At ship repair yards. The death of submarines in the USSR: sunken submarines

The sunken nuclear submarines of the USSR and Russia are a topic of ongoing debate. During the Soviet and post-Soviet years, four nuclear submarines (K-8, K-219, K-278, Kursk) were lost. The sunken K-27 was sunk independently in 1982 following a radiation accident. This was done because the nuclear submarine could not be restored, and dismantling was too expensive. All these submarines were assigned to the Northern Fleet.

Nuclear submarine K-8

This sunken Submarine considered the first officially recognized loss in the Union's nuclear fleet. The cause of the ship's death on April 12, 1970 was a fire that broke out during its stay in (Atlantic). Crew for a long time fought for the survivability of the submarine. The sailors were able to shut down the reactors. Part of the crew was evacuated on board a Bulgarian civilian ship that arrived in time, but 52 people died. This sunken submarine was one of the first nuclear-powered ships of the USSR.

Submarine K-219

Project 667A was at one time one of the most modern and survivable ships of the submarine fleet. It sank on October 6, 1986 due to a powerful ballistic missile explosion in its silo. As a result of the accident, 8 people died. In addition to two reactors, the sunken submarine had at least fifteen and 45 thermonuclear warheads on board. The ship was badly damaged, but demonstrated amazing survivability. It was able to emerge from a depth of 350 meters with terrible damage to the hull and a flooded compartment. The nuclear-powered ship sank only three days later.

"Komsomolets" (K-278)

This sunken Project 685 submarine died on April 7, 1989 as a result of a fire that broke out during a combat mission. The ship was located near the (Norwegian Sea) in neutral waters. The crew fought for the survivability of the submarine for six hours, but after several explosions in the compartments, the submarine sank. There were 69 crew members on board. Of these, 42 people died. Komsomolets was the most modern submarine of that time. His death caused great international resonance. Before this, the sunken submarines of the USSR did not attract so much attention (partly due to the secrecy regime).

"Kursk"

This tragedy is probably the most famous disaster associated with the loss of a submarine. The "Aircraft Carrier Killer", a formidable and modern nuclear-powered cruiser, sank at a depth of 107 meters, 90 km from the coast. 132 submariners were trapped at the bottom. Efforts to rescue the crew were unsuccessful. According to the official version, the nuclear submarine sank due to the explosion of an experimental torpedo that occurred in the mine. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the death of the Kursk. According to other versions (unofficial), the nuclear-powered submarine sank due to a collision with the American submarine Toledo, which was nearby, or due to being hit by a torpedo fired from it. The unsuccessful rescue operation to evacuate the crew from the sunken ship was a shock for all of Russia. 132 people died on board the nuclear-powered ship.

Launched in 1959, the Scorpion was intended primarily for anti-submarine warfare against Soviet submarine missile cruisers. It also housed a special group of Russian-speaking linguists who listened to radio transmissions from Soviet ships and other military units.

The last mission began on May 17, 1968. Under the command of Commander Francis Slattery, Scorpion had just completed a three-month voyage in the Mediterranean with the American 6th Fleet and was returning to Norfolk when the coded order arrived. Vice Admiral Arnold Schad, commander of the Atlantic Submarine Force in Norfolk, handed over a new assignment for the Scorpion. The submarine should have full swing go to the Canary Islands, located 1,500 miles off the east coast of Africa, to observe a formation of Soviet ships maneuvering in the eastern Atlantic southwest of the island chain.

The submarine sank five days later. More than five months later, the remains of the wrecked Scorpion were discovered on the ocean floor in the Atlantic, at a depth of about two miles. All 99 crew members on board were killed.

Press Secretary Commander Frank Thorp on Tuesday announced the position of the US Navy: the Scorpion nuclear submarine sank as a result of an accident while returning to its home port of Norfolk. "While the exact cause of the submarine's sinking remains unclear, there is no basis to suggest that the submarine sank after an attack or collision with a Soviet ship or submarine," Thorpe said.

But in fact, at the time of its death, Scorpio was at the center of a high-tech surveillance network, the Cold War was going on, and a military clash could not be ruled out, which presumably ended with an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, which was intended to hide the true picture of what happened. An examination of hundreds of documents and interviews with numerous eyewitnesses to the events and military personnel suggests a scenario that differs dramatically from the official Navy version:

The few privy Soviet admirals made contact with senior U.S. Navy officials, after which the United States and Soviet Union came to an agreement never to disclose details of the sinking of the Scorpion and the Soviet missile submarine K-129, which sank in the Pacific Ocean two months earlier. The publication of all the facts, they believed, could seriously complicate American-Soviet relations. The admiral, who was the top Pentagon admiral at the time of the Scorpion's sinking, said in a recent interview that the CIA had expressed concerns that the submarine might be in danger based on interception of radio communications from Soviet naval ships in the Atlantic. “There was some analysis of the connection...suggesting that the Scorpion was discovered by the Soviet force, they were looking for the submarine, and apparently they were on her trail...” said retired Vice Adm. Philip Beshany. “There was some speculation that they not only followed the submarine, but also attacked it. "

Beshani was the staff officer in charge of the programs at the time submarine warfare and had access to the most sensitive intelligence data. However, in his memoirs, Beshani noted that intelligence never received data confirming the attack. There is evidence that indirectly supports Beshani's claim that the US intelligence community was considering the possibility of a confrontation between the Scorpion and Soviet warships. The Navy command organized a secret search for the submarine within 24 hours of its sinking, some retired admirals told the Post-Intelligencer. The search was so secret that the rest of the Navy, and even the Naval Inquiry Board that investigated the accident later in 1968, were not notified of it. Friends and relatives of the Scorpio team knew nothing at all; they still assumed that the submarine was returning to base...

The biggest secret, however, belonged to the Soviet side.

No one in the US Navy - including the senior officers who sent Scorpio on the reconnaissance mission - knew at the time how deep Soviet intelligence penetrated US secrets. Underwater communications codes, thanks to Warrant Officer Walker, who was involved in the biggest spy scandal in US Navy history, may have played a role in the Scorpio tragedy. Thorpe declined to comment on a possible connection between Walker and the Scorpio accident.

The commission described the Soviet presence as unspecified sonar surveys carried out by two research vessels and a submarine rescue vessel as part of a group of other ships. The findings implied that the Soviet force was conducting a study of sound effects in the ocean environment rather than carrying out a military mission. However, Beshani, who was in charge of submarine warfare at the time, stated in a recent interview that officials The Pentagon was aware that the Soviets were working on ways to maintain high autonomy of warships and submarines in the absence of access to foreign seaports.

Navy officials stated as early as 1968 that Vice Admiral Schad transmitted a message to the Scorpion's commander on May 20, which indicated the course and speed for the submarine to return to base immediately after completing the mission. Also in 1968, Navy officials reported that Only after 03.00 on the morning of May 22 - the day the Scorpion was lost - Commander Slattery sent Shad a response message that the Scorpion would arrive in Norfolk on May 27 at 01.00 pm. Later that year, 1968, after it was learned that the submarine had been on a "high-class mission" before it sank, Navy officials reported that Slattery reported completing the mission and returning home. The texts of both messages were classified as “top secret”. But was the Scorpio mission really completed?

One Navy officer holds a key position in contradicting the official Navy statement made in 1968 that the submarine was not in direct contact with Soviet ships when it sank. Lt. John Rogers, a liaison officer at Submarine Headquarters Atlantic serving in Norfolk in 1968, was the officer on duty the night Slattery's message was received. Rogers gave an interview to journalist Pete Earley in 1986, in which he stated that Slattery's message actually contained a report that Soviet ships were beginning to track the Scorpion, rather than a message about the completion of the mission. Rogers died in 1995, but his widow, Bernice Rogers, confirmed in a recent interview that her husband told her that the Scorpion had disappeared while actually on a mission to spy on a Soviet force." My husband was the duty officer at the Submarine Forces Communications Center that night when the message came from Slattery,” said Bernice Rogers. “He knew what was happening. We've been talking about this ever since. "

What is known is that fifteen hours after the final message was sent, the Scorpio exploded at 06:44 pm and sank in over 2 miles of water approximately 400 miles southwest of the Azores. What happened to Scorpio? For nearly three decades, the Navy continued to say it could not identify “some of the reasons” for the loss of Scorpio and refused to release the Board of Inquiry's findings, citing tensions. cold war" The commission, composed of seven senior naval officials, held hearings throughout the summer and late fall of 1968 and completed a report in January 1969 that was kept secret for 24 years.

In early 1993, the Navy declassified most of the commission's findings. Vice Admiral Bernard Austin, who headed the commission, concluded that the most convincing and probable evidence was that the Scorpion torpedo was malfunctioning, which circulated and exploded near the submarine’s hull. The panel's conclusion was based in part on evidence pointing to a similar incident that occurred on the Scorpion in 1967 with an unarmed training torpedo that suddenly launched and had to be thrown overboard. The evidence included photographs of the crash site, audio recordings of the disaster, and detailed examination of paper documents, including documents and reports sent by mail from the Scorpio during the initial part of the operation in the Mediterranean. In its 1,354-page final report, the Commission of Inquiry rejected two alternative versions of the Scorpion's demise - the claim by Vice Admiral Schad and his staff that an unspecified technical accident triggered a chain of events that led to a massive influx of water into the submarine, and the claim that that the death of the Scorpion was caused by an explosion on board the submarine. The commission also concluded that the possibility of the Scorpion’s destruction as a result of enemy actions was excluded.

In 1970, another Navy panel completed another secret report that negated the Board of Inquiry's conclusion. Instead of the theory that the torpedo exploded accidentally, the new group suggested that a mechanical failure caused an uncontrollable influx of water. This report provided much of the evidence and the assumption of an internal battery explosion, which led to water entering the pressure hull and sinking the submarine. However, two senior Navy officers involved in the original investigation into the Scorpio disaster in the summer of 1968 told the Post-Intelligencer that the Board of Inquiry's conclusion that the torpedo hit was an accident remains the most realistic reconstruction, supported by available evidence. acoustic recordings moment of the accident.

Recordings from three Atlantic hydroacoustic stations - one in the Canary Islands and two near Newfoundland - recorded a single sharp sound (noise), then after 91 seconds of silence, a series of rapidly alternating sounds followed, corresponding to the sound of the destruction of the hull compartments and tanks of the submarine from water pressure. John Craven, then the Navy's top civilian and undersea technology expert who led the team that discovered the Scorpion wreckage, said the acoustics all but confirmed the explosion of (one of) the torpedoes (not hull destruction due to water penetration) sank the Scorpion, killing 99 people in it. “Once the hull begins to compress, the remaining compartments immediately follow, compressing sharply,” Craven said. “There is no way you can have the hull crumple and then have 91 seconds of silence while the rest of the hull decides whether or not to try to hold it together.”

Retired Adm. Bernard Clarey, who was the commander of the Navy's submarine forces in 1968, also rejected the theory that the battery exploded. Such an accident could not have generated the released and acoustic energy recorded on sonar recordings, he told the Post-Intelligencer. Both Craven and Clary said in interviews that the evidence supports the theory that one of the Scorpion's own torpedoes exploded inside the hull.

While rumors circulated among American submariners over the years that the Scorpion was waylaid and sunk by a Soviet submarine, no evidence of a deliberate attack has emerged. The Navy's 1968 investigation concluded that there was no evidence of any Soviet preparations for military action or a crisis such as might be expected in the event of a premeditated attack on the Scorpion. The Commission of Inquiry's report was silent on whether the submarine could have sunk after an accidental collision. At the same time, Thorpe, a spokesman for the Navy, said that the commission found that the Scorpion was 200 miles away from the Soviet ships at the time the disaster occurred.

The death of the Scorpion still remains a mystery to the families and friends of its crew members.

The final seconds of Scorpio (based on sonar recording of the Scorpio disaster made by SOSUS station in the Canary Islands. Source: Additional recording of the hearings of the Commission of Inquiry of the Commander-in-Chief, US Navy Atlantic Fleet)

18:59:35 — 1. The explosion of a torpedo warhead from the port side in the middle of the submarine causes rapid flooding of the central post and other compartments in the middle part of the submarine. 2. Water enters the reactor and engine compartments through the transition tunnel.

19:01:06 — 3. The torpedo compartment bulkhead collapsed, causing rapid flooding.

19:01:10 - 4. The aft bulkhead of the engine compartment is destroyed, the 85-foot aft section of the submarine is sequentially destroyed in the direction of the additional mechanisms compartment and the reactor compartment.

AN AMERICAN JOURNALIST CLAIMES THAT A US NAVY SUBMARINE WAS DESTROYED BY A SOVIET SUBMARINE.

(Article in the newspaper “Vzglyad” 2012)

American war journalist Ed Offley's 25-year investigation, during which he concluded that the US Navy nuclear submarine Scorpion was destroyed by a Soviet submarine, has caused a scandal in the United States. According to the publicist, this was “revenge” of Soviet submariners for the death of the diesel-electric submarine K-129. After which the governments of the USSR and the USA agreed to keep the death of both boats secret, attributing it to an accident.

In the United States, there was a high-profile presentation of the investigative book Scorpion Down by military journalist Ed Offley, who spent 25 years researching the disaster of the American nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589).

“The sinking of the Scorpion was an act of retaliation on the part of the Soviets, as they believed the US Navy was responsible for the loss of K-129 in March 1968,” Offley writes. In his opinion, the USSR (and now Russia) and the USA have been hiding this fact for more than 40 years, fearing complications in bilateral relations.

The official story of the death of Scorpio goes like this. In May 1968, the submarine’s crew, returning from combat duty in the Mediterranean Sea to a base in Norfolk (Virginia), received a new assignment - to proceed to the Canary Islands, where “a mysterious formation of Soviet ships came to the attention of Navy intelligence.”

The submarine sank five days later. More than five months later, the remains of the wrecked Scorpio were discovered at a depth of 3,047 meters in the Atlantic using the Triest II deep-sea submersible. All 99 crew members on board were killed.

An authoritative commission was created to investigate the causes of the submarine tragedy, which in 1968 completed its work and stated that the submarine exceeded the maximum diving depth and sank “for an unknown reason.” However, such a verdict did not satisfy either the relatives of the dead sailors or the public.

Dozens of versions have been put forward, here are the most popular of them: the ship could have collided with a Soviet submarine or died from the explosion of its own torpedo. For unknown reasons, one of the torpedoes in the torpedo tube became operational. The commander ordered it to be shot overboard, but the torpedo fell into the circulation around the submarine and homed in on it. As a result, an explosion occurred that destroyed the strong hull of the boat.

US Navy spokesman Commander Frank Thorpe then said that the Scorpion submarine sank as a result of an accident while returning to its home port of Norfolk. "While the exact cause of the submarine's sinking remains unclear, there is no basis to suggest that the submarine sank after an attack or collision with a Soviet ship or submarine," Thorpe said.

Since then, Soviet and American senior military officials have categorically denied the version of a collision with Soviet ships and unanimously claim that there were no Soviet nuclear-powered ships within a radius of 400 km in the area where the Scorpion sank.

The version of a torpedo explosion was later confirmed when a re-examination of the remains of the nuclear submarine was carried out. The Trieste's video camera captured the hatches of the torpedo tubes, torn out by a powerful explosion. That is, it turned out that the torpedo went off inside the nuclear submarine (as in the case of the sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine K-149 Kursk).

Yet on Wednesday, at the launch of his book in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, journalist Ed Offley said: "On May 22, 1968, there was a very short and very secret battle between our and Soviet submarine forces."

“It is possible that the confrontation between the Scorpion and the Soviet Echo-2 class submarine may have erupted as an isolated local skirmish that got out of control,” Offley writes. He emphasizes that “in any case, after Scorpio was at the bottom Atlantic Ocean, both sides reached an unprecedented agreement to bury the truth about both K-129 and Scorpio.

By the way, the journalist himself believes that the United States was not involved in the death of K-129 (for which, allegedly, Soviet submariners “revenged” the Americans), but “many aspects of the incident with K-129 remain controversial due to the continued secrecy on both sides "

According to one version, the K-129 diesel missile submarine, later raised to the surface by the Americans as a result of a secret operation, sank after a collision with the American submarine USS Swordfish (SSN-579) on March 8, 1968, during combat duty in Pacific Ocean(that is, three months before the Scorpio submarine sank).

Then 97 Soviet sailors died, whose bodies were buried with military honors by the Americans. The documents and personal belongings of the victims, along with a video recording of the burial ceremony, were handed over to Boris Yeltsin by the US authorities in October 1992.

Answering questions at the presentation of his book, Offley said that no one from the Pentagon or the US Navy has yet officially responded to the release of the new book, but, as RIA Novosti reports, he has already received “a dozen messages” from American veteran submariners, who told him that for them the real reasons for the death of the Scorpio were not a secret.

Meanwhile, several veterans of the Russian submarine fleet, who were interviewed by a journalist from the newspaper VZGLYAD, gave almost identical comments to the “Offley version”, boiling down to two points: “The author is a conspiracy theorist who wants to “cut down cabbages” on old tragedies. We can only talk speculatively about the reasons for the death of Soviet and American submarines.”

(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 using the outboard sea ​​water. 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 the island New Earth 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. Compartment with spent nuclear fuel 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).

Under the water

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 ballistic missiles on board. As a result of depressurization of the primary circuit of the 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 warhead 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 got into 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).

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 it was found, it turned out that it had broken into six pieces, 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 exactly the 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 battened 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 passing 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 ice water. As a result of the disaster, 42 sailors died, and 27 survived.

K-141 "Kursk"

About the mysterious death of the Kursk submarine, strange behavior Russian authorities and questions that no one has yet answered, we have already written. 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 get in touch with 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.

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.

© Photo: public domain Nuclear submarine K‑278 "Komsomolets"

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 the explosion of a nuclear weapon and radiation disaster, however, 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.

© public domain

© public domain

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 strong storm managed 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 ships arrived in the accident area Navy USSR, but due to a storm, it was not possible to take the submarine into tow. Part of the submarine’s personnel was transferred 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 were injured lethal doses radioactive exposure.

March 8, 1968 from the Pacific Fleet. The submarine carried out combat service in the area Hawaiian Islands, and since March 8 she 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 civilian population 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 when the submarine is in a periscope position atmospheric air into its diesel compartment and removal of diesel exhaust gases). The entire crew died - 68 people.

September 26, 1957 in the Gulf of Tallinn 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. As a result of the accident, 28 sailors were killed.

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