Russian submarine sinks; 2 die, 7 missing

St Paul Pioneer Press / AP ^ | 8/30/03

[Valin]

MOSCOW - A Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank in the Barents Sea on Saturday morning as it was being towed to a scrapyard, killing at least two of the 10 sailors on board, the Defense Ministry said.
The two nuclear reactors of the 40-year-old K-159 was shut down at the time of the sinking at about 4 a.m. about 3 1/2 miles northwest of Kildin Island, said the Navy's deputy chief, Adm. Viktor Kravchenko. No weapons were aboard.

Rescue ships of the Northern Fleet reached the accident site within an hour in heavy rain. One sailor was rescued, the bodies of two dead crew members were found and the fate of seven others was unknown, the ministry said.
The water in the Barents Sea was about 50 degrees where the K-159 sank, meaning a person could survive about 45 minutes without protective gear, Navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told the ITAR-Tass news agency.
"It appears that no hope remains that any of the members of the crew are still alive," the Interfax news agency quoted Kravchenko was quoted as saying about 13 hours after the sinking.
Kravchenko and Dygalo both said earlier the submarine's twin nuclear reactors posed no danger to the environment.

The K-159, a November-class attack submarine, was decommissioned on July 16, 1989. It was being towed on four pontoons from its base in the town of Gremikha to a plant in Polarnye where workers were to unload the nuclear fuel and scrap the vessel.
The pontoons were torn off by the fierce storm, and the submarine sank in 560 feet of water, the ministry said.

The Kremlin press service said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in Sardinia for meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, had been informed of the sinking.
The sinking "testifies to how the sea demands discipline, it does not forgive any kind of blunder or mistake," Putin said Saturday while conducting Berlusconi on a tour of a Russian missile cruiser anchored off Sardinia. "A thorough investigation will be conducted."

Russia's last major submarine accident happened Aug. 12, 2000, when the Kursk sank while on maneuvers in the Barents Sea. All 118 men on board were killed, and the tragedy shed light on the troubles of the Russian navy in the post-Soviet era.

Russia has decommissioned about 189 nuclear-powered submarines over the past 15 years. However, officials say 126 of those are still are at docks with nuclear fuel in their reactors, prompting international concern about leaks and the possibility of nuclear materials being transferred to other nations or terrorists.
It will cost $3.9 billion to scrap all the subs, Russian officials say. Yet last year, the Russian government budgeted just $70 million for improving nuclear safety in the country as a whole.

Submarines of the November class, the first generation of Russian nuclear subs, entered service between 1958-1963, according to Jane's Fighting Ships. They carried 104 crew members, and the K-159 was designed to carry low-yield nuclear torpedoes.
A submarine of the same type, the K-8, caught fire and sank in April 1970 in the Bay of Biscay north of Spain while returning from naval maneuvers, killing 52 people.

[Tacis]

Geez, I certainly hope that Harrison Ford was able to get off THIS soviet sub before IT sank. We just couldn't afford to lose his contributions to US foreign policy and brain surgery.

[KevinDavis]

We all drowned in the Russian Submarine, the Russian Submarine.

[Valin]

There's one scene from that mivie that has always stuck with me.
Our hero is talking to a WH aide and the aide says "Now look I'm a politician. That means I spend half my time kissing babies...and the other half trying to steal their candy."

Just something to keep in mind when dealing with pols.

[norraad]

Oh, man, what metaphor!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Seems as if these subs have harmed more Rooskies than anyone else.

[yonif]

That was an awsome movie I thought.

[yonif]

Russia has decommissioned about 189 nuclear-powered submarines

Wow.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

I'm not a sailor, but shouldn't a submarine under tow have had a safety boat or two hovering close at hand? How about it, Navy / Coast Guard types?

[Bobby777]

The pontoons were torn off by the fierce storm

I had wondered if they had used additional floatation devices for safety's sake. Sometimes the sea is just too powerful and there's not much men can do. They may be able to use various methods to lift this sub off the bottom since 560 feet isn't that far down (with today's modern equipment).

God rest their souls.

[Paleo Conservative]

You've lost another submarine?

[EarlyBird]

The two nuclear reactors ... was shut down at the time...

Are they skipping grammar class in jounalism school now?

[judicial meanz]

As a former submariner, I would think safety would dictate the Russian navy would have had a safety boat or an assisting tugboat around just in case.

However, the Russian navy isnt well known for safety. Especially the Russian submarine navy.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Are they skipping grammar class in journalism school now?

I have seen quite a bit of that kind of thing lately. That means the writer and the editor are deficient.

[razorback-bert]

They are skipping grammar in grammar school now. Is it still call grammar school ?

[GladesGuru]

If history is skipped over, why not grammar? Though with spell checkers, one wonders about the presstitute's IQ level.

[Carnivorous_Herbivore]

"As a former submariner, I would think safety would dictate the Russian navy would have had a safety boat or an assisting tugboat around just in case.

However, the Russian navy isnt well known for safety. Especially the Russian submarine navy. "


I'm also a former sumariner and you couldn't pay me to ride a Russian boat.

Hey, Judicial Means, what boats were you on? I was on the U.S.S. Jack (605) and the U.S.S. Annapolis(760).

[judicial meanz]

Especially the Charlie and November class! They had good performance, but the crews paid for it in the worst way.


I was on the 579, 711, and 654(B).


Take care man!

[Fred Hayek]

Hotel (SSBN), Echo (SSGN), and November (SSN) had the same type power plant, kinda crude. The November class got most of its performance by brute power and by having no shielding around the reactor - the latter reduced the displacement. Getting billeted onto a November class boat was like a slow death sentence. As early as the late 1960's there were rumors reaching the West of November crews with no hair and leukemia. Of the three classes of Soviet first generation nuke boats, the Echo II's were the last to be operational, the last decommissioned in 1994. The last Hotel boat was decommisioned around 1989.

[judicial meanz]

I wonder if any mortality studies have been done of former Soviet submariners and their death rates from radiation related illness?

It would be interesting in reading.


Thanks for the info