Russian submarine K-157 Vepr
Encyclopedia
Vepr (K-157) ( literally means "wild boar") is a Project 971 Schuka-B (also known by the NATO reporting name
"Akula-II
") class nuclear powered attack submarine of the Russian Navy. Her keel was laid down on 16 June 1990 by Sevmash
. She was launched
on 10 December 1994, commissioned
on 25 November 1995, and homeported in Gadzhievo.
. Alexander Kuzminykh, a 19-year-old seaman who was being detained on punishment charges, broke out from his quarters, killed his guard by stabbing him with a chisel, then seized his AK-47
assault rifle
and shot dead five more sailors. He then took two hostages, whom he later killed.
He barricaded himself in the torpedo room, and for 20 hours, repeatedly threatened to set a fire to detonate the torpedoes. While Vepr had no nuclear weapons and her reactor was shut down, the detonation of her torpedoes while she was tied up at the dock would have ruptured her reactor, creating what the regional director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Vladimir Prikhodko described as "a nuclear catastrophe ... a second Chernobyl
."
Attempts to persuade him to surrender failed. Kuzminykh's mother was flown to the naval base but was unable to persuade her son to give himself up. The situation remained a standoff until early on the morning of 12 September, when a special FSB anti-terrorist commando unit stormed the torpedo room. Early reports indicated that he had been killed by the FSB, but later reports indicated that he committed suicide
. FSB officers regretted that "there was no way to preserve Alexander Kuzminykh's life."
Kuzminykh was found fit when he was conscripted at a St. Petersburg
enlistment office, even though he had suffered from a mental disorder and had been inhaling intoxicants. When Kuzminykh volunteered for the submarine service he passed additional medical and psychiatric tests with high marks.
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
"Akula-II
Akula class submarine
Project 971 Щука-Б , is a nuclear-powered attack submarine first deployed by the Soviet Navy in 1986...
") class nuclear powered attack submarine of the Russian Navy. Her keel was laid down on 16 June 1990 by Sevmash
Sevmash
JSC PO Sevmash is a shipbuilding company based in Severodvinsk, a port city on Russia's White Sea. The name Sevmash is an abbreviation of Severnoye Mashinostroitelnoye Predpriyatie , i.e. "Northern Machine-Building Enterprise". Sevmash is the largest shipbuilding enterprise in Russia and today the...
. She was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 10 December 1994, commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 25 November 1995, and homeported in Gadzhievo.
1998 incident
Shortly before midnight, 10 September 1998, Vepr was in port at SeveromorskSeveromorsk
Severomorsk is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located about north of Murmansk along the Kola Bay. Population: This is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. Severomorsk has the largest drydock on the Kola Peninsula....
. Alexander Kuzminykh, a 19-year-old seaman who was being detained on punishment charges, broke out from his quarters, killed his guard by stabbing him with a chisel, then seized his AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
assault rifle
Assault rifle
An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
and shot dead five more sailors. He then took two hostages, whom he later killed.
He barricaded himself in the torpedo room, and for 20 hours, repeatedly threatened to set a fire to detonate the torpedoes. While Vepr had no nuclear weapons and her reactor was shut down, the detonation of her torpedoes while she was tied up at the dock would have ruptured her reactor, creating what the regional director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Vladimir Prikhodko described as "a nuclear catastrophe ... a second Chernobyl
Chernobyl
Chernobyl or Chornobyl is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, in Kiev Oblast, near the border with Belarus. The city had been the administrative centre of the Chernobyl Raion since 1932....
."
Attempts to persuade him to surrender failed. Kuzminykh's mother was flown to the naval base but was unable to persuade her son to give himself up. The situation remained a standoff until early on the morning of 12 September, when a special FSB anti-terrorist commando unit stormed the torpedo room. Early reports indicated that he had been killed by the FSB, but later reports indicated that he committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
. FSB officers regretted that "there was no way to preserve Alexander Kuzminykh's life."
Kuzminykh was found fit when he was conscripted at a St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
enlistment office, even though he had suffered from a mental disorder and had been inhaling intoxicants. When Kuzminykh volunteered for the submarine service he passed additional medical and psychiatric tests with high marks.