Submarine accidents (from 1945-2009) A list of submarine accidents since 1945 documents accidents that occurred after World War II. Among the sunken submarines were at least nine nuclear-powered submarines, some of them with missiles or torpedoes equipped with nuclear warheads, and at least two diesel-powered boats with nuclear weapons. Some currently available data on environmental contamination with radioactive materials are also presented. The class of the incident is indicated by codes: NSh - emergency situation; PE - an emergency; NS - accident; A - accident; K is a disaster. .== List == Date Name NATO Classification State Killed 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. Explosion of a diesel engine and a 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. During the training of the command "Urgent dive!" air ducts to diesels were not closed. As a result, up to 40 tons of water entered the diesel compartment and the boat almost vertically went under water and sank into the ground at a depth of 83 meters. On August 26, she 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 engine explosion, which caused a violation of the tightness of the pressure hull. 10/13/1960 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR A→NS Nuclear submarine. In one of the reactors, a rupture of the cooling pipe occurred, as a result of which there was a leak of the coolant. Three crew members showed visible signs of acute radiation sickness, 10 crew members received significant doses of radiation. 01/26/1961 S-80 Project 644, Whiskey Twin-Cylinder USSR 68 0 K A project 644 diesel-electric missile submarine from the Northern Fleet sank in the Barents Sea as a result of flooding of the compartments with outboard 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 the development of combat training tasks, a steam generator ruptured. One person was booked out with an acute form of radiation sickness. Part of the personnel received various doses of radiation. 04/12/1961 K-19 Project 658, Hotel-I USSR 0 State of 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 bow on the ground. There was no significant damage. 1961 K-19 Project 658, Hotel-I USSR 1 NS Even before the boat went on its first ill-fated trip, it lost a crew member. When loading rockets into the mines, a sailor was crushed to death by a manhole 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 exercises, 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 went off. The cause of the accident was a sharp drop in water pressure in the reactor cooling system. In the process of emergency work to create a backup cooling system for the reactor, 8 crew members received doses of radioactive exposure that became fatal. They died from radiation sickness, having lived after the accident from one to three weeks. Another 42 people received significant doses of radiation. 10/08/1961 K-8 Project 627A, November USSR 0 A Nuclear submarine. While practicing the attack of a group of ships on the championship of the Navy, a leak from the steam generator reopened. 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 was lost 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 scheduled inspection and check of weapons and technical equipment. Bulkhead hatches in all compartments were open. Two bow compartments of the boat were completely destroyed. The entire crew of the B-37 (59 people) died instantly as a result of the impact of the shock wave and poisoning by the gaseous products of the explosion. The second hull to the B-37 was the submarine S-350. After the explosion, a crack formed in the pressure 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, drills were taking place directly on the pier. 52 sailors and midshipmen died. This accident, in terms of the total number of victims (122), is still the largest in the domestic submarine fleet and the second in the world in post-war history (after the American Thresher 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, the reactor core was restarted. When the reactor lid was blown up, the release of a steam-air mixture from under the lid and a sharp deterioration in the radiation situation were recorded. No work was carried out for five days, experts tried to find out the cause of the incident. Having drawn the wrong conclusions, on February 12, 1965, they began to re-explode the cover, while again violating the technology (they used an abnormal system for fixing compensating grids). When the lid was separated from the body, a radioactive vapor-air medium was released from under the lid and a fire started. As a result, part of the personnel of the nuclear submarine 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 flooded in the area of Novaya Zemlya, 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. Explosion battery in the hold of the sixth compartment. The bulkhead hatch killed 4 sailors in the seventh compartment. The fire was extinguished, 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 in the hold of the central post, a fuel fire occurred. Due to a malfunction of 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 I and II compartments while on combat duty in the Norwegian Sea. She returned to the base on her own .. It turned out that in the fitting of the hydraulic machine, instead of the standard sealing gasket made of red copper, there is a washer roughly cut from paronite. Someone's hand changed the gaskets during the ship's dock repairs. Red copper, although not a precious metal, was highly valued among craftsmen. All sorts of crafts were carved out of 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 was lost at a point with coordinates 40°06′ N. sh. 179°57′ W (G) (O), 750 miles from Oahu. It was armed with nuclear weapons (torpedoes and missiles). Partially raised on August 12, 1974 as a result of a covert 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 during the month). ChP→NS Nuclear submarine. The first serious incident with the ship was the release of radioactive gas into the reactor compartment. When correcting problems, many crew members received various doses of radiation, it is difficult to unequivocally 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 nuclear ballistic missiles. While working out training tasks at the 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 was lost 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 did not lead to anything. The emergency team (22 people), on the orders 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 are still disputes about the presence and quantity of nuclear weapons on board the boat. According to Soviet data, two muffled 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 submarine with cruise missiles. At a depth of 45 meters, she collided with the US nuclear submarine SSN-639 "Totor". She began to quickly sink into the depths with a large trim on the nose, but soon she was able to keep the depth, then surfaced. The reactors, muffled by automatic protection, were launched, but when they tried to start, it turned out that the right screw was jammed. The approaching tug delivered the boat to the base, where damage was found to the stabilizer, the light hull in the area of 8-10 compartments and a dent in the strong hull in the 9th compartment. On the American boat, the fence and the cabin hatch were damaged, the strong cabin itself was filled with water, and there were no casualties either. 02/24/1972 K-19 Project 658M, Hotel-II USSR 30 (28 and 2 rescuers) 76 A→NS Nuclear submarine with nuclear ballistic missiles. While returning to the base from combat patrols in the North Atlantic, a massive fire broke out in the ninth compartment. In the 10th compartment, 12 people were cut off. They were released only in 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 was lost as a result of a collision with a research vessel (in foreign sources - an electronic intelligence vessel) "Akademik Berg" upon return to the base. The captain saved the crew by throwing the boat into the shallows. Collision "Academician Berg" with the K-56 was classified as a "navigational accident with serious consequences." 16 officers, 5 midshipmen, 5 sailors, one civilian specialist from Leningrad were killed. At the burial site of 19 sailors in the center of the cemetery in the city of Shkotovo-17 (now the city of 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-powered missile submarine with cruise missiles After painting inside the submarine, an unauthorized launch of the fire extinguishing system in the fifth compartment occurred, resulting in poisoning of two submariners with a mixture of ethylene varnish and freon fumes. 12/11/1975 K-447 "Kislovodsk" Project 667B "Murena", Delta USSR 6th emergency Nuclear missile submarine was at the base. Suddenly a hurricane hit. The boat left the mooring lines and went to sea. The mooring crews were still cleaning up the ends when several powerful waves covered the boat. Six people were overboard, the bodies were not found until 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 broke out in the 5th compartment, liquidated by the LOH system (boat volumetric chemical with the use of freon). But freon was also erroneously supplied to the 7th compartment, where 2 people died, another 9 people from this compartment the ship's doctor managed to save. The cause of the fire is a wrench forgotten on the switch, the cause of the freon supply error is incorrect marking on the LOH system. The shipyard was found to be the culprit. 09/24/1976 K-47 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 3 101 A Nuclear-powered missile submarine. Fire on board while sailing in the North Atlantic. 10/18/1976 K-387 Project 671RT, "Syomga", Victor-II USSR 1 A Nuclear-powered torpedo submarine. Power plant failure (rupture of the main capacitor). 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 received burns to 60% of the body and died. 12/11/1978 K-171 Project 667B "Murena", Delta USSR 3rd Emergency→NS The nuclear-powered missile submarine was returning to the base after firing on the surface. As a result of incorrect actions by the crew, several tons of water spilled onto the reactor lid. The BC-5 commander did not report to the boat commander and tried to evaporate the water and ventilate the compartment. To check the situation, he and two more divers entered the compartment and battened down, after which, due to the increase in temperature and pressure, they could not open the hatch and died. 08/21/1980 K-122 Project 659T, Echo-I USSR 14 A→NS Nuclear-powered torpedo submarine. Fire in the 7th compartment east of the Japanese island of Okinawa. After the repair, the condition of the boat was regarded as unsatisfactory, it no longer went to sea and after 15 years of sludge it was cut into metal in 1995. 05/23/1981 K-211 Project 667BDR Kalmar, Delta III USSR , which, without surfacing, left the area of the accident. The Soviet commission then, based on the nature of the debris stuck in the hull, concluded that it was an American Stegen-class submarine. Later, there were claims that it was the English HMS Sceptre (S104) Officially, neither one nor the other has been confirmed. 10/21/1981 S-178 Project 613, Whiskey USSR 34 (31 bodies found + 3 missing) 31? A Project 613V 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 mediocrely organized rescue operation in the water near Vladivostok and the Refrigerator-13 RVS, many people froze and died. When part of the crew tried to independently exit through the torpedo tubes, three disappeared without a trace. The main fault belongs to the RFU "Refrigerator-13". The commander of the S-178 and the first officer of the RFU-13 were sentenced to 10 years. November 15, 1981 C-178 was raised to the surface, after draining the compartments and unloading torpedoes, the boat was towed to the dry dock of Dalzavod. The restoration of the boat was deemed inappropriate. 10/27/1981 S-363 Project 613, Whiskey USSR 0 Emergency Project 613 diesel medium submarine. meters from the coast. There were no casualties, but the incident received nasty international publicity. Naval wits nicknamed the boat "Swedish Komsomolets". She was refloated by an auxiliary vessel on November 6, 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 sealing ring of the exhaust valve burned out and carbon monoxide went 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 High-speed nuclear-powered anti-submarine torpedo submarine. During a power failure in the area of Medvezhiy Island (Barents Sea), an accident occurred in a power plant with the release of liquid metal coolant into the reactor compartment. The boat lost its course, was towed to the base. The crew members received varying doses of radiation. 08/15/1982 KS-19 Project 658С, Hotel-II of the USSR 1 ChP → NS There are different data on the date of the accident - August 15 or 17. This is again the infamous K-19 Hiroshima, but reclassified from a cruiser to a communications boat. When carrying out maintenance work in the battery compartment, a foreign object got on the bipolar contacts. 2 or 3 people were seriously burned by an electric arc. One of them died on August 20 in the hospital. 01/21/1983 K-10 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 0 A Nuclear-powered missile submarine. While submerged, she collided with an unknown object. After surfacing, nothing but sunbed spots were found. None of the countries of the Pacific region reported about the accidents of their submarines. Only two years later, an obituary appeared in the Chinese press about the death of a group of scientists on the submarine that day. These events have not been 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 reason for the death of the submarine was the lack of repair of the faulty submarine. In addition, the main crew was mostly on vacation, and it was decided to send the boat on a hike "at any cost", as a result, the crew was urgently formed with different boats in the last 24 hours, not paying attention to the protests of the commander. He was later sentenced to prison as a result. August 6, 1983 the boat was raised. The restoration of the boat was deemed inappropriate. 06/18/1984 K-131 Project 675, Echo-II USSR 13 A→NS When a nuclear submarine from the Northern Fleet returned 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 "Kalmar", Delta III USSR 2 A While preparing to go to sea due to incorrect actions of the crew, the VVD pipeline ruptured. Many wounded, two dead. 08/10/1985 K-431 (K-31) Project 675, Echo-II USSR 10 (workers of the shipyard) A→NS Nuclear submarine with cruise missiles. At a shipyard in Chazhma Bay (Shkotovo-22 village) of Primorsky Krai (55 km from Vladivostok), when nuclear fuel was refueled, 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 had 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 of wounds K Nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine from the Northern Fleet. Killed by fire while on combat patrol in the Sargasso Sea of the Atlantic Ocean, 770 km northeast of Bermuda. The cruiser sank while being towed in a storm at a depth of 5,500 m, taking with her 48 RSM-25 nuclear warheads and two nuclear torpedoes. At the cost of his life, sailor Sergei Anatolyevich Preminin 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 Russian Federation (posthumously). 02/18/1987 B-33 Project 641, Foxtrot USSR 5 A While working out the course task at a depth of 10 meters, a fire broke out due to a short circuit on the electrical panel in the 2nd compartment. It was not possible to eliminate the fire with the LOH system, in order to avoid an explosion of ammunition in the 1st compartment, the commander ordered to flood it. 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 in 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 commander of the submarine capt. was washed off the bridge and died. 1st rank Nekrasov A. B. 04/07/1989 K-278 "Komsomolets" Project 685 "Fin", Mike USSR 42 30 K A nuclear torpedo submarine from the Northern Fleet was lost in the Norwegian Sea southwest of Bear Island while returning from combat duty in 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 of the 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 submersibles, during which 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 When loading torpedoes, a cable burst, killing a torpedo pilot. 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 near Kildin Island, in Russian territorial waters, K-276 collided with an American submarine trying to carry out covert tracking of Russian ships in the exercise area . As a result of the collision, the Russian boat received damage to the cabin. After the collision, a fire broke out on the American boat, there were casualties among the personnel, but she nevertheless returned to the base on her 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 campaign, a compressor malfunction was noticed in 1 compartment. After returning to the base, when trying to start it, an explosion occurred, 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 Delfin, Delta IV USA, Russia 0 A Collision of two nuclear submarines in the Barents Sea. Despite serious damage, both were able to return to their bases under their own power. After a minor repair, the Russian boat returned to service, while the American submarine was withdrawn from the fleet and scrapped due to the inexpediency 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 to enter 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. It sank in the Barents Sea, 137 km from Severomorsk, at a depth of 108 meters as a result of a disaster that occurred during the exercises. Raised October 10, 2001. Dismantled after unloading nuclear weapons in May 2002. . 08/30/2003 B-159 (until 1989 -K-159) November Russia 9 1 K Nuclear submarine. It sank near Kildin Island at a depth of 240 meters while being towed from Gremikha Bay for disposal at shipyard No. 10 Shkval in Polyarny. The plan was to raise the boat. As of 2008, the boat has not been lifted. The boat was moored to the pier, scheduled work was carried out on board. A 19-year-old sailor who worked near a fresh water tank noticed a malfunction pressure reducing valve VVD, fed into the container, about which he warned his comrades and they managed to leave the compartment, while he himself was wounded in the head by a metal fragment of an exploding container and died an hour later in the hospital. 09/06/2006 Daniil Moskovsky (B-414) Project 671RTM(K), Victor-III Russia 2 A→NS Project nuclear torpedo submarine from the Northern Fleet. While at the training ground 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 servicemen and 17 civilian specialists) 188 CP→NS Po official version, the emergency fire extinguishing system worked unauthorized on the submarine. The nuclear power plant on board the boat was not damaged, the radiation background on the ship is normal. Based on the K-19 disaster, the movie K-19: The Widowmaker was made. AT different time three incidents occurred with this boat, leading to numerous victims and a frightening name: "Hiroshima".
On October 6, 1986, the Soviet strategic nuclear submarine K-219 sank. It was one of the most dangerous submarines of that time. K-219 combined a submarine and a missile depot capable of leading to the end of the world. Shortly after the dive and departure towards the United States, a leak was discovered in one of the mines, which eventually led to a complete depressurization of the compartment. As a result, the rocket inside exploded, provoking the release of a huge amount of harmful substances into the ocean. Today we will talk about five no less dangerous submarines left at the bottom of the oceans.
This American nuclear submarine was lost on April 10, 1963 in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston along with the entire crew. It was impossible to immediately determine the cause of the sinking, because at some point the connection with the boat simply broke off. Subsequently, based on numerous photographs, it became clear that, most likely, the boat was depressurized and due to water getting inside, a short circuit occurred, which led to a shutdown of the reactor.
Video
USS Thresher
K-8. Died in training
The submarine, which was on combat duty in the Mediterranean Sea, was sent to the North Atlantic region to participate in the Ocean-70 exercises, the largest in the history of the Soviet Navy. Its task was to designate the submarine forces of the “enemy” breaking through to the shores of the Soviet Union. On April 8, 1970, as a result of a fire in one of the compartments, the boat sank off the coast of Spain, where it is still located. The boat had four nuclear torpedoes.
Video
Submarine K-8
K-27 - the legendary boat
Before its crash, the Soviet boat was a ship - the winner of various awards, admirals and Heroes of the Soviet Union left its crew. But because of the accident that occurred on it in 1968, it was decided to exclude the submarine from the Navy and flood it in the Barents Sea. The nuclear reactor was mothballed, but the boat was sunk in the Kara Sea and is still at a depth of 75 m. In 2013, a project was adopted to raise the boat from the bottom for further disposal.
Video
The last campaign of the "Golden Fish" K-27
K-278 "Komsomolets" - third generation submarine
This Soviet submarine holds the absolute record for diving depth - 1027 m. It sank in the Norwegian Sea on April 7, 1989. A fire broke out in one of the compartments, as a result of which she sank with her entire stock of torpedo shells.
Video
Nuclear submarine K-278 "Komsomolets"
K-141 "Kursk"
This boat sank in the Barents Sea at a depth of 108 m as a result of a disaster that occurred on August 12, 2000. All 118 crew members on board were killed. The submarine sank during an exercise. On board the boat were 24 P-700 Granit cruise missiles and 24 torpedoes. Several versions of the death of this boat are put forward, including a torpedo explosion, an explosion on a mine, torpedoing, a collision with another object.
Video
October 7th, 2014 01:21 pm
On October 6, 1986, the submarine K-219 sank in the Bermuda region. The cause of the disaster was an explosion in a rocket silo. This post is dedicated to the memory of all those who died in submarine disasters.
The pier is quiet at one o'clock at night.
You only know one
When a tired submarine
From the depths goes home
In December 1952, the S-117 diesel-electric boat, preparing for exercises as part of the Pacific Fleet, crashed in the Sea of Japan. Due to the breakdown of the right diesel engine, the boat went to the designated point on one engine. A few hours later, according to the report of the commander, the malfunction was eliminated, but the crew did not get in touch anymore. The cause and place of the sinking of the submarine is still unknown. Presumably sank during a test dive after poor-quality or unsuccessful repairs at sea due to faulty air and gas locks, due to which the diesel compartment was quickly filled with water and the boat could not surface. Keep in mind that this was 1952. For disrupting a combat mission, both the boat commander and the commander of the BCH-5 could be prosecuted. There were 52 people on board.
November 21, 1956, near Tallinn (Estonia), the M-200 submarine, which is part of the Baltic Fleet, collided with the State destroyer destroyer. 6 people were rescued. 28 died.
Another accident in the Tallinn Bay occurred on September 26, 1957, when the M-256 diesel submarine from the Baltic Fleet sank after a fire started on board. Although initially it was possible to raise it, after four hours it went to the bottom. Of the 42 crew members, 7 people were saved. The A615 project boat had a propulsion system based on a diesel engine operating under water in a closed cycle through a solid chemical absorber to remove carbon dioxide and enrich the combustible mixture with liquid oxygen, which sharply increased the risk of fire. The A615 boats were notorious among submariners, because of the high fire hazard they were called "lighters".
On January 27, 1961, the S-80 diesel submarine sank in the Barents Sea. She did not return to base from the training ground. The search operation yielded no results. Only seven years later, the C-80 was found. The cause of death was the flow of water through the RDP valve (submarine retractable device for supplying air to diesel engines in the periscope position of the submarine) into its diesel compartment. So far, there is no clear picture of the incident. According to some reports, the boat tried to evade the ramming attack of the Norwegian reconnaissance ship "Maryata" by an urgent circulation dive and being heavily weighted so as not to be thrown to the surface (there was a storm), it fell to the depth with a raised shaft and an open RDP air flap. The entire crew - 68 people - was killed. There were two commanders on board.
On July 4, 1961, during the Arctic Circle exercise, a radiation leak occurred at the failed K-19 submarine reactor. The crew was able to fix the problem on their own, the boat remained afloat and was able to return to base. Eight submariners died from ultra-high doses of radiation.
On January 14, 1962, a B-37 diesel submarine from the Northern Fleet exploded at the naval base of the Northern Fleet in the city of Polyarny. As a result of the explosion of ammunition in the forward torpedo compartment, everyone who was on the pier, on the submarine and at the torpedo-technical base - 122 people - was killed. Serious damage was received by the S-350 submarine standing nearby. The emergency investigation commission concluded that the cause of the tragedy was damage to the fairing of the combat charging compartment of one of the torpedoes during loading of ammunition. After that, the commander of the BCH-3, in order to hide the incident according to the list of accidents No. 1 in the fleet, tried to solder the hole, because of which the torpedo caught fire and exploded. The rest of the torpedoes exploded from the detonation. The commander of the boat, captain 2nd rank Begeba, was on the pier 100 meters from the ship, was thrown into the water by an explosion, was seriously injured, was subsequently brought to trial, defended himself and was acquitted.
On August 8, 1967, in the Norwegian Sea, on the nuclear submarine K-3 "Leninsky Komsomol", the first nuclear submarine of the USSR Navy, a fire occurred in a submerged position in compartments 1 and 2. The fire was localized and extinguished by sealing the emergency compartments. 39 crew members were killed, 65 people were saved. The ship returned to base under its own power.
On March 8, 1968, the diesel-electric missile submarine K-129 from the Pacific Fleet was lost. The submarine carried out military service in the area Hawaiian Islands, and from March 8, she stopped communicating. 98 people died. The boat sank at a depth of 6000 meters. The cause of the crash is unknown. On board the boat, discovered in 1974 by the Americans, who unsuccessfully tried to raise it, there were 100 people.
April 12, 1970 in the Bay of Biscay, as a result of a fire in the aft compartments, the nuclear submarine K-8 pr. 627A from the Northern Fleet sank. 52 people died, 73 people were saved. The boat sank at a depth of more than 4000 meters. There were two nuclear weapons on board. Two nuclear reactors before flooding were muffled by regular means.
On February 24, 1972, when returning to the base from combat patrols in the North Atlantic, a fire broke out in the ninth compartment on the nuclear submarine K-19, pr. 658. Later, the fire spread to the eighth compartment. More than 30 ships and vessels of the Navy took part in the rescue operation. In a severe storm, it was possible to evacuate most of the K-19 crew, apply electricity to the boat and tow it to the base. 28 sailors were killed, 76 people were saved.
On June 13, 1973, in Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan), the nuclear submarine K-56 pr. 675MK collided with the research vessel Akademik Berg. The boat sailed on the surface at night to the base after firing practice. At the junction of the first and second compartments, a four-meter hole was formed, into which water began to flow. To prevent the final flooding of K-56, the boat commander decided to land the submarine on the coastal shallows near Cape Granite. 27 people died.
October 21, 1981 in the Sea of Japan sank diesel medium submarine S-178 project 613V as a result of a collision with a large freezing fishing trawler "Refrigerator-13". The accident claimed the lives of 31 sailors.
On June 24, 1983, the nuclear submarine K-429 pr. 670A from the Pacific Fleet sank off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The accident occurred when the boat was trimmed in an area where the depth was 35 meters, due to water entering the fourth compartment through the ship's ventilation shaft, which was mistakenly left open when the boat was submerged. Part of the crew members managed to be saved, but 16 people had previously died as a result of an explosion of batteries and damage control. If the boat went to great depths, it would definitely die along with the entire crew. The death of the ship occurred due to the criminal negligence of the command, which ordered a faulty submarine with a non-standard crew to go to sea for firing. The crew left the sunken boat by locking through torpedo tubes. The commander, who to the end objected to the decision of the headquarters and only under the threat of deprivation of his post and party card went to sea, was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison, amnestied in 1987 and soon died. The direct culprits, as always happens with us, escaped responsibility. Subsequently, the boat was raised, but she again sank in the factory at the pier, after which she was decommissioned.
On October 6, 1986, in the area of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean, at a depth of 4000 meters, as a result of a rocket explosion in a mine, the nuclear submarine K-219 pr. 667AU sank. Both nuclear reactors were muffled by regular absorbers. On board were 15 ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads and two nuclear weapons. 4 people died. The remaining crew members were evacuated to the Agatan rescue vessel that had approached from Cuba.
April 7, 1989 in the Norwegian Sea, as a result of a fire in the tail compartments at a depth of 1700 meters, the nuclear submarine K-278 "Komsomolets" project 685 sank, receiving severe destruction durable case. 42 people died. On board were two nominally muffled nuclear reactors and two nuclear weapons.
On August 12, 2000, during the naval exercises of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk crashed. The submarine was discovered on August 13 at a depth of 108 meters. The entire crew of 118 people died.
On August 30, 2003, the nuclear submarine K-159 sank in the Barents Sea while being towed for dismantling. There were 10 crew members on board the boat as an escort team. 9 people died.
On November 8, 2008, during factory sea trials in the Sea of Japan, an accident occurred on the Nerpa nuclear submarine (NPS), built at the Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and not yet accepted into the Russian Navy. As a result of unauthorized operation of the fire extinguishing system LOH (boat volumetric chemical), freon gas began to flow into the compartments of the boat. 20 people died, 21 more people were hospitalized with poisoning. In total, there were 208 people on board the nuclear submarine.
February 1968
These days the world has never been so close to World War III. Only a few people knew that the fate of the planet depended on one submarine - the Soviet submarine K-129, which, at the height of the Vietnam War, was tasked with targeting the major cities of the Pacific coast and the ships of the US Seventh Fleet.
However, the submarine did not appear off the American coast.
On March 8, the crew did not contact the base. 70 days of searching yielded no results. The Soviet submarine disappeared into the ocean like the Flying Dutchman. There were 98 people on board the submarine.
This story is still considered the most mysterious and closed in the Soviet submarine fleet. For the first time, the documentary tells what really happened to the K-129 submarine. Specialists and relatives of the missing talk about why they were forbidden to talk about the missing submarine for thirty years. How did it happen that the crew members were recognized as "simply dead", but not killed while performing a combat mission? Why was the K-129 discovered not by the Soviet special services, but by the Americans, having spent several years searching for it?
Which version of the submarine's death turned out to be correct: a crew error, a technical accident - a hydrogen explosion in the submarine's hull compartment, or the third - a collision with another underwater object, the American Swordfish submarine?
The mystery of the death of the submarine K-129
Information source: All greatest mysteries history / M. A. Pankova, I. Yu. Romanenko and others.
An iron curtain hung over the mystery of the disappearance of K-129. The press kept deathly silence. The officers of the Pacific Fleet were forbidden to have any conversations on this subject.
To unravel the mystery of the death of the submarine, you need to go back 46 years ago, when all the participants in this tragedy were still alive.
K-129 was not supposed to go to sea then, because just a month and a half before this tragedy, she returned from a planned campaign. The crew was exhausted by a long raid, and material part required refurbishment. The submarine, which was to sail, was not ready to go. In this regard, the command of the Pacific Fleet decided to send the K-129 on patrol instead. The situation developed on the principle of "for myself and for that guy." It is still not known whether the commander of the unprepared submarine was punished. It is only clear that by his sloppiness he saved not only his own life, but also the lives of all the members of the crew entrusted to him. But at what cost!
As a matter of urgency, K-129 began preparing a new campaign. Only a part of the officers were recalled from leave. The missing composition was forcedly understaffed from other submarines. In addition, a group of apprentice sailors from the submarine was taken on board. Witnesses of those events recall that the crew went to sea in a bad mood.
On March 8, 1968, the operational duty officer at the central command post of the Navy announced the alarm - K-129 did not give a signal about the passage of the control line, due to the combat order. And then it turned out that at the command post of the squadron there was not even a list of the crew signed personally by the submarine commander and certified by the ship's seal. From a military point of view, this is a serious malfeasance.
From mid-March to May 1968, an operation unprecedented in scope and secrecy was carried out to search for the disappeared submarine, in which dozens of ships of the Kamchatka Flotilla and aviation of the Northern Fleet were involved. Stubbornly searched at the calculated point of the route K-129. The weak hope that the submarine was drifting on the surface, without a course and radio communications, did not materialize after two weeks. The congestion of the ether with constant negotiations attracted the attention of the Americans, who accurately indicated the coordinates of a large oil slick in the ocean, located in Soviet waters. Chemical analysis showed that the spot is solar and identical to the fuel used in the submarines of the Soviet Navy. The exact place of the death of K-129 in official documents was designated as the "K" point.
The search for the submarine continued for 73 days. After their completion, the relatives and friends of all crew members received a funeral with a cynical record "declared dead." It was as if they forgot about 98 submariners. And the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Navy, S. G. Gorshkov, made an unprecedented statement, refusing to acknowledge the death of the submarine and the entire crew. The official refusal of the government of the USSR from the sunken
K-129 resulted in her becoming "orphan property", thus any country that discovered the missing submarine would be considered its owner. And of course, everything that is inside the submarine. If we take into account that in those days all submarines leaving the coast of the USSR were painted over the number, then if K-129 was found, it would not even have identification marks.
Nevertheless, to investigate the causes of the death of the K-129 submarine, two commissions were created: a government commission under the leadership of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR L. Smirnov and the Navy, which was headed by one of the most experienced submariners, First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Navy V. Kasatonov. The conclusions reached by both commissions were similar. They acknowledged that the fault of the crew of the submarine in the death of the ship is not.
The most reliable cause of the disaster could be a failure to a depth below the limit due to freezing of the float valve of the RDP air shaft (mode of operation of diesel engines under water). An indirect confirmation of this version was that the command of the fleet headquarters ordered the commanders to use the RDP regime as much as possible. Subsequently, the percentage of sailing time in this mode became one of the criteria for the success of the cruise tasks. It should be noted that the K-129 submarine has never lagged behind in this indicator during long-term navigation at extreme depths. The second official version was a submerged collision with a foreign submarine.
In addition to the official ones, there were a number of unofficial versions expressed in different years by various experts: a collision with a surface vessel or transport at periscope depth; failure to depths exceeding the maximum immersion depth, and due to this violation of the design strength of the hull; falling on the slope of the internal waves of the ocean (the nature of which has not yet been precisely established); explosion of a storage battery (AB) during its charging as a result of exceeding the permissible concentration of hydrogen (American version).
In 1998, a book by Sherri Sontag and Christopher Drew, The Blind Man's Bluff. unknown history American submarine espionage. It presented three main versions of the death of K-129: the crew lost control; a technical accident that developed into a catastrophe (AB explosion); collision with another ship.
The version of the AB explosion on the submarine was deliberately false, because in the entire history of the world's submarine fleets, many such explosions were recorded, but not one of them caused the destruction of the strong hulls of the boats, at least because of the outboard water.
The most plausible and proven is the version of the collision of the K-129 submarine with the American submarine "Swordfish" (translated as "swordfish"). Already its name makes it possible to imagine the structure of this submarine, the conning tower of which is protected by two "fins" similar to sharks. The same version is confirmed by photographs taken at the site of the death of the K-129 from the American nuclear submarine Hellibat using the Glomar Explorer deep-sea vehicle. They depict the hull of a Soviet submarine, on which a narrow deep hole is visible from the left side in the bulkhead area between the second and third compartments. The boat itself was lying on the ground on an even keel, which meant that the collision occurred when it was under water at a depth safe for a surface ship to ram. Apparently, the Swordfish, which was tracking the Soviet submarine, lost hydroacoustic contact, which forced it to follow the K-129 location, and the short-term restoration of contact between them a few minutes before the collision could no longer prevent the tragedy.
Although now this version is subject to criticism. The journalist of the newspaper "Sovershenno sekretno" A. Mozgovoy rejects it, referring primarily to the damage to the K-129, because the Swordfish's heel angle did not allow it to cause such damage to the Soviet submarine. A. Mozgovoy defends the version that the K-129 died as a result of a collision with a surface transport. And there is also evidence for this, although the same “swordfish” appears again in them. In the spring of 1968, reports began to appear in the foreign press that a few days after the disappearance of the K-129 submarine, it entered the Japanese port of Yokosuka with a crumpled conning tower and stood on emergency repair"Swordfish". The entire operation was classified. The boat was under repair for only one night, during which it was redecorated: patches were applied, the hull was touched up. In the morning she left the parking lot, and a non-disclosure agreement was taken from the crew. After this incident, Swordfish did not sail for a year and a half.
The Americans tried to explain the fact that their submarine was damaged by its collision with an iceberg, which clearly did not correspond to reality, since icebergs are not found in the central part of the ocean in March. And in general, they do not “swim” into this area even at the end of winter, and not just in spring.
Even in defense of the version of the collision of two submarines, the fact that the Americans surprisingly accurately and quickly determined the place of death of the K-129 speaks. At that time, the possibility of detecting it with the help of an American satellite was excluded, meanwhile they indicated the area with an accuracy of 1-3 miles, which, according to military experts, could only be established by a submarine located in the same zone.
Between 1968 and 1973, the Americans examined the site of the death of the K-129, its position and the condition of the hull with the Trieste-2 deep-sea bathyscaphe (according to other sources, Mizar), which allowed the CIA to conclude that the Soviet submarine could be raised. The CIA developed a covert operation codenamed "Jennifer". All this was carried out in the hope of obtaining cipher documents, combat packages and radio communication equipment and using this information to read the entire radio exchange. Soviet fleet, which would allow to open the deployment and control system of the USSR Navy. And most importantly, it made it possible to find the key foundations for the development of ciphers. In connection with the genuine interest in Soviet missile and nuclear weapons during the Cold War, such information was of particular value. Only three high-ranking officials in the US were aware of the operation: President Richard Nixon, CIA Director William Colby, and billionaire Howard Huoz, who financed these works. Their preparation took almost seven years, and the costs amounted to about $350 million.
To lift the K-129 hull, two special vessels were designed: the Glomar Explorer and the NSS-1 docking chamber, which had an expanding bottom equipped with giant gripping pincers resembling the shape of a Soviet submarine hull. Both ships were built in parts at different shipyards on the west and east coasts of the United States, as if repeating the tactics of creating Captain Nemo's Nautilus. Also important is the fact that even final assembly the engineers had no idea about the purpose of these ships. All work was carried out in complete secrecy.
But no matter how the CIA tried to classify this operation, the activity of American ships in a certain place in the Pacific Ocean did not go unnoticed. The head of the USSR Navy, Vice Admiral I. N. Khurs, received a cipher message stating that the American vessel Glomar Explorer was completing the stage of preparatory work to lift the K-129. However, he answered the following: "I draw your attention to the better implementation of planned tasks." In principle, this meant - do not meddle with your nonsense, but mind your own business.
As it later became known, in Washington, a letter was planted under the door of the Soviet embassy with the following content: “In the near future, US intelligence services will take actions to covertly raise a Soviet submarine that sank in the Pacific Ocean. Well-wisher."
The operation to lift the K-129 was technically very difficult, since the boat rested at a depth of more than 5000 m. All work lasted 40 days. When lifting, the Soviet submarine broke into two pieces, so only one was able to be lifted, consisting of the first, second and part of the third compartments. The Americans rejoiced.
The bodies of six dead submariners were removed from the bow of the ship and buried at sea according to the ritual adopted in the Soviet fleet. The sarcophagus with the bodies was covered with the flag of the Soviet Navy and lowered into the sea to the sound of the national anthem of the Soviet Union. Having paid their last respects to the Soviet sailors, the Americans began to search for the ciphers they were so interested in, but did not reach the desired goal. The reason for everything was the Russian mentality: during the repair of K-129 in 1966–1967 in Dalzavod, the chief builder, at the request of the submarine commander, Captain 1st Rank V. Kobzar, transferred the cipher-cabin to the missile compartment. He could not refuse this tall, heavily built man, who was tormented in the cramped and tiny cabin of the second compartment, and therefore retreated from the project.
But the secret of lifting the sunken submarine was not observed. An international scandal erupted around Operation Jennifer. The work had to be curtailed, and the CIA never got to the aft part of K-129.
Soon the main characters who organized this operation: Richard Nixon was removed from his post in connection with the Watergate scandal; Howard Hughes went mad; William Colby left intelligence for unknown reasons. Congress barred the CIA from engaging in such dubious operations.
The only thing that the motherland did for the dead submariners after the boat was raised was that the USSR Foreign Ministry sent a note to the US State Department, in which it accused the Americans of violating international maritime law (lifting a foreign ship from the ocean floor) and desecrating the mass grave of sailors. However, neither one nor the other had any legal basis.
Only in October 1992, the film, on which the burial of six bodies of Soviet submariners was filmed, was handed over to Boris Yeltsin, but did not give any information shedding light on the causes of the tragedy.
Later, the American-Russian film “The Tragedy of Submarine K-129” was shot, which reveals only twenty-five percent of the factual material, is replete with errors and embellishment of reality, which is familiar to Americans.
There are many half-truths in the picture, which are much worse than outright lies.
On the proposal of the Minister of Defense I. Sergeez, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of October 20, 1998, all members of the crew of the K-129 submarine were awarded the Order of Courage (posthumously), but the awards were presented only to eight families of the dead sailors. In the city of Cheremkhovo, a monument was erected to the heroes of submarines K-129, who were born and raised in the Irkutsk region.
The circumstances that led to the tragedy on board the missile submarine are still unknown. His death is considered one of the biggest mysteries of the Cold War period, which unfolded between the two superpowers - the USSR and the USA.
Vladimir Evdasin, who once served on this submarine, has his own version of her death
March 8, 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of the death and rest in the abyss of the Pacific Ocean of the K-129 submarine. Funds mass media on this day, they were busy with banal congratulations to women, and no attention was paid to the memory of the dead sailors. Including in Novosibirsk. Meanwhile, among the 99 submariners who died on K-129, seven were our fellow countrymen: assistant commander, captain of the 3rd rank Vladimir Artemyevich Motovilov, foreman of the bilge machinist team chief foreman long-term service Ivanov Valentin Pavlovich, commander of the launch department foreman of the 2nd article Saenko Nikolai Emelyanovich, senior electrician senior sailor Bozhenko Vladimir Alekseevich, electricians sailors Vladimir Matveevich Gostev and Dasko Ivan Aleksandrovich, minder sailor Kravtsov Gennady Ivanovich.
Only thirty years after the death, our countrymen, like all members of the K-129 crew, were awarded "for courage and courage shown in the performance of military duty" posthumously with the Order of Courage. And ten years later, few remembered the fate of this crew. And it's not fair. The crew of the K-129 did not die in an accident. He fell victim to the forty-five-year war of 1946-1991, designated in history as the cold war (meaning: conditional, bloodless). But there were direct confrontations in this war, there were also victims - the fate of the K-129 is an example of this. This should not be forgotten.
In 1955, the United States, three years ahead of the USSR, commissioned a nuclear submarine with torpedo weapons. But the USSR on September 16 of the same 1955 made the world's first successful launch of a ballistic missile from a submarine in the surface position, which made it possible to deliver a nuclear strike against enemy ground targets. In July 1960, American submariners took the lead by launching ballistic missiles from under the water. But already in October of the same year, the launch of a rocket from under the water was also carried out in the USSR. So rapidly unfolded the battle of submarine fleets for superiority in the oceans. At the same time, the cold war under water was fought on the verge of a hot war. Submarines of the United States and other NATO countries constantly monitored the warships of the USSR. Soviet submarines responded in kind. These reconnaissance operations, and sometimes acts of intimidation, often led to incidents on the verge of a foul, and in the case of the K-129, they led to the death of the ship and its crew.
On February 24, 1968, on a ninety-day trip (the return was planned for May 5), from the submarine base in the Kamchatka Bay, whose name is translated from French as a grave, the K-129 diesel-electric submarine with three ballistic missiles and two torpedoes with nuclear warheads on board. Still undisclosed secret mission, which was stored in a package, which the commander had the right to open only after arriving at a given point in the oceans. It is only known that the submarine was prepared for the campaign in an emergency order, and the officers were “whisted out” (withdrawn) from vacations by telegrams, no matter where in the country they rested.
One can guess about the goals of the campaign, knowing what kind of events were taking place at that time in the zone of responsibility of the Pacific fleets of the USSR and the USA, the degree of tension in the international situation.
It began with the fact that on January 23, 1968, the American reconnaissance ship "Pueblo" invaded North Korean territorial waters. He was attacked and captured by Korean border guards, and his crew was captured (one American was killed). The North Koreans refused to give up the ship and its crew. Then the United States sent two aircraft carrier formations of ships to the East Korean Gulf, threatening to release compatriots by force. North Korea was an ally, the USSR was obliged to provide it with military assistance. The commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Amelko, secretly put the fleet on full alert and in early February deployed 27 submarines, a squadron of surface ships led by the Varyag missile cruiser and long-range naval reconnaissance aircraft in the maneuvering area of American aircraft carriers. Vigelent carrier-based attack aircraft began to take off from American aircraft carriers and tried to intimidate our sailors, flying, almost touching the masts above the Soviet ships. Admiral Amelko radioed to the Varyag: “The order to open fire should be given only in the event of a clear attack on ships. Maintain composure and safety measures. Nobody wanted to fight "hot". But the Americans had to be stopped. A regiment of 21 Tu-16 missile-carrying aircraft was raised from the ground airfield of naval aviation with orders to fly around aircraft carriers and other ships of the American squadron at extremely low altitudes, demonstrating a threat with missiles fired from hatches. This had the right effect. Both carrier formations turned around and left for Sasebo, the American military base in Japan. The transformation of the cold war into a real war was prevented. But the threat persisted for another year, because the crew of the Pueblo was returned to the Americans only in December 1968, and the ship itself even later.
Here, against the background of what events, the K-129 submarine received an order to urgently and preparing for the trip. War could break out at any moment. Judging by the armament, the K-129, if necessary, was ready to deliver nuclear strikes with two torpedoes against naval aircraft carrier formations and three ballistic missiles against ground targets. For this, they had to patrol in the zone of a possible theater of operations.
Leaving the bay, the submarine moved south, reached the fortieth parallel and turned along it to the west, towards Japanese islands. At the appointed time, the command received control radiograms from her. On the twelfth day, March 8 at night, K-129 did not get in touch. At this time, she was supposed to be in the area of the next turning point of the route of transition to the combat mission area at a distance of about 1230 miles from the coast of Kamchatka and about 750 miles northwest of the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian archipelago.
When the radiogram from K-129 was not received on the next scheduled communication session, the hope that the silence was due to malfunctions in the radio equipment melted away. On March 12, active searches began. More than 30 ships and aircraft along and across furrowed the alleged area of the disappearance of the submarine, but did not find any traces of it either on the surface or in the depths of the ocean. The country and the world were not informed about the tragedy, which was in the tradition of the then authorities. The causes of the tragedy are still being debated.
The main version of the death of the K-129 of our submariners and experts: the submarine collided with another submarine. This happens and more than once has led to disasters and accidents with boats from different countries.
I must say that American submarines are constantly on duty in neutral waters off the coast of Kamchatka, detecting our submarines leaving the base into the open ocean. It is unlikely that the “roaring cow”, as the American sailors called our diesel-electric submarines for the noise, managed to break away from the high-speed nuclear submarine, and therefore, experts believe, there was probably a spy nuclear submarine in the area of the death of K-129. The commanders of American atomic marines consider it a special chic to conduct surveillance, approaching at critically small distances from one side, then from the other, then diving under the bottom of the observed ship on the verge of a collision. Apparently, this time the collision occurred, and experts call the culprit of the death of the K-129, the American atomic submarine Swordfish (Swordfish), which was specially designed for underwater reconnaissance operations, which had already had to collide with another of our submarines, however, then both submarines escaped with minor damage. The fact that it was the Swordfish that collided with the K-129 is believed on the basis that soon after the disappearance of our submarine, the Swordfish reached the Japanese port of Yokosuka and, in an atmosphere of extreme secrecy, began repairing the bow and cabin with periscopes and antennas. Such damage to an atomic marine could only be received in a collision with another ship, and being under it. Another confirmation of the guilt of the American nuclear submarine is the fact that when the Americans attempted, a couple of months after the death of the K-129, to examine it with deep-sea submersibles, and in 1974 to raise the bow of the dead submarine with espionage targets from a depth of 5 km, they knew exactly the coordinates of her death and did not waste time on a long search.
The Americans, even now that the Cold War has become history, deny the involvement of their submarine in the death of the K-129, and explain the damage to the Swordfish by a collision with an ice floe. But in those latitudes in March, floating ice floes are nothing more than a myth. They present images taken by deep-sea submersibles of the K-129 lying at the bottom. A three-meter hole in a strong and lightweight hull, a destroyed aft part of the cabin fence, a bent aft and damaged middle ballistic missile silos, torn off covers of these silos and missile warheads thrown somewhere - all these damages are above or near the battery pit in the fifth compartment and, the Americans say , could be obtained from the explosion of hydrogen released by batteries. They are not embarrassed that there are dozens of such explosions in the history of the submarine fleet of all countries, but they always led only to destruction and fires inside the submarine. Calculations show that the power of such an explosion is not enough for the submarine to receive fatal injuries, which were recorded by the cameras of American naval spies.
From June 1960 to March 1961 I had a chance to serve on K-129. Her fate is not indifferent to me, and therefore I dare to give such, it seems, not yet voiced in the United States, version of the death of this submarine.
I think that shortly before the scheduled communication session on the night of March 8, 1968, K-129 surfaced and sailed on the surface. In the surface position on the bridge, which is in the felling fence, along staffing three people got up and kept watch: the watch officer, the steering signalman and the “looking in the stern”. The body of one of them in a fur raglan was recorded by an American spy camera in the cabin fence, which confirms that at the time of the disaster the boat was on the surface, because inside the submarine on the second day of the underwater passage the air temperature reaches 40 or more degrees, and "in furs" divers don't flaunt. Since hydroacoustics lose control of the situation under water during the operation of diesel engines, they did not notice the noise of a maneuvering alien submarine. And she carried out transverse diving under the bottom of the K-129 at a critically dangerous distance and unexpectedly caught the hull of our submarine with the wheelhouse, and she capsized, without even having time to squeak a radio signal. Water rushed into the open hatch and air intake shaft, and soon the submarine fell to the bottom of the ocean. Upon impact with the bottom upside down, the hull of the boat broke. Rocket launchers were also destroyed. Let me remind you that the boat fell to a depth of 5 km and began to collapse even at a depth of 300 m - the maximum calculated immersion depth. It took a few minutes for everything.
This version of what happened is quite real. Submarines of the 629 project, and hence the K-129, were the very first specially designed missile submarines in the world. But, alas, they were not "roly-poly". Ballistic missiles did not fit into the hull of the submarine, launchers had to be placed in a special compartment, and a special fence was built above it, rising above the upper deck to the height of a three-story building. In the bow of the fence, a cabin with a bridge and all retractable devices were placed. With the length of the submarine itself about 100 m, about a quarter of this distance fell on the fence. In width, from side to side, it was no more than 10 m. This design made the submarine very unstable on the surface, it swayed from side to side quite strongly even with the wind. And when an external powerful force intervened, the center of gravity shifted to a catastrophic line, the boat capsized and fell to the bottom, dragging 99 divers with it. Eternal memory to them.
It would be nice to introduce a tradition in Novosibirsk to commemorate our fellow countrymen and the entire crew of the K-129 by laying flowers, and even salute at the Monument to sailors and rivermen who gave their lives for the Fatherland. Let every year on March 8, on the day of the death of K-129, veterans of the Navy, cadets of the river command school, cadets, members of children's and youth military-patriotic associations come to the monument on the Ob embankment near the pier River Station. Those who gave their lives in the service of the Motherland during the Cold War deserve such attention.
FROM ANOTHER SOURCE
On March 8, 1968, during combat duty in the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet diesel submarine K-129 sank with three ballistic thermonuclear missiles on board. All 105 crew members were killed. There was an explosion on the boat, and it lay on the ground at a depth of more than 5,000 meters.
The crash was kept under wraps. Some time later, the US military decided to raise the nuclear submarine, for which, in an atmosphere of the strictest secrecy, a special vessel, the Explorer, was built. The lifting operation cost $500 million. Apparently, the price of Soviet military secrets was higher.
A major spy game was played around the lifting of the boat. Until the last moment, the Soviet side believed that lifting the submarine was impossible and did not confirm the information about the loss of the boat at all. And only after the start of work on lifting the boat by the Americans, the Soviet government protested, threatening even the bombing of the disaster area. But the Americans successfully completed their task of lifting the boat. A scandal erupted. However, the CIA obtained Soviet military ciphers and other classified information.
The submariners did not return from the military campaign, they were eagerly awaited at home.
Mothers, wives, children, they all lived in hopes of a speedy meeting. But sometimes life brings us terrible things. Fighting guys died, going into the depths of the ocean.
One of the last photos of the K-129 submarine team, in the center Zhuravin Alexander Mikhailovich, senior assistant to the boat commander.
Staff officers:
1. KOBZAR Vladimir Ivanovich, born in 1930, captain of the 1st rank, submarine commander.
2. ZHURAVIN Alexander Mikhailovich, born in 1933, captain of the 2nd rank, senior assistant to the boat commander.
3. LOBAS Fedor Ermolaevich, born in 1930, captain III rank, deputy. political boat commander.
4. Vladimir Artemyevich MOTOVOLOV, born in 1936, captain of the 3rd rank, assistant boat commander.
5. PIKULIK Nikolai Ivanovich, born in 1937, captain-lieutenant, commander of BC-1.
6. DYKIN Anatoly Petrovich, born in 1940, lieutenant, commander of the BCH-1 electric navigation group.
7. PANARIN Gennady Semenovich, born in 1935, captain of III rank, commander of BCH-2. graduate of VVMU named after P.S. Nakhimov.
8. ZUEV Viktor Mikhailovich, born in 1941, captain-lieutenant, commander of the control group BC-2.
9. KOVALEV Evgeny Grigorievich, born in 1932, captain of the III rank, commander of the BC-3.
10. OREKHOV Nikolai Nikolaevich, born in 1934, engineer-captain III rank, commander of warhead-5.
11. ZHARNAKOV Alexander Fedorovich, born in 1939, senior lieutenant, head of the RTS.
12. EGOROV Alexander Egorovich, born in 1934, engineer-captain-lieutenant, commander of the motor group BCh-5.
Seconded officers.
1. Sergey Pavlovich CHEREPANOV, born in 1932, major of the medical service, submarine doctor By order of the Civil Code of the Navy N 0106 dated 01/18/1968 due to severe family circumstances was transferred to Vladivostok as a teacher at the Medical Institute. By permission of the OK, KTOF was left on the submarine to ensure the campaign.
2. MOSYACHKII Vladimir Alekseevich, born in 1942, senior lieutenant, commander of the OSNAZ reconnaissance group. Seconded for the period of going to sea. Commander of the reconnaissance group OSNAZ submarine "B-50".
Ratings.
1. Borodulin Vyacheslav Semenovich, born in 1939, midshipman, foreman of the team of helmsmen-signalmen.
2. LAPSAR Pyotr Tikhonovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the helmsman-signalers department.
3. OVCHINNIKOV Vitaly Pavlovich, born in 1944, sailor, helmsman-signalman.
4. KHAMETOV Mansur Gabdulkhanovich, 1945. birth, foreman 2 articles, foreman of the team of electricians navigation.
5. KRIVIKH Mikhail Ivanovich, born in 1947, senior sailor, senior navigational electrician.
6. GUSHCHIN Nikolai Ivanovich, born in 1945, senior sailor, commander of the control department.
7. Viktor Ivanovich BALASHOV, born in 1946, senior sailor, senior electrician operator.
8. SHUVALOV Anatoly Sergeevich, born in 1947, sailor, senior electrician operator.
9. KIZYAEV Alexey Georgievich, born in 1944, foreman of the 1st class, foreman of the preparation and launch team.
10. LISITSYN Vladimir Vladimirovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, squad leader board. appliances.
11. KOROTITSKIKH Viktor Vasilievich, born in 1947, sailor, senior gyroscope operator.
12. SAYENKO Nikolai Emelyanovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the launch department.
13. CHUMILIN Valery Georgievich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the torpedo squad.
14. KOSTUSHKO Vladimir Mikhailovich, born in 1947, sailor, torpedo pilot.
15. MARAKULIN Viktor Andreevich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the torpedo electricians department.
16. TERESHIN Vitaly Ivanovich, born in 1941, midshipman, foreman of the radiotelegraph team.
17. ARKHIVOV Anatoly Andreevich, born in 1947, sailor, radiotelegrapher.
18. NECHEPURENKO Valery Stepanovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the telegraph department.
19. PLYUSNIN Viktor Dmitrievich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the minders department.
20. TELNOV Yury Ivanovich, born in 1945, senior sailor, senior minder.
21. ZVEREV Mikhail Vladimirovich, born in 1946, sailor, senior minder.
22. SHISHKIN Yuri Vasilyevich, born in 1946, sailor, senior minder.
23. VASILYEV Alexander Sergeevich, born in 1947, sailor, minder.
24. OSIPOV Sergey Vladimirovich, born in 1947, sailor, minder.
25. BAZHENOV Nikolai Nikolaevich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the department of electricians.
26. KRAVTSOV Gennady Ivanovich, born in 1947, sailor, minder.
27. GOOGE Petr Ivanovich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, minder.
28. ODINTSOV Ivan Ivanovich, born in 1947, sailor minder.
29. OSHCHEPKOV Vladimir Grigorievich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the electricians department.
30. POGADAEV Vladimir Alekseevich, born in 1946, sailor, senior electrician.
31. BOZHENKO (sometimes BAZHENNO) Vladimir Alekseevich, born in 1945, senior sailor, senior electrician.
32. OZHIMA Alexander Nikiforovich, born in 1947, sailor, electrician.
33. GOSTEV Vladimir Matveyevich, born in 1946, sailor, electrician.
34. DASKO Ivan Alexandrovich, born in 1947, sailor, electrician.
35. TOSHCHEVIKOV Alexander Nikolaevich, born in 1947, sailor, electrician.
36. DEGTYAREV Anatoly Afanasyevich, born in 1947, sailor, electrician.
37. IVANOV Valentin Pavlovich, born in 1944, chief sergeant-major beyond conscript service, sergeant-major of the bilge machinist team.
38. SPRISHEVSKY (sometimes - SPRISCHEVSKY) Vladimir Yulianovich, born in 1934, midshipman, foreman of the RTS team.
39. KOSHKAREV Nikolay Dmitrievich, born in 1947, sailor, Senior Radiometrist.
40. ZUBAREV Oleg Vladimirovich, born in 1947, sailor, radiometrist.
41. BAKHIREV Valery Mikhailovich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, medical chemist.
42. LABZIN (sometimes - LOBZIN) Viktor Mikhailovich, born in 1941, chief foreman beyond military service, senior cook instructor.
43. MATANTSEV Leonid Vladimirovich, born in 1946, senior sailor, senior cook.
44. Chichkanov Anatoly Semenovich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the radio telegraph department.
45. KOZIN Vladimir Vasilyevich, born in 1947, sailor, radiotelegrapher.
46. LOKHOV Viktor Aleksandrovich, born in 1947, senior sailor, senior hydroacoustic engineer.
47. POLYAKOV Vladimir Nikolaevich, born in 1948, sailor, apprentice bilge engineer.
48. TORSUNOV Boris Petrovich, born in 1948, sailor, electrician
49. KUCHINSKY Alexander Ivanovich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, senior instructor.
50. KASYANOV Gennady Semenovich, born in 1947, sailor, student of navigational electrician.
51. POLYANSKY Alexander Dmitrievich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the bilge machinists department.
52. SAVITSKY Mikhail Seliverstovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the bilge machinists department.
53. KOBELEV Gennady Innokent'evich, born in 1947, senior sailor, senior bilge engineer.
54. SOROKIN Vladimir Mikhailovich, born in 1945, senior sailor, senior bilge engineer.
55. YARYGIN Alexander Ivanovich, born in 1945, senior sailor, bilge engineer.
56. KRYUCHKOV Alexander Stepanovich, born in 1947, sailor, bilge engineer.
57. KULIKOV Alexander Petrovich, born in 1947, senior sailor, commander of the hydroacoustic department.
58. KABAKOV Anatoly Semenovich, born in 1948, sailor, minder.
59. REDKOSHEEV Nikolai Andreevich, born in 1948, sailor, minder.
By replacement:
1. KUZNETSOV Alexander Vasilievich, born in 1945, foreman of the 1st article, foreman of the motor team = 453 submarine crew.
2. TOKAREVSKIH Leonid Vasilvich, born in 1948, senior sailor, helmsman-signalman = 453 submarine crew.
3. TRIFONOV Sergey Nikolaevich, born in 1948, sailor, senior helmsman-signalman = 453 submarine crew.
4. DUBOV Yuri Ivanovich, born in 1947, sailor, senior electrician-mechanic = 453 submarine crew.
5. SURNIN Valery Mikhailovich, born in 1945, foreman 2 articles, senior electrician-mechanic = 453 submarine crew.
6. NOSACHEV Valentin Grigorievich, born in 1947, sailor, senior torpedo pilot = 453 submarine crew.
7. SHPAK Gennady Mikhailovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 1st article, senior minder = 453 submarine crew.
8. KOTOV Ivan Tikhonovich, born in 1939, midshipman, foreman of the team of electricians = 337 submarine crew.
9. NAIMISHIN (sometimes - NAIMUSHIN) Anatoly Sergeevich, born in 1947, senior sailor, commander of the radiometric department = submarine “K-163”.
10. KHVATOV Alexander Vladimirovich, born in 1945, foreman of the 1st article, foreman of the radiotelegraph team = submarine “K-14”.
11. GUSHCHIN Gennady Fedorovich, born in 1946, foreman of the 2nd article, SPS specialist = 337 submarine crew.
12. BASHKOV Georgy Ivanovich, born in 1947, sailor, bilge engineer = 458 submarine crew.
13. ABRAMOV Nikolai Dmitrievich, born in 1945, chief foreman beyond military service, commander of the electricians department = 337 submarine crew.
14. KARABAZHANOV (sometimes - KARABOZHANOV) Yuri Fedorovich, born in 1947, senior sailor, senior helmsman signalman = submarine “K-163”.
1. KOLBIN Vladimir Valentinovich, born in 1948, sailor, minder = 453 submarine crew.
2. MINE (sometimes - RUDNIN) Anatoly Ivanovich, born in 1948, sailor, minder = 453 submarine crew.
3. PESKOV Evgeny Konstantinovich, born in 1947, sailor, senior hold = 453 submarine crew.
4. KRUCHININ Oleg Leonidovich, born in 1947, sailor, radiotelegraph operator = 453 submarine crew.
5. Crybaby Vladimir Mikhailovich, born in 1948, sailor, apprentice radiotelegrapher = submarine “K-116”.
6. MIKHAILOV Timur Tarkhaevich, born in 1947, senior sailor, commander of the radiometric department = 453 submarine crew.
7. ANDREEV Alexey Vasilyevich, born in 1947, foreman of the 2nd article, commander of the hydroacoustic department = submarine “K-163”.
8. KOZLENKO Alexander Vladimirovich, born in 1947, sailor, torpedo pilot = 453 submarine crew.
9. CHERNITSA Gennady Viktorovich, born in 1946, sailor, cook = submarine “K-99”.
10. Alexander Alexandrovich PICHURIN, born in 1948, sailor, senior hydroacoustic engineer. Arrived on "K-129" as a hydroacoustic student on February 1, 1968. By order of the division commander, he was transferred to the 453rd crew. However, in fact, he was not transferred to the crew and participated in the preparation of the submarine for combat service. Before the K-129 left, the senior assistant commander, captain II rank, Zhuravin, did not report to the division commander about the presence of sailor PICHULIN on board the submarine and did not correct the list submitted by him earlier.
11. SOKOLOV Vladimir Vasilyevich, born in 1947, sailor, electrician = submarine “K-75”.
On October 22, 1998, on the basis of the Decree of the President, the commander's son Andrey, the wife of the first mate Zhuravina Irina Andreevna, the wife of the group commander Zueva Galina Nikolaevna were awarded the Order of Courage. Thanks to the perseverance of Irina Andreevna Zhuravina, the work of restoring the good memory of the submariners of the K-129 submarine crew has been moved forward.
Here are some photos of the K-129 submarine crew.
Senior assistant RPL K-129 Zhuravin Alexander Mikhailovich, captain 2nd rank.
The commander of the warhead-1 Zhuravin A.M. ON the K-129 submarine, an earlier photo.
Kozlenko Alexander Vladimirovich, sailor BCh-3, torpedo pilot, born in 1947. Photo from the only surviving negative.
The personnel of the RPL K-129
Commander of the submarine K-129 Kobzar Vladimir Ivanovich
"Project Azorian" was the code name for a covert operation that later became one of the major scandals of the Cold War. It was in those distant years that a camouflaged US warship pulled a sunken Soviet K-129 out of the ocean.
On a dark bottom in the North Pacific lies the remains of the most courageous submarine in the history of the world. These fragments are indicative of terrible tragedy, which happened on March 11, 1968 with the Soviet nuclear submarine K-129, as a result of which 98 officers died. The place of the tragedy was kept secret from the USSR and only 6 years later it was announced ...
The Americans found and examined the sunken submarine during the first 2 weeks. Possessing modern technologies, the CIA launched a unique project to raise part of the K-129 boat from the seabed in August 1974.
Since K-129 sank for a very great depth, about 5000 m, the ship Glomar Explorer was designed and built specifically for the operation, equipped with unique equipment for ultra-deep sea work. The operation was secretly carried out in international waters and was disguised as exploration work on the sea shelf.
Trouble course
... Under the cover of darkness in the early morning of February 24, 1968, the K-129 diesel-electric submarine, tail number “574”, left Krasheninnikov Bay and headed for the Pacific Ocean, to the Hawaiian Islands.
Submarine project 629-A. Maximum immersion depth - 300 m. Armament - 3 R-21 ballistic missiles, torpedoes with nuclear warheads. Autonomy -70 days. Crew - 90 people.
On March 8, at the turning point of the route, the submarine did not give a signal about the passage of the control line. The faint hope that the boat was drifting on the surface, devoid of power and radio communications, dried up after two weeks.
A really big one has begun search operation. For 70 days, three dozen ships of the Pacific Fleet surveyed the entire K-129 route from Kamchatka to Hawaii. All along the way, water samples were taken for radioactivity (there was an atomic weapon on board the submarine). Alas, the boat has sunk into obscurity.
The crew of the lost boat.
In the fall of 1968, mournful notices were sent to the relatives of the missing sailors from the K-129 crew in the cities of the Soviet Union, where the column “cause of death” read: “deem dead.” The military-political leadership of the USSR hid the fact of the disappearance of the submarine from the whole world, quietly excluding the K-129 from the Navy.
The only one who remembered the lost boat was the US Central Intelligence Agency.
The nuclear submarine Barb (SSN-596) was on duty in the Sea of Japan when something unexpected happened. A large detachment went to sea Soviet ships and submarines. It was surprising that the sonars of the ships of the Soviet Navy, including submarines, constantly "worked" in active mode.
It soon became clear that the Russians were not looking for an American boat at all. Their ships were rapidly moving eastward, filling the airwaves with numerous messages. The commander of the USS "Barb" reported to the command about what had happened and suggested that, judging by the nature of the "event", the Russians were looking for their sunken boat.
Place of death of K-129
US Navy specialists began to listen to kilometers of tape recordings received from bottom acoustic stations of the SOSUS system. In the cacophony of ocean sounds, they managed to find a fragment where the “clap” was recorded.
The signal came from a bottom station installed on an elevation of the Imperial Mountains (a section of the ocean floor) at a distance of over 300 miles from the alleged crash site. Given the SOSUS direction finding accuracy of 5-10 °, the position of K-129 was determined as a “spot” 30 miles in size.
The Soviet submarine sank 600 miles northwest of about. Midway (Hawaiian archipelago), in the middle of an ocean trench at a depth of 5000 meters.
The Soviet government's official rejection of the sunken K-129 resulted in it becoming "orphan property", thus any country that discovered the missing submarine would be considered its owner. Therefore, in early 1969, discussions began in the CIA about the possibility of lifting valuable equipment from a Soviet submarine from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
The Americans were interested in literally everything: the design of the submarine, mechanisms and instruments, sonars, documents. Particularly tempting was the idea of penetrating into the radio communications of the USSR Navy, "breaking" the ciphers of radio traffic.
If you manage to extract the radio communication equipment, you can use a computer to open the algorithms for encoding information, to understand the key laws of the development of ciphers in the USSR, i.e. open the entire system of deployment and control of the Navy of the Soviet Union. Of no less interest was nuclear weapons on board the boat: design features of the R-21 ICBM and torpedo warheads.
By July 1969, a clear plan was prepared for several years ahead, and work began to boil. Given the enormous depth at which the K-129 sank, the success of the operation was estimated at 10%
Mission Khalibat
To begin with, it was necessary to establish the exact location of the K-129 and assess its condition. This was done by the nuclear submarine for special operations USS "Halibut" (Halibut).
The former missile carrier was thoroughly modernized and filled to capacity with oceanographic equipment: side thrusters, an anchor device with a bow and stern mushroom anchor, a diving camera, far and near side sonars, as well as a deep-sea towed Fish module equipped with photo and video equipment and powerful spotlights.
When "Khelibat" was at the calculated point, the days of hard work dragged on. Every six days, a deep-sea submersible was raised to reload film in cameras. Then the photo lab worked at a frantic pace (the camera did 24 frames per second).
And then one day a picture with a clearly defined submarine rudder fell on the table. "K-129" lay on the bottom of the ocean, according to unofficial information, at the point 38 ° 5' N. latitude. and 178°57′ E. (according to other sources - 40 ° 6 ′ N and 179 ° 57′ E) at a depth of 16,500 feet.
The exact coordinates of the location of "K-129" are still a US state secret. After the discovery of the K-129, Khalibat took another 22,000 photographs of the Soviet submarine.
Initially, it was planned to open the K-129 hull with the help of remote-controlled underwater vehicles and extract the materials needed by the American special services from the submarine without lifting the boat itself. But during the Khalibat mission, it was found that the K-129 hull was broken into several large fragments, which made it possible to raise the entire compartments of interest to scouts from a five-kilometer depth.
Of particular value was the bow of the K-129, 138 feet (42 meters) long. The CIA and Navy turned to Congress for financial support, Congress to President Nixon, and the AZORIAN project became a reality.
History of Glomar Explorer
The fantastic project required special technical solutions.
In April 1971, at the Shipbuilding Dry Dock Co. (Pennsylvania, US East Coast) the MV Hughes Glomar Explorer was laid down. The giant, with a total displacement of 50,000 tons, was a single-deck vessel with a “central slot” above which was placed a giant A-shaped tower, an aft engine room, a bow two-tier and aft four-tier superstructures.
Layout on the deck of the ship "Hughes Glomar Explorer" of the main equipment used in the installation of pipe columns (lifting pipes): 1-bridge crane; 2-main deck; 3-"lunar pool"; 4-A-shaped frame; 5-external gimbal suspension; 6-internal gimbal suspension; 7-base of the cargo device; 8-tower; 9-pipe tray; 10-trolley of the pipe-feeding tray; 11-pipe transfer crane; 12-lift for pipes.
One of the myths about the Azorian project - the K-129 broke during the ascent and most of it fell to the bottom - is refuted by the discrepancy between the dimensions of the Lunar Pool (length 60 meters) and the length of the K-129 hull (length according to design waterline - 99 meters). It was already initially planned that only part of the submarine would be raised.
At the same time, at the shipyards of National Steel Shipbuilding Corp. in San Diego (California, West Coast of the USA) the HMB-1 barge (Hughes Marine Barge) and the Clementine deepwater capture were under construction. Such a dispersal of production ensured complete secrecy of the operation.
Even the engineers directly involved in the project, individually, could not understand the purpose of these devices (ship, capture and barge).
After a series of tests on the East Coast, on August 13, 1973, the Glomar Explorer set off on a 12,000-mile cruise around Cape Horn and arrived safely in Long Beach (California) on September 30. There, far from prying eyes, in a quiet bay of Santa Catalina Island, the barge HMB-1 with a grapple mounted on it was waiting for him.
The process of loading "Clementine" on the Glomar Explorer
The barge was slowly loaded and fixed at a depth of 30 m, the Glomar Explorer stood above it; the shutters of its central connector were moved apart and two columns were lowered into the water; at that moment, the roof of the barge opened, and the columns, like Chinese chopsticks, moved the Clementine inside the ship - into the Moon Pool.
As soon as the capture got on board the ship, the massive underwater shutters were closed and water was pumped out of the internal pool. After that, a huge, invisible to prying eyes, work began on the vessel to mount the gripper, attach all cables, hoses and sensors.
Clementine
The cold summer of 1974, a depression north of the island of Guam in the Western Pacific. The depth is 5000 meters… Every 3 minutes a section 18.2 m long is fed by a crane. There are 300 such sections in total, each one is as strong as a gun barrel.
The lowering and lifting of the deep-sea grip "Clementine" occur with the help of a pipe string - a lifting pipe, 5 kilometers long. Each section of the pipe has a conical thread, the sections are carefully screwed into each other, the grooves provide a secure locking of the entire structure.
The actions of the Glomar Explorer were watched with interest by Soviet sailors. The very purpose of the operation is not clear to them, but the fact that deep-sea work was carried out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean aroused suspicion among the command of the Soviet Navy.
As a result of technical problems during the lifting of the boat, its hull broke and most of it sank again, finally collapsing upon contact with the ground, only the bow section was raised aboard the Glomar Explorer.
Although official information remains classified, researchers believe that ballistic missiles, code books and other equipment remained at the bottom, therefore it is believed that the goals of the operation were not fully achieved.
The Chazhma measuring complex ship and the SB-10 rescue tug, which were nearby, caused a lot of trouble for the Yankees. Out of fear that the Russians would take the Glomar Explorer by storm, they had to fill up the helipad with boxes and raise the entire crew to their feet.
Alarming data came from the "Moon Pool" - the wreckage of the boat is radioactive, one of the nuclear charges apparently collapsed.
"Clementine" with parts of "K-129" boards the ship, "Glomar Explorer" and leaves with its prey for Hawaii ...
Memorial to the submariners "K-129" in the garrison Vilyuchinsk
The sunken nuclear submarines of the USSR and Russia are the subject of ongoing discussions. During the Soviet and post-Soviet years, four nuclear submarines (K-8, K-219, K-278, Kursk) died. The sunken K-27 was sunk on its own in 1982 after a radiation accident. This was done because the nuclear submarine was not recoverable, and dismantling was too expensive. All these submarines were assigned to the Northern Fleet.
Nuclear submarine K-8
This sunken submarine is considered the first officially recognized loss in the Union nuclear fleet. The cause of the death of the ship on April 12, 1970 was a fire that occurred during his stay in (Atlantic). The crew fought for the survivability of the submarine for a long time. The sailors were able to shut down the reactors. Part of the crew was evacuated aboard a Bulgarian civilian ship that arrived on time, but 52 people died. This sunken submarine was one of the first nuclear-powered ships of the USSR.
Submarine K-219Project 667A at one time was 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 the mine. The accident killed 8 people. In addition to two reactors, the sunken submarine had at least fifteen and 45 thermonuclear warheads on board. The ship was severely crippled, but showed amazing survivability. It was able to surface 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.
This project 685 sunken 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 a great international outcry. Before that, the sunken submarines of the USSR did not attract so much attention (partly because of the secrecy regime).
This tragedy is probably the most famous disaster associated with the death of a submarine. The Carrier Killer, a formidable and modern nuclear-powered cruiser, sank in a 107-meter depth, 90 km from the coast. 132 submariners were locked at the bottom. Rescue measures for 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, much remains unclear about the death of the Kursk. According to other versions (unofficial), the nuclear-powered ship sank due to a collision with the American submarine Toledo, which was nearby, or due to a torpedo fired from it. The unsuccessful rescue operation to evacuate the crew from the sunken ship was a shock to the whole of Russia. 132 people died on board the nuclear-powered ship.