Alfa USSR 0 32 A Nuclear torpedo high-speed anti-submarine submarine. During the BP, in the area of Bear Island (Barents Sea), a power plant accident occurred with the release of liquid metal coolant into the reactor compartment. The boat lost power and was towed to the base. Crew members received varying doses of radiation. 08/15/1982 KS-19 Project 658C, Hotel-II USSR 1 Emergency→NS There are different data on the date of the accident - August 15 or 17. This is the infamous K-19 Hiroshima again, but reclassified from a cruiser to a communications boat. During maintenance work in the battery compartment, a foreign object came into contact with the bipolar contacts. 2 or 3 people were seriously burned by the electric arc. One of them died in hospital on August 20. 01/21/1983 K-10 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 0 A Nuclear missile submarine. While underwater, she collided with an unknown object. After surfacing, nothing other than solarium stains were found. None of the countries in the Pacific region reported accidents on their submarines. Only two years later, an obituary appeared in the Chinese press regarding the death on that day of a group of scientists on a submarine. These events were not officially compared. 06/24/1983 K-429 Project 670, Charlie USSR 16 102 K Nuclear-powered missile submarine with cruise missiles from the Pacific Fleet. The cause of the submarine's death was the lack of repairs to the faulty submarine. In addition, the main crew was mostly on vacation, and it was decided to send the boat on a voyage “at any cost.” As a result, the crew was urgently formed from different boats in the last 24 hours, not paying attention to the commander’s protests. He was later sentenced to prison as a result. On August 6, 1983, the boat was raised. Restoring the boat was considered impractical. 06/18/1984 K-131 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 13 A→NS During the return of a nuclear submarine from the Northern Fleet from combat duty to the base on the Kola Peninsula, a fire broke out in the eighth compartment, which spread to the adjacent, 7th compartment. 10.23.1984 K-424 Project 667BDR “Squid”, Delta III USSR 2 A While preparing to go to sea, the airborne propulsion pipeline ruptured due to incorrect actions of the crew. Many wounded, two dead. 08/10/1985 K-431 (K-31) Project 675, Echo-II USSR 10 (ship repair plant workers) A→NS Nuclear submarine with cruise missiles. At the ship repair plant in Chazhma Bay (the village of Shkotovo-22) in the Primorsky Territory (55 km from Vladivostok), while reloading nuclear fuel, due to a violation of nuclear safety requirements, an explosion occurred that tore off the reactor cover and threw out all the spent nuclear fuel. Main article: Radiation accident in Chazhma Bay As a result of the accident, 290 people were injured - 10 died at the time of the accident, 10 suffered from acute radiation sickness, and 39 had a radiation reaction. A significant part of the victims were military personnel. 10/03/1986 K-219 Project 667AU, “Navaga”, Yankee USSR 4 + 3 died from wounds K Strategic nuclear-powered missile submarine from the Northern Fleet. Died due to fire during a combat patrol in the Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, 770 km northeast of Bermuda. The cruiser sank while towing in a storm at a depth of 5,500 m, taking with it 48 nuclear warheads of RSM-25 ballistic missiles and two nuclear torpedoes. At the cost of his life, sailor Preminin, Sergei Anatolyevich, shut down the reactor and prevented a nuclear accident. By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 844 of August 7, 1997, he was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation (posthumously). 02/18/1987 B-33 Project 641, Foxtrot USSR 5 A While working on a course task at a depth of 10 meters, a fire broke out due to a short circuit in the electrical panel in the 2nd compartment. The fire was not extinguished by the LOX system; in order to avoid an explosion of the ammunition in compartment 1, the commander ordered it to be flooded. In addition to the dead, 15 people were poisoned by combustion products. 01/25/1988 B-33 Project 658M, Hotel-II USSR 1 A Fire on board while at the base. The fire extinguishing system was turned on late. 02/12/1988 K-14 Project 627A, “Kit”, November USSR 1 A Fire in the hold of the 7th compartment while in the base. The fire was extinguished, but one person died. 03/18/1989 B-81 Project 651K, Juliett USSR 1 NS Diesel boat with cruise missiles. In stormy conditions, the submarine commander was washed off the bridge and killed. 1st rank Nekrasov A. B. 04/07/1989 K-278 “Komsomolets” Project 685 “Plavnik”, Mike USSR 42 30 K Nuclear torpedo submarine from the Northern Fleet died in the Norwegian Sea southwest of Medvezhiy Island while returning from combat duty to as a result of a massive fire in two adjacent compartments. The boat lies at a depth of 1,858 meters. The boat's reactor was securely shut down, but two torpedo tubes contained torpedoes with a nuclear warhead. In 1989-1998, seven expeditions were carried out with the participation of the Mir deep-sea manned vehicles, during which the torpedo tubes containing torpedoes with nuclear warheads were sealed in order to ensure radiation safety. 09/05/1990 B-409 Project 641, Foxtrot USSR 1 A While loading torpedoes, the cable broke, and the torpedo sailor died. 02/11/1992 USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) and K-276 (later B-276, “Crab”, “Kostroma”). Los Angeles and Project 945 Barracuda, Sierra-I USA, Russia 0 A Collision of two nuclear submarines off Kildin Island, in Russian territorial waters, K-276 collided with an American nuclear submarine trying to covertly track Russian ships in the exercise area . As a result of the collision, the Russian boat suffered damage to its wheelhouse. After the collision, a fire broke out on the American boat, there were casualties among personnel, but it still returned to base on its own, after which it was decided not to repair the boat, but to withdraw it from the US Navy.. 05/29/1992 B-502 (formerly K -502) Project 671RTM “Pike”, Victor-III Russia 1 A During the trip, a malfunction of the compressor was noticed in compartment 1. After returning to the base, when trying to launch it, an explosion occurred and a fire started. Five people were injured, one died on the way to the hospital. 03/20/1993 USS Grayling (SSN-646) and K-407 “Novomoskovsk” Sturgeon and Project 667BDRM “Dolphin”, Delta IV USA, Russia 0 A Collision of two nuclear submarines in the Barents Sea. Despite serious damage, both were able to return to base on their own. After minor repairs, the Russian boat returned to service, but the American submarine was removed from the fleet and scrapped due to the impracticality of restoration. 01/26/1998 B-527 (formerly K-527) Project 671RTM “Pike”, Victor-III Russia 1 A During the repair of the reactor, radioactive water began flowing into the compartment from the primary circuit. Five people received acute poisoning, one died in the hospital 6 hours later. 08/12/2000 K-141 “Kursk” 949A “Antey”, Oscar-II Russia 118 0 K Nuclear submarine with cruise missiles. Sank in the Barents Sea, 137 km from Severomorsk, at a depth of 108 meters as a result of a disaster that occurred during an exercise. Raised October 10, 2001. Disposed of after unloading nuclear weapons in May 2002. . 08/30/2003 B-159 (before 1989 -K-159) November Russia 9 1 K Nuclear submarine. Sank near Kildin Island at a depth of 240 meters while being towed from Gremikha Bay for disposal at shipyard number 10 "Shkval" in Polyarny. The boat was planned to be raised. As of 2008, the boat has not been raised.. 11/14/2004 K-223 “Podolsk” Project 667BDR, Delta-III Russia 1 A→NS Strategic nuclear missile submarine. The boat was moored to the pier and routine work was being carried out on board. A 19-year-old sailor working near a fresh water tank noticed a malfunction of the high-pressure pressure reducing valve supplied to the tank, which he warned his comrades about and they managed to leave the compartment; he himself was wounded in the head by a metal fragment from an exploding tank and died an hour later in the hospital. 09/06/2006 “Daniil Moskovsky” (B-414) Project 671RTM(K), Victor-III Russia 2 A→NS Nuclear torpedo submarine of the project from the Northern Fleet. While at the test site in the Barents Sea, a fire broke out in the electromechanical compartment of the boat. The fire was extinguished and the boat was towed to the Vidyaevo base with the help of surface vessels. 11/08/2008 K-152 “Nerpa” Project 971I, Akula-II Russia 20 (3 military personnel and 17 civilian specialists) 188 Emergency → NS According to the official version, the emergency fire extinguishing system on the submarine was activated unauthorized. The nuclear power plant on board the boat was not damaged, the radiation background on the ship was normal. Based on the K-19 disaster, the film K-19: Leaving Widows was made. At different times, three incidents occurred with this boat, leading to numerous casualties and a terrifying name: “Hiroshima”.

(Tragic chronicle of the atomic age according to domestic and foreign publications)

At shipyards

February 10, 1965. USSR, Arkhangelsk region, Severodvinsk, Zvezdochka shipyard

An uncontrolled launch of a reactor occurred on the Soviet nuclear submarine (NPS) K-11 Leninsky Komsomol, which was located at a shipyard. When the core of the aft nuclear reactor was overloaded, a release of radioactive steam-air occurred. A fire started in the reactor compartment, which they decided to put out with seawater. With the help of fire engines, up to 250 tons of water were poured there, which spread into the adjacent and aft compartments through burnt out seals. To avoid sinking the nuclear submarine, radioactive water was pumped overboard - right in the factory water area. Seven people were overexposed. The emergency reactor compartment was later cut out and sunk in Abrosimov Bay off the east coast of Novaya Zemlya Island at a depth of 20 meters (Osipenko, 1994).

Radiation accident on the K-140 Navaga nuclear submarine, which was under repair. After the modernization work was carried out, the left side nuclear reactor was unauthorized to reach a power 18 times higher than the nominal one. As a result, the core and reactor were disabled. The compartment with spent nuclear fuel was cut out and flooded in the area of the Novaya Zemlya depression (Osipenko, 1994).

On the K-329 nuclear submarine under construction, an uncontrolled launch of a nuclear reactor occurred, which at that time did not have a removable pressure hull sheet and dry biological protection units. The spontaneous chain reaction lasted 10 seconds. At the time of the accident, there were 156 people in the workshop. The total release of radioactive products amounted to about 25 thousand Ci (of which -1 Ci went directly into the workshop). 787 people took part in eliminating the consequences of the accident (Ptichkin, 1995).

November 30, 1980. USSR, Arkhangelsk region, Severodvinsk, Zvezdochka shipyard

Accident on the Soviet nuclear submarine K-162 "Anchar". In the process of repairing the submarine, workers used unverified drawings and mixed up the power supply phases. The situation, one might say, was “saved” by the rupture of the main pump compressor, as a result of which several tons of slightly radioactive water entered the uninhabited room. The reactor core was disabled (Greenpeace, 1994).

August 10, 1985. USSR, Ussuri Bay, Chazhma Bay, Zvezda shipyard

The most severe radiation accident in the entire history of the Russian nuclear fleet occurred. On the nuclear submarine K-431, located at the pier of the Zvezda shipyard, due to personnel violation of the rules for reloading nuclear fuel, a spontaneous chain reaction occurred in one of the reactors and an explosion occurred. As a result, an assembly with freshly loaded nuclear fuel was thrown out and a fire started that lasted 2.5 hours. A radioactive plume with a strip of 5.5 kilometers was formed, which crossed the Danube Peninsula in a northwest direction and reached the coast of the Ussuri Bay, passing another 30 kilometers along the water area. The total release activity was approximately 7 mCi. During the accident and during the liquidation of its consequences, 290 people were exposed to increased radiation. Ten people died at the time of the incident, ten were diagnosed with acute radiation sickness, and 39 had a radiation reaction (Radiation Heritage, 1999; Sivintsev, 2003).

Underwater

The first serious accident at the nuclear power plant of a Soviet nuclear submarine. On the nuclear submarine K-8, a steam generator ruptured with a leak of radioactive steam and helium. The reactor began heating up. The system for flushing it with water was inoperative. A similar emergency system was urgently installed, which made it possible to avoid melting of the core. The entire nuclear submarine was contaminated with radioactive gases. The most affected were 13 people, their radiation doses amounted to 180-200 rem (Osipenko, 1994).

Accident on the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 with ballistic missiles on board. As a result of the depressurization of the primary circuit of a nuclear power plant, there was a threat of a thermal explosion. After the submarine surfaced, a team of six people installed an emergency system for flushing the reactor with water to cool it. After some time she refused. All team members received radiation doses from 5 thousand to 7 thousand rem.

A new three-person team recovered the system and also received significant radiation doses. Shortly after the accident, eight of the nine submarine liquidators died from radiation sickness. Later, due to the high accident rate, accompanied by the death of crew members, the K-19 received an ominous nickname among Soviet sailors - “Hiroshima” (Cherkashin, 1993; Cherkashin, 1996).

160 kilometers from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, USA), the American nuclear submarine SSN-593 Thrasher sank during a test dive. All 129 crew members were killed, and the submarine, which has since broken up into several parts, is located at a depth of 2590 meters (Handler, 1998; KAPL, 2000).

The American nuclear submarine SSN-589 Scorpion sank 650 kilometers southwest of the Azores at a depth of 3,600 meters. There is a version that on one of the torpedoes with a non-nuclear warhead, the mechanism for bringing it into firing position unexpectedly worked. The captain of the submarine decided to get rid of the projectile that had become dangerous and gave the command to launch. A torpedo fired into the open ocean began searching for a target until the submarine itself was in the sights of its homing warhead. There is another version: allegedly, during the test launch of the torpedo, its combat charge detonated. All 99 crew members were killed. On board were two torpedoes with nuclear warheads (Naval Nuclear Accidents, 1989; IB COI for AE, 1993).

Radiation accident on the Soviet nuclear submarine K-27 "Kit". Liquid metal coolant leaked and ended up in a nuclear reactor. More than 20 percent of the fuel elements were destroyed. All 124 crew members were overexposed. Nine submariners died. In 1981, a nuclear submarine with two reactors with unloaded spent fuel was sunk in the Kara Sea at a depth of 30 meters (Morskoy Sbornik, 1993; Facts and Problems, 1993).

The first disaster was caused by the Soviet nuclear submarine K-8, equipped with two nuclear reactors. On April 8, almost simultaneously, a fire started in the third and eighth compartments. The submarine surfaced. It was not possible to put out the fire. The emergency protection of the reactors was activated, and the ship was practically without electricity. The surviving crew was evacuated to its upper deck and to ships that came to the rescue.

On April 11, as a result of loss of longitudinal stability, the submarine sank at a depth of 4680 meters, 300 miles northwest of Spain. It was armed with two torpedoes with nuclear warheads. 52 crew members were killed (Osipenko, 1994).

The Soviet nuclear submarine K-108 collided with the US Navy nuclear submarine Tautog. According to American submariners, this happened after the Soviet submarine, escaping the pursuit of their nuclear submarine, made a dangerous maneuver (the Americans called it “Crazy Ivan”), namely a series of several sudden turns (up to 180°). Both submarines were damaged (Bussert, 1987).

A fire in the ninth compartment of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 with ballistic missiles on board 600 miles northeast of Newfoundland. In the tenth compartment, 12 people were sealed, who were rescued only after 24 days. As a result of the accident, 28 people died (Osipenko, 1994; Cherkashin, 1996).

The Soviet nuclear submarine K-56 of the Pacific Fleet collided with the research vessel Akademik Berg. The second and third compartments were flooded. The emergency protection of nuclear reactors was triggered. The boat washed up on the Nakhodka shoal. 27 people died (Dramas, 2001).

130 kilometers southwest of Bear Island in the Norwegian Sea, after a fire under water at a depth of 1680 meters, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-278 Komsomolets sank; 42 crew members were killed. The submarine was armed with two nuclear torpedoes (3200 grams of plutonium in each warhead). In 1990-1995, with the help of the research vessel “Akademik Mstislav Keldysh” and two manned deep-sea vehicles “Mir”, an examination was carried out and work was carried out to localize radioactive materials located in the first compartment of the boat in nuclear weapons (Gladkov, 1994; Gulko, 1999).

November 8, 2008 occurred during factory sea trials in the Sea of Japan, built at the Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and not yet accepted into the Russian Navy. As a result of the unauthorized activation of the LOX (boat volumetric chemical) fire extinguishing system, freon gas began to flow into the boat compartments. 20 people died, another 21 people were hospitalized with poisoning. In total, there were 208 people on board the submarine.

August 30, 2003 in the Barents Sea while towing to the city of Polyarny for disposal. There were ten members of the mooring crew on board the submarine, nine of them died, one was rescued.
During a storm, with the help of which the K‑159 was towed. The disaster occurred three miles northwest of Kildin Island in the Barents Sea at a depth of 170 meters. The nuclear reactor on the nuclear submarine was in a safe condition.

August 12, 2000 during naval exercises of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea. The disaster occurred 175 kilometers from Severomorsk, at a depth of 108 meters. All 118 crew members on board were killed.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, "Kursk" is inside the fourth torpedo tube, which resulted in the explosion of the remaining torpedoes located in the first compartment of the APRK.

April 7, 1989 upon returning from combat service in the Norwegian Sea in the area of Bear Island. As a result of a fire in two adjacent compartments of K‑278, the main ballast tank systems were destroyed, through which the submarine was flooded with sea water. 42 people died, many from hypothermia.
27 crew members.

October 6, 1986 in the area of Bermuda in the Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) at a depth of about 5.5 thousand meters. On the morning of October 3, an explosion occurred in a missile silo on board the submarine, and then a fire started that lasted for three days. The crew did everything possible to prevent a nuclear explosion and a radiation disaster, but they were unable to save the ship. Four people died on board the submarine. The surviving crew members were lifted onto the Russian ships "Krasnogvardeysk" and "Anatoly Vasilyev", which came to the aid of the submarine in distress.

June 24, 1983 4.5 miles from the shores of Kamchatka, the nuclear submarine K‑429 from the Pacific Fleet sank during a dive. K‑429 was urgently sent from repair to torpedo firing without checking for leaks and with an assembled crew (some of the staff were on vacation, the replacement was not prepared). During the dive, the fourth compartment flooded through the ventilation system. The boat lay on the ground at a depth of 40 meters. When trying to blow out the main ballast, due to the open ventilation valves of the main ballast tank, most of the air went overboard.
As a result of the disaster, 16 people died, the remaining 104 were able to reach the surface through the bow torpedo tubes and the aft escape hatch shaft.

October 21, 1981 diesel submarine S-178, returning to base after a two-day trip to sea, in the waters of Vladivostok with a transport refrigerator. Having received a hole, the submarine took on about 130 tons of water, lost buoyancy and went under water, sinking at a depth of 31 meters. As a result of the disaster, 32 submariners were killed.

June 13, 1973 occurred in Peter the Great Gulf (Sea of Japan). The boat was on the surface heading to the base at night after performing firing exercises. "Akademik Berg" hit "K-56" on the starboard side, at the junction of the first and second compartments, making a huge hole in the hull into which water began to flow. The submarine was saved from destruction at the cost of their lives by the personnel of the second emergency compartment, who battened down the bulkhead between the compartments. The accident killed 27 people. About 140 sailors survived.

February 24, 1972 when returning to base from combat patrol.
At this time, the boat was in the North Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 120 meters. Thanks to the selfless actions of the crew, K‑19 surfaced. Navy ships and vessels took part in the rescue operation. In conditions of a severe storm, it was possible to evacuate most of the K‑19 crew, supply electricity to the boat and tow it to the base. As a result of the boat accident, 28 sailors were killed, two more died during the rescue operation.

April 12, 1970 in the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the loss of buoyancy and longitudinal stability.
The fire started on April 8 almost simultaneously in two compartments, when the boat was at a depth of 120 meters. K-8 floated to the surface, the crew courageously fought for the survivability of the boat. On the night of April 10-11, three vessels of the USSR Marine Fleet arrived in the area of the accident, but due to a storm, it was not possible to take the submarine into tow. Part of the submarine’s personnel was transported to the Kasimov ship, and 22 people, led by the commander, remained on board the K-8 to continue the fight for the survivability of the ship. But on April 12, the submarine sank at a depth of more than 4,000 meters. 52 crew members were killed.

May 24, 1968 occurred, which had two liquid metal coolant reactors. As a result of a violation of heat removal from the core, overheating and destruction of fuel elements in one of the submarine's reactors occurred. All the boat's mechanisms were taken out of action and mothballed.
During the accident, nine people received lethal doses of radiation.

March 8, 1968 from the Pacific Fleet. The submarine carried out combat service in the Hawaiian Islands, and since March 8 it has stopped communicating. According to various sources, there were from 96 to 98 crew members on board the K-129, all of them died. The cause of the disaster is unknown. Subsequently, the Americans discovered K-129 and recovered it in 1974.

September 8, 1967 In the Norwegian Sea, a fire occurred in two compartments on the submarine K-3 "Leninsky Komsomol" while underwater, which was localized and extinguished by sealing the emergency compartments. 39 crew members were killed. The submarine returned to base under its own power.

January 11, 1962 at the Northern Fleet naval base in the city of Polyarny. A fire started on the submarine standing at the pier, followed by an explosion of torpedo ammunition. The bow of the boat was torn off, the debris scattered over a radius of more than a kilometer.
The nearby S-350 submarine suffered significant damage. As a result of the emergency, 78 sailors were killed (not only from the B-37, but also from four other submarines, as well as from the reserve crew). There were also casualties among the civilian population of the city of Polyarny.

July 4, 1961 during the Arctic Circle ocean exercises of the main power plant. A pipe in the cooling system of one of the reactors burst, causing a radiation leak.
For an hour and a half, the submariners repaired the emergency cooling system of the reactor without protective suits, with their bare hands, and wearing military gas masks. The crew members said the ship remained afloat and was towed to base.
From the received doses of radiation in a few days.

January 27, 1961 The diesel submarine S-80, part of the Northern Fleet, sank in the Barents Sea. On January 25, she went to sea for several days to practice improving the tasks of solo navigation, and on January 27, radio contact with her was interrupted. The S-80 did not return to the base in Polyarny. The search operation yielded no results. S‑80 was found only in 1968, and was later raised from the bottom of the sea. The cause of the accident was the flow of water through the valve of the RDP (a retractable device of a submarine for supplying atmospheric air to its diesel compartment during the periscope position of the submarine and removing diesel exhaust gases). The entire crew died - 68 people.

September 26, 1957 in the Tallinn Bay of the Baltic Sea from the Baltic Fleet.
A fire broke out on a submarine that was measuring underwater speeds on a measuring line at the training ground of the Tallinn naval base. Having surfaced from a depth of 70 meters, M‑256 anchored. Brought to the upper deck due to heavy gas pollution in the interior, the crew did not stop fighting for the survivability of the boat. 3 hours 48 minutes after surfacing, the submarine suddenly sank to the bottom. Most of the crew died: out of 42 submariners, seven sailors survived.

November 21, 1956 Not far from Tallinn (Estonia), the M-200 diesel submarine from the Baltic Fleet sank as a result of a collision with the destroyer Statny. Six people were immediately rescued from the water. The accident killed 28 sailors.

In December 1952 The diesel-electric submarine S-117 from the Pacific Fleet was lost in the Sea of Japan. The boat was supposed to take part in the exercises. On the way to the maneuver area, its commander reported that due to a breakdown of the right diesel engine, the submarine was going to the designated point on one engine. A few hours later he reported that the problem had been fixed. The boat never made contact again. The exact cause and place of death of the submarine are unknown.
There were 52 crew members on board the boat, including 12 officers.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The idea of a submarine itself appeared in the 15th century. This idea came to the brilliant mind of the legendary Leonardo da Vinci. But, fearing the devastating consequences of such a secretive weapon, he destroyed his project.

But this is always the case; if an idea already exists, then sooner or later humanity will realize it. For more than half a century, submarines have been plying the seas and oceans. And, of course, they occasionally get into accidents. Nuclear submarines equipped with nuclear power plants pose a particular danger in this case. Let's talk about them today.

USS Thresher

The first sunken nuclear submarine in history was the American USS Thresher, which sank back in 1963. It was built three years earlier and was the first Thrasher-class submarine of its kind.

On April 10, USS Thresher was put out to sea to conduct test deep-sea dives and test the strength of the hull. For about two hours, the boat submerged and periodically transmitted data on the state of its systems to headquarters. At 09:17 USS Thresher stopped communicating. The last message read: “...maximum depth...”.

When she was found, it turned out that she had broken into six parts, and all 112 crew members and 17 researchers were killed. The cause of the boat's death is said to be a manufacturing defect in the welding of the hull, which could not withstand the pressure, cracked, and water that got inside caused a short circuit in the electronics. The investigation will establish that at the shipyards where the USS Thresher was serviced there was extremely low quality control, and in addition, deliberate sabotage may have occurred. This was the reason for the death of the submarine. Its hull still rests at a depth of 2,560 meters east of Cape Cod.

USS Scorpion

In its entire history, the US Navy has finally and irrevocably lost only two submarines. The first was the USS Thresher mentioned above, and the second was the USS Scorpion, which sank in 1968. The submarine sank in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. Literally five days after the accident, she was supposed to return to the base in Norfolk, but she did not get in touch.

60 ships and aircraft went in search of the USS Scorpion and found a lot of interesting things, including a sunken German submarine from World War II. But the desired boat was discovered only five months later at a depth of 3000 meters. The entire crew of 99 people died. The causes of the disaster are not fully known, but there is a theory that one of the torpedoes could have exploded on board the boat.

USS San Francisco

But the case of the American boat USS San Francisco is just a story of a miraculous rescue. On January 8, 2005, a collision occurred 675 kilometers southeast of Guam. At a depth of 160 m, San Francisco collided with an underwater rock.

The rock pierced the ballast tanks, so the ship could sink very quickly. But with the joint efforts of the team, they managed to maintain buoyancy and raise the USS San Francisco to the surface. The hull was not broken, and the nuclear reactor was not damaged.

At the same time, there were casualties. Ninety-eight crew members received various injuries and fractures. Machinist's Mate Second Class Joseph Allen died of head injuries the next day.

Let's move on to Soviet submarines. The K-8 submarine, which sank in the Bay of Biscay on April 12, 1970, was the first such loss of the Soviet fleet.

The cause of death was a fire in the sonar room, which began to quickly spread through the air ducts and threatened to destroy the entire ship. But simple human heroism saved him. When the sailors from the first shift of the main power plant realized that the fire was continuing to spread, they shut down the nuclear reactors and bolted down all the doors to other compartments. The submariners themselves died, but did not allow the fire to destroy the submarine and kill the others. But the nuclear reactor did not release radiation into the ocean.

The surviving sailors were taken on board by the Bulgarian motor ship Avior, which was just sailing nearby. Captain 2nd Rank Vsevolod Bessonov and 51 members of his crew died fighting the fire.

K-278 "Komsomolets"

The second sunken Soviet nuclear submarine. The K-278 Komsomolets was also destroyed by a fire that broke out on board on April 7, 1989. The fire broke the seal of the boat, which quickly filled with water and sank.

The sailors managed to send a signal for help, but due to damaged electronics, they were able to receive and decipher it only the eighth time. Some crew members managed to escape and swim to the surface, but they found themselves in icy water. As a result of the disaster, 42 sailors died, and 27 survived.

K-141 "Kursk"

We have already written about the mysterious death of the Kursk submarine, the strange behavior of the Russian authorities and questions to which no one has yet answered. Therefore, now let’s focus on the main points.

On August 2, 2000, at 11:28, the systems of the cruiser “Peter the Great” recorded a strong bang, after which the ship shook a little. The Kursk participated with the cruiser in Northern Fleet exercises and was supposed to contact it six hours later, but disappeared.

Almost two days later, the submarine will be found at a depth of 108 meters, already at the bottom. All 118 crew members were killed. The reasons for the death of the Kursk still remain unclear, since the official version of a fire in the torpedo compartment raises too many questions.

Ukraine is beyond competition

If there is one conclusion that can be drawn from all these stories, it is that the work of submariners is harsh and dangerous. And Ukrainians know how to cope with any dangerous work. Therefore, despite the fact that we do not yet have a submarine fleet, it is a matter of time. As soon as Ukraine has free resources for its creation and development, it will be created.

And we have plenty of strong sailors, whose Cossack ancestors sailed on seagulls all the way to Turkey, and whose fathers and grandfathers served on Soviet submarines. Ukraine usually has no shortage of heroes.

Water and cold. Darkness.
And somewhere above there was the sound of metal.
I don’t have the strength to say: we are here, here...

Hope is gone, I'm tired of waiting.

The bottomless ocean reliably keeps its secrets. Somewhere out there, under the dark arches of the waves, lie the wreckage of thousands of ships, each of which has its own unique fate and history of tragic death.

In 1963, the thickness of sea water crushed the most modern American submarine "Thresher". Half a century ago, this was hard to believe - the invincible Poseidon, who drew strength from the flames of a nuclear reactor and was able to circumnavigate the globe without a single ascent, turned out to be weak as a worm before the onslaught of the merciless elements.

“We have a positive increasing angle... We are trying to blow through... 900... north” - the last message from the Thresher is unable to convey all the horror that the dying submariners experienced. Who could have imagined that a two-day test voyage accompanied by the rescue tug Skylark could end in such a disaster?

The cause of the Thrasher's death remains a mystery. The main hypothesis: when diving to the maximum depth, water entered the durable hull of the boat - the reactor was automatically shut down, and the submarine, unable to move, fell into the abyss, taking with it 129 human lives.

Rudder blade USS Tresher (SSN-593)

Soon the terrible story continued - the Americans lost another nuclear-powered ship with its crew: in 1968, it disappeared without a trace in the Atlantic multi-purpose nuclear submarine "Scorpion".

Unlike the Thrasher, with which sound underwater communication was maintained until the last second, the death of the Scorpion was complicated by the lack of any clear idea of the coordinates of the disaster site. Unsuccessful searches continued for five months until the Yankees deciphered data from deep-sea stations of the SOSUS system (a network of hydrophone buoys of the US Navy for tracking Soviet submarines) - on the records dated May 22, 1968, a loud bang was discovered, similar to the destruction of the durable hull of a submarine. Next, using the triangulation method, the approximate location of the lost boat was restored.

Wreck of USS Scorpion (SSN-589). Deformations from the monstrous water pressure (30 tons/sq. meter) are visible.

The wreckage of the Scorpio was discovered at a depth of 3,000 meters in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 740 km southwest of the Azores. The official version connects the death of the boat with the detonation of torpedo ammunition (almost like the Kursk!). There is a more exotic legend, according to which the Scorpion was sunk by the Russians in retaliation for the death of the K-129.

The mystery of the death of the Scorpion still haunts the minds of sailors - in November 2012, the Organization of Veteran Submariners of the US Navy proposed starting a new investigation to establish the truth about the death of the American boat.

Less than 48 hours had passed since the wreckage of the American Scorpio sank to the seabed, and a new tragedy occurred in the ocean. On experimental nuclear submarine K-27 The Soviet Navy's reactor with liquid metal coolant went out of control. The terrible unit, in whose veins molten lead was boiling, “contaminated” all the compartments with radioactive emissions, the crew received terrible doses of radiation, 9 submariners died from acute radiation sickness. Despite the severe radiation accident, Soviet sailors managed to bring the boat to the base in Gremikha.

K-27 turned into an ineffective heap of metal with positive buoyancy, emitting deadly gamma rays. The decision on the future fate of the unique ship hung in the air; finally, in 1981, it was decided to sink the damaged submarine in one of the bays on Novaya Zemlya. As a keepsake for posterity. Maybe they will find a way to safely dispose of the floating Fukushima?

But long before the “last dive” of K-27, the group of nuclear submarines at the bottom of the Atlantic was replenished submarine K-8. One of the first-born of the nuclear fleet, the third nuclear submarine in the ranks of the USSR Navy, which sank during a fire in the Bay of Biscay on April 12, 1970. For 80 hours there was a struggle for the survivability of the ship, during which time the sailors managed to shut down the reactors and evacuate part of the crew on board the approaching Bulgarian ship.

The death of K-8 and 52 submariners became the first official loss of the Soviet nuclear fleet. Currently, the wreckage of the nuclear-powered ship rests at a depth of 4,680 meters, 250 miles off the coast of Spain.

In the 1980s, the USSR Navy lost a couple more nuclear submarines in combat campaigns - the strategic missile submarine K-219 and the unique “titanium” submarine K-278 Komsomolets.

K-219 with a torn missile silo

The most dangerous situation arose around the K-219 - on board the submarine, in addition to two nuclear reactors, there were 15 R-21 submarine-launched ballistic missiles* with 45 thermonuclear warheads. On October 3, 1986, missile silo No. 6 depressurized, which led to the explosion of a ballistic missile. The crippled ship demonstrated fantastic survivability, managing to emerge from a depth of 350 meters, with damage to the pressure hull and a flooded fourth (missile) compartment.

* the project assumed a total of 16 SLBMs, but in 1973 a similar incident already occurred on the K-219 - an explosion of a liquid-propellant rocket. As a result, the “unlucky” boat remained in service, but lost launch shaft No. 15.

Three days after the rocket explosion, the heavily armed nuclear-powered submarine sank in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 5 kilometers. The disaster killed 8 people. It happened on October 6, 1986
Three years later, on April 7, 1989, another Soviet submarine, the K-278 Komsomolets, sank to the bottom of the Norwegian Sea. An unsurpassed ship with a titanium hull, capable of diving to depths of over 1000 meters.

K-278 "Komsomolets" at the bottom of the Norwegian Sea. The photographs were taken by the Mir deep-sea submersible.

Alas, no exorbitant performance characteristics saved the Komsomolets - the submarine became the victim of a banal fire, complicated by the lack of clear ideas about the tactics of fighting for survivability on kingless boats. 42 sailors died in the burning compartments and icy water. The nuclear submarine sank at a depth of 1,858 meters, becoming the subject of a furious debate between shipbuilders and sailors in a bid to find the “culprit”.

New times have brought new problems. The orgy of the “free market”, multiplied by “limited funding”, the destruction of the fleet supply system and the mass dismissal of experienced submariners inevitably led to disaster. And she didn’t keep her waiting.

August 12, 2000 no contact Nuclear submarine K-141 "Kursk". The official cause of the tragedy is the spontaneous explosion of a “long” torpedo. Unofficial versions range from a nightmarish heresy in the style of “Submarine in Troubled Waters” from the French director Jean Michel Carré to quite plausible hypotheses about a collision with the aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov or a torpedo fired from the American submarine Toledo (the motive is unclear).

The nuclear submarine cruiser is an “aircraft carrier killer” with a displacement of 24 thousand tons. The depth where the submarine sank was 108 meters, 118 people were locked in the “steel coffin”...

The epic with the unsuccessful operation to rescue the crew from the Kursk lying on the ground shocked the whole of Russia. We all remember the smiling face of another scoundrel with admiral’s shoulder straps smiling on TV: “The situation is under control. Contact has been established with the crew, and air supply has been provided to the emergency boat.”
Then there was an operation to raise the Kursk. The first compartment was sawed off (for what??), a letter from Captain Kolesnikov was found... was there a second page? Someday we will know the truth about those events. And, for sure, we will be very surprised at our naivety.

On August 30, 2003, another tragedy occurred, hidden in the gray twilight of naval everyday life - it sank while being towed for cutting. old nuclear submarine K-159. The reason is loss of buoyancy due to the poor technical condition of the boat. It still lies at a depth of 170 meters near the island of Kildin, on the approach to Murmansk.
The question of lifting and disposing of this radioactive pile of metal is periodically raised, but so far the matter has not moved beyond words.

In total, today the wreckage of seven nuclear submarines lies on the bottom of the World Ocean:

Two American: “Thrasher” and “Scorpio”

Five Soviet: K-8, K-27, K-219, K-278 and K-159.

However, this is not a complete list. In the history of the Russian Navy, there are a number of other incidents that were not reported by TASS, in each of which nuclear submarines were lost.

For example, on August 20, 1980, a serious accident occurred in the Philippine Sea - 14 sailors died fighting a fire on board the K-122. The crew was able to save their nuclear submarine and bring the burnt boat in tow to their home base. Unfortunately, the damage received was such that restoring the boat was deemed impractical. After 15 years of storage, K-122 was disposed of at the Zvezda Shipyard.

Another severe incident, known as the “radiation accident in Chazhma Bay,” occurred in 1985 in the Far East. During the process of recharging the reactor of the nuclear submarine K-431, the floating crane swayed on the wave and “teared out” the control grids from the submarine’s reactor. The reactor turned on and instantly reached an extreme operating mode, turning into a “dirty atomic bomb,” the so-called. "fizzy" In a bright flash, 11 officers standing nearby disappeared. According to eyewitnesses, the 12-ton reactor cover flew up a couple of hundred meters and then fell again on the boat, almost cutting it in half. The fire that started and the release of radioactive dust finally turned the K-431 and the nearby nuclear submarine K-42 into non-combat-ready floating coffins. Both damaged nuclear submarines were scrapped.

When it comes to accidents on nuclear submarines, one cannot fail to mention the K-19, which received the telling nickname “Hiroshima” in the navy. The boat became a source of serious problems at least four times. The first combat campaign and the reactor accident on July 3, 1961 are especially memorable. K-19 was heroically saved, but the episode with the reactor almost cost the life of the first Soviet missile carrier.

Having become familiar with the list of dead submarines, the average person may have a vile conviction: the Russians do not know how to control ships. The accusation is serious. The Yankees lost only two nuclear submarines - Thresher and Scorpion. At the same time, the domestic fleet lost almost a dozen nuclear submarines, not counting diesel-electric submarines (the Yankees have not built diesel-electric boats since the 1950s). How to explain this paradox? The fact that the nuclear-powered ships of the USSR Navy were controlled by crooked Russian Mongols?

Something tells me that there is another explanation for the paradox. Let's try to find it together.

It is worth noting that an attempt to “blame” all failures on the difference in the number of nuclear submarines in the compositions of the USSR Navy and the US Navy is obviously useless. In total, during the existence of the nuclear submarine fleet, about 250 submarines passed through the hands of our sailors (from K-3 to the modern Borey), while the Americans had slightly fewer of them - ≈ 200 units. However, the Yankees had nuclear-powered ships earlier and were operated two to three times more intensively (just look at the operational stress coefficient of SSBNs: 0.17 - 0.24 for ours and 0.5 - 0.6 for American missile carriers). Obviously, the whole point is not the number of boats... But then what?
Much depends on the calculation method. As the old joke goes: “It doesn’t matter how you did it, the main thing is how you calculated it.” A thick trail of fatal accidents and emergencies stretches through the entire history of the nuclear fleet, regardless of the submarine’s flag.

On February 9, 2001, the US Navy multi-purpose nuclear submarine Greenville rammed the Japanese fishing schooner Ehime Maru. Nine Japanese fishermen were killed, and the US Navy submarine fled the scene without providing any assistance to those in distress.

Nonsense! - the Yankees will answer. Navigation incidents are everyday life in any fleet. In the summer of 1973, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-56 collided with the scientific vessel Akademik Berg. 27 sailors died.

But the Russians' boats sank right at the pier! Here you are:
On September 13, 1985, K-429 lay down on the ground at the pier in Krasheninnikov Bay.

So what?! - our sailors may object. The Yankees had the same case:
On May 15, 1969, the US Navy nuclear submarine Guitarro sank right next to the quay wall. The reason is simple negligence.

USS Guitarro (SSN-655) lay down to rest at the pier

Americans will scratch their heads and remember how on May 8, 1982, the central post of the nuclear submarine K-123 (“underwater fighter” of the 705th project, a reactor with liquid liquid fuel) received an original report: “I see silvery metal spreading across the deck.” The first circuit of the reactor ruptured, the radioactive alloy of lead and bismuth “stained” the boat so much that it took 10 years to clean up K-123. Fortunately, none of the sailors died then.

The Russians will only smile sadly and tactfully hint to the Americans how the USS Dace (SSN-607) accidentally “spilled” two tons of radioactive liquid from the primary circuit into the Thames (a river in the USA), “dirting” the entire Groton naval base.

Stop!

We won't achieve anything this way. There is no point in denigrating each other and remembering ugly moments from history.
It is clear that a huge fleet of hundreds of ships serves as rich soil for various emergencies - every day there is smoke somewhere, something falls, explodes or lands on rocks.

The true indicator is major accidents that lead to the loss of ships. “Thresher”, “Scorpion”,... Have there been other cases when nuclear-powered ships of the US Navy received heavy damage during military campaigns and were forever excluded from the fleet?
Yes, such cases have happened.

USS San Francisco (SSN-711) smashed to pieces. Consequences of a collision with an underwater rock at 30 knots

In 1986, the US Navy strategic missile carrier Nathaniel Greene crashed on rocks in the Irish Sea. The damage to the hull, rudders and ballast tanks was so great that the boat had to be scrapped.

February 11, 1992. Barents Sea. The multipurpose nuclear submarine Baton Rouge collided with the Russian titanium Barracuda. The boats collided successfully - repairs on the B-276 took six months, and the story of the USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) turned out to be much sadder. The collision with a Russian titanium boat led to the appearance of stresses and microcracks in the submarine’s durable hull. "Baton Rouge" hobbled to the base and soon ceased to exist.

"Baton Rouge" goes to the nails

So not fair! – the attentive reader will notice. The Americans had purely navigational errors; there were practically no accidents on US Navy ships with damage to the reactor core. In the Russian Navy, everything is different: compartments are burning, molten coolant is gushing onto the deck. There are design flaws and improper operation of the equipment.

And it's true. The domestic submarine fleet has traded reliability for exorbitant technical characteristics of boats. The design of submarines of the USSR Navy has always been distinguished by a high degree of novelty and a large number of innovative solutions. Testing of new technologies was often carried out directly in combat campaigns. The fastest (K-222), deepest (K-278), largest (project 941 “Shark”) and most secretive boat (project 945A “Condor”) were created in our country. And if there is nothing to blame “Condor” and “Akula” for, then the operation of the other “record holders” was regularly accompanied by major technical problems.

Was this the right decision: immersion depth in exchange for reliability? We have no right to answer this question. History does not know the subjunctive mood, the only thing I wanted to convey to the reader: the high accident rate on Soviet submarines is not the miscalculations of the designers or the mistakes of the crews. Often it was inevitable. A high price paid for the unique characteristics of submarines.