Soviet submarine K-19
Encyclopedia
K-19, KS-19, BS_19 was one of the first two Soviet submarine
s of the 658, 658м, 658с class (NATO reporting name ), the first generation nuclear submarine
equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles
, specifically the R-13 (missile). Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened
on 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959. Its naval flag was first raised on 12 July 1960, and it completed all acceptance tests on 12 November 1960. Its official commissioning
took place on 30 April 1961. Due to the large number of accidents during its construction and service life, it gained an unofficial nickname "Hiroshima
" among naval sailors and officers. Over its service life, it ran 332,396 miles during 20,223 working hours.
On 4 July 1961, under the command of Captain First Rank Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev
, K-19 was conducting exercises in the North Atlantic close to Southern Greenland
when it developed a major leak in its reactor coolant system, causing the water pressure in the aft reactor to drop to zero and causing failure of the coolant pumps. A separate accident had disabled the long-range radio system
, so they could not contact Moscow. The reactor temperature rose uncontrollably, reaching 800 °C (1,472 °F) — almost the melting point
of the fuel rods — and the chain reactions
continued despite the control rods being inserted via a SCRAM
mechanism. The reactor continued to heat up as coolant is still required during shutdown until the reactions decrease. Despite Zateyev's and others' earlier requests, no backup cooling system had been installed.
As a cooling back-up system had not been installed, Zateyev made a drastic decision; a team of eight engineering officers and crew worked for extended periods in high-radiation
areas to implement a new coolant system by cutting off an air vent valve and welding a water-supplying pipe into it. Since the ship carried chemical suits, instead of radiation suits (not available at the time and developed after accidents like this), they were certain to be lethally contaminated, but the repair team was unaware of the degree of risk, believing the suits they wore would protect them from contamination. The released radioactive steam, containing fission product
s, was drawn into the ventilation system and spread to other sections of the ship. The cooling water pumped from the reactor section worked well.
The incident contaminated the crew, parts of the ship, and some of the ballistic missile
s carried on board; the entire crew received substantial doses of radiation, and all seven men in the repair crew died of radiation exposure
within a week, and fifteen more within the next two years. The captain decided to head south to meet diesel submarines expected to be there, instead of continuing on the mission's planned route. Worries about a potential crew mutiny
prompted Zateyev to have all small arms thrown overboard except for five pistols distributed to his most trusted officers. A diesel submarine, , picked up K-19s low-power distress transmissions and joined up with it.
American warships nearby had also heard the transmission and offered to help, but Zateyev, afraid of giving away Soviet military secrets to the West, refused and sailed to meet the S-270. Its crew was evacuated, and the boat was towed to the home base; after landing, the vessel contaminated a zone within 700 m (2,296.6 ft). The damaged reactors were removed and replaced, a process which took two years. During this time, there was further radiation poisoning of the environment and the workers involved.
The official explanation of the disaster is that during the repair process, it was discovered that the catastrophe had been caused by a drop from a welding electrode that had fallen into the first cooling circuit of the aft reactor during the initial construction. However, this is disputed. According to retired Rear-Admiral Nikolai Mormul, when the reactor was first started ashore, no pressure gauge had been connected to the first cooling circuit. By the time somebody realized what was happening, the pipes had been subjected to a pressure of 400 atmospheres; double the acceptable limit. Checking the pipes would have been costly and reporting the negligence would have hurt the career of Captain Zateyev, who preferred to hide the fact. K-19 returned to the fleet, now having acquired the additional nickname "Hiroshima
".
On 1 February 2006, former President of the Soviet Union
Mikhail Gorbachev
proposed in a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee
that the crew of K-19 be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
for their actions on 4 July 1961. In late March 2006, Nikolai Zateyev
was formally nominated for the award.
.
Many other crew members also received doses of radiation exceeding permissible levels. They underwent medical treatment during the following year. The treatment was devised by Professor Z. Volynskiy and included bone marrow
transplantation and blood transfusion
. It saved, among others, Chief Lieutenant Mikhail Krasichkov and Captain 3rd class Vladimir Yenin, who had received doses of radiation that were otherwise considered deadly. For reasons of secrecy the official diagnosis was not "radiation sickness
" but "astheno-vegetative syndrome". This deliberate misdiagnosis meant that the surviving crew members had problems in obtaining future employment.
, Nikolai Zateyev.
at a depth of 60 m (196.9 ft). It was able to surface by means of an emergency main ballast tank
blow. The impact completely destroyed the bow sonar
systems and mangled the covers of the forward torpedo tubes. K-19 was again repaired and returned to the fleet.
leaking onto a hot filter. The boat surfaced, and surface warships evacuated the crew, except for 12 men trapped in the aft torpedo room. Towing was delayed by a gale, and the aft torpedo room could not be reached because of conditions in the engine room. After the gale abated, the boat was towed to Severomorsk
on 4 April, and the men were rescued after surviving 24 days in the lightless, heatless torpedo room. The rescue operation lasted more than 40 days and involved over 30 ships. K-19 was again repaired and returned to the fleet.
. In March 2002, it was towed to the Nerpa Shipyard, Snezhnogorsk
, Murmansk
to be scrapped. It was announced in October 2003 that scrapping would start soon.
In 2006, the K-19 was purchased by Vladimir Romanov
, who once served on the sub as a conscript, with the intention of "Turning it into a Moscow-based meeting place to build links between submarine veterans from Russia and other countries." So far, the plans remain on hold, and many of K-19's survivors have objected to them.
(2002), starring Harrison Ford
and Liam Neeson
, is loosely based on the story of the K-19s first disaster.
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s of the 658, 658м, 658с class (NATO reporting name ), the first generation nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
equipped with nuclear ballistic missiles
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...
, specifically the R-13 (missile). Its keel was laid down on 17 October 1958, christened
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 8 April 1959 and launched on 11 October 1959. Its naval flag was first raised on 12 July 1960, and it completed all acceptance tests on 12 November 1960. Its official commissioning
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...
took place on 30 April 1961. Due to the large number of accidents during its construction and service life, it gained an unofficial nickname "Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
" among naval sailors and officers. Over its service life, it ran 332,396 miles during 20,223 working hours.
Timeline
- 16 October 1957 Ordered by the Soviet NavySoviet NavyThe Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
. - 17 October 1958 Laid down at the naval yard in SeverodvinskSeverodvinskSeverodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
as a main nuclear submarine cruiser equipped with ballistic missiles. - 1959 Three people die as a result of a fire which broke out during the construction of the ballast tanks.
- 11 October 1959 Launching ceremony and christening. Champagne bottle thrown by Captain, 3rd rank V. V. Panov of the 5th Urgent Unit slides along the screws and bounces off the rubber coated hull without breaking. Many view this as a sign of bad luck.
- January 1960 Confusion during a watch change causes the crew to bend a reactor control rod. The damage is so extensive the reactor needs to be taken apart for repairs. As a result, responsible officers are removed from their post and Captain Panov is demoted one rank.
- 30 April 1960 Commissioned.
- 12 July 1960 The submarine's ensignEnsignAn ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...
is hoisted for the first time. - 13 through 17 July 1960 First sea trials.
- 12 August through 8 November 1960 Conducted several sea trials over a total course of 10,779 miles. The rubber coating on the hull is found to have mostly come off after surfacing from a submerged full power run, requiring a total repainting of the boat. During a test dive to the maximum depth of 300 m (984.3 ft), water leaks in the reactor compartment and causes the crew to do an emergency surfacing. The boat jumps out of the water dangerously close to its supply ship.
- October 1960 Wooden planks removed from crates containing equipment are disposed of through the galleyGalley (kitchen)The galley is the compartment of a ship, train or aircraft where food is cooked and prepared. It can also refer to a land based kitchen on a naval base or a particular formed household kitchen.-Ship's kitchen:...
's waste system, clogging it. This causes flooding to the 9th compartment which subsequently fills one third full with water. - 12 November 1960 The boat is commissioned and Captain, 2nd rank Nikolai Vladimirovich ZateyevNikolai Vladimirovich ZateyevNikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev was a Russian submariner and a Captain First Rank in the Soviet Navy, notable as the commander of the ill-fated Soviet submarine K-19 in July 1961 during the Hotel class submarine's nuclear-reactor coolant leak. Zateyev and the actions of his crew managed to avert...
becomes the first commander of the submarine. - December 1960 First independent operation. Loss of coolant causes failure of the main circuit pump. Specialists called from Severodvinsk manage to repair it at sea in a week.
- 1961 While loading missiles a hatch cover slams shut and kills a sailor.
- 3 and 4 July 1961 The nuclear accident. See Nuclear accident.
- 6 August 1961 26 members of the crew are awarded decorations for courage and valor shown while dealing with the accident.
- 14 December 1961 Upgraded to the Hotel II (658м) variant, which upgraded the missiles to the R-21 having twice the effective range.
- 15 November 1969 Collision with . See Collision.
- 24 February 1972 A fire takes the lives of 28 sailors and 2 more while on board rescue ships. See Fire.
- 15 June through 5 November 1972 Repaired quickly and put back into service.
- November 1972 Another fire breaks out, no casualties.
- 25 July 1977 Reclassified as a Large Submarine.
- 15 November 1978 Fire in compartment 6. No casualties. Extinguished by the chemical fire system.
- 26 July 1979 Reclassified as a communications submarine and given the symbol KS-19 (КС-19).
- 15 August 1982 Due to electrical short circuit, two sailors received burns of varying degrees. Sailor V. A. Kravchuk dies in a hospital on 20 August 1982.
- 28 November 1985 Upgraded to the 658s (658с) variant.
- 19 April 1990 Decommissioned.
- March 2002 A US film studio tries to secure the boat as a set for its production, but the Russian Navy declines.
- August 2003 The crew makes its last visit to the boat in PolyarnyPolyarnyPolyarny is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the outermost western side of the Kola Bay. Population: -History:It was founded in 1896 and named Alexandrovsk in honor of Tsar Alexander III. Town status was granted to it on , 1899...
city after which the hull is scrapped save for the sail left for the purpose of forming a burial site for fallen crew members.
Nuclear accident
Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev
Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev was a Russian submariner and a Captain First Rank in the Soviet Navy, notable as the commander of the ill-fated Soviet submarine K-19 in July 1961 during the Hotel class submarine's nuclear-reactor coolant leak. Zateyev and the actions of his crew managed to avert...
, K-19 was conducting exercises in the North Atlantic close to Southern Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
when it developed a major leak in its reactor coolant system, causing the water pressure in the aft reactor to drop to zero and causing failure of the coolant pumps. A separate accident had disabled the long-range radio system
Radio communication system
A radio communication system sends signals by radio. Types of radio communication systems deployed depend on technology, standards, regulations, radio spectrum allocation, user requirements, service positioning, and investment....
, so they could not contact Moscow. The reactor temperature rose uncontrollably, reaching 800 °C (1,472 °F) — almost the melting point
Melting point
The melting point of a solid is the temperature at which it changes state from solid to liquid. At the melting point the solid and liquid phase exist in equilibrium. The melting point of a substance depends on pressure and is usually specified at standard atmospheric pressure...
of the fuel rods — and the chain reactions
Nuclear chain reaction
A nuclear chain reaction occurs when one nuclear reaction causes an average of one or more nuclear reactions, thus leading to a self-propagating number of these reactions. The specific nuclear reaction may be the fission of heavy isotopes or the fusion of light isotopes...
continued despite the control rods being inserted via a SCRAM
Scram
A scram or SCRAM is an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor – though the term has been extended to cover shutdowns of other complex operations, such as server farms and even large model railroads...
mechanism. The reactor continued to heat up as coolant is still required during shutdown until the reactions decrease. Despite Zateyev's and others' earlier requests, no backup cooling system had been installed.
As a cooling back-up system had not been installed, Zateyev made a drastic decision; a team of eight engineering officers and crew worked for extended periods in high-radiation
Radiation
In physics, radiation is a process in which energetic particles or energetic waves travel through a medium or space. There are two distinct types of radiation; ionizing and non-ionizing...
areas to implement a new coolant system by cutting off an air vent valve and welding a water-supplying pipe into it. Since the ship carried chemical suits, instead of radiation suits (not available at the time and developed after accidents like this), they were certain to be lethally contaminated, but the repair team was unaware of the degree of risk, believing the suits they wore would protect them from contamination. The released radioactive steam, containing fission product
Fission product
Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus fissions. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons and a large release of energy in the form of heat , gamma rays and neutrinos. The...
s, was drawn into the ventilation system and spread to other sections of the ship. The cooling water pumped from the reactor section worked well.
The incident contaminated the crew, parts of the ship, and some of the ballistic missile
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...
s carried on board; the entire crew received substantial doses of radiation, and all seven men in the repair crew died of radiation exposure
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
within a week, and fifteen more within the next two years. The captain decided to head south to meet diesel submarines expected to be there, instead of continuing on the mission's planned route. Worries about a potential crew mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
prompted Zateyev to have all small arms thrown overboard except for five pistols distributed to his most trusted officers. A diesel submarine, , picked up K-19s low-power distress transmissions and joined up with it.
American warships nearby had also heard the transmission and offered to help, but Zateyev, afraid of giving away Soviet military secrets to the West, refused and sailed to meet the S-270. Its crew was evacuated, and the boat was towed to the home base; after landing, the vessel contaminated a zone within 700 m (2,296.6 ft). The damaged reactors were removed and replaced, a process which took two years. During this time, there was further radiation poisoning of the environment and the workers involved.
The official explanation of the disaster is that during the repair process, it was discovered that the catastrophe had been caused by a drop from a welding electrode that had fallen into the first cooling circuit of the aft reactor during the initial construction. However, this is disputed. According to retired Rear-Admiral Nikolai Mormul, when the reactor was first started ashore, no pressure gauge had been connected to the first cooling circuit. By the time somebody realized what was happening, the pipes had been subjected to a pressure of 400 atmospheres; double the acceptable limit. Checking the pipes would have been costly and reporting the negligence would have hurt the career of Captain Zateyev, who preferred to hide the fact. K-19 returned to the fleet, now having acquired the additional nickname "Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
".
On 1 February 2006, former President of the Soviet Union
President of the Soviet Union
The President of the Soviet Union , officially called President of the USSR was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between...
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
proposed in a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Norwegian Nobel Committee
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Nobel Peace Prize each year.Its five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament and roughly represent the political makeup of that body.-History:...
that the crew of K-19 be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for their actions on 4 July 1961. In late March 2006, Nikolai Zateyev
Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev
Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev was a Russian submariner and a Captain First Rank in the Soviet Navy, notable as the commander of the ill-fated Soviet submarine K-19 in July 1961 during the Hotel class submarine's nuclear-reactor coolant leak. Zateyev and the actions of his crew managed to avert...
was formally nominated for the award.
List of crew members who died after the accident on 4 July 1961
Several crew members received fatal doses of radiation during repairs on the reserve coolant system of Reactor #8. All of them died between one to three weeks after the accident from severe radiation sicknessRadiation Sickness
Radiation Sickness is a VHS by the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault. The video is a recording of a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in 1988. It was released in 1991...
.
| Name | Rank | Dose of radiation | Date of death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boris Korchilov | Lieutenant | 5400 rem Röntgen equivalent man Named after Wilhelm Röntgen , the roentgen equivalent in man or rem is a unit of radiation dose equivalent... = 54 Sv (Sievert Sievert The sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray... ) |
10 July 1961 |
| Boris Ryzhikov | Chief Starshina Starshina Starshina, or Starshyna , initially was a Cossacks officership, but in Soviet times was used as the top non-commissioned officer.Among Cossacks and in Ukraine, starshina was a collective noun for categories of officership or a military elite: junior starshina , general starshina , military... |
720 röntgen Röntgen The roentgen is a unit of measurement for exposure to ionizing radiation , and is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen... = 8.6 Sv |
25 July 1961 |
| Yuriy Ordochkin | Starshina, 1st class | 990 röntgen = 11 Sv | 10 July 1961 |
| Evgeny Kashenkov | Starshina, 2nd class | 845 röntgen = 10 Sv | 10 July 1961 |
| Semyon Penkov | Seaman Seaman Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks.... |
890 röntgen = 10 Sv | 18 July 1961 |
| Nicolai Savkin | Seaman | 930 röntgen = 11 Sv | 13 July 1961 |
| Valery Charitonov | Seaman | 935 röntgen = 11 Sv | 15 July 1961 |
| Yuriy Povstyev | Captain Lieutenant Captain Lieutenant Captain lieutenant or captain-lieutenant is a military rank, used in a number of different navies worldwide.It is generally equivalent to the Commonwealth or US rank of lieutenant, and has the NATO rank code of OF-2, though this can vary.... , Commander of the division of movement |
629 röntgen = 7.5 Sv | 22 July 1961 |
Many other crew members also received doses of radiation exceeding permissible levels. They underwent medical treatment during the following year. The treatment was devised by Professor Z. Volynskiy and included bone marrow
Bone marrow
Bone marrow is the flexible tissue found in the interior of bones. In humans, bone marrow in large bones produces new blood cells. On average, bone marrow constitutes 4% of the total body mass of humans; in adults weighing 65 kg , bone marrow accounts for approximately 2.6 kg...
transplantation and blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
. It saved, among others, Chief Lieutenant Mikhail Krasichkov and Captain 3rd class Vladimir Yenin, who had received doses of radiation that were otherwise considered deadly. For reasons of secrecy the official diagnosis was not "radiation sickness
Radiation Sickness
Radiation Sickness is a VHS by the thrash metal band Nuclear Assault. The video is a recording of a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London in 1988. It was released in 1991...
" but "astheno-vegetative syndrome". This deliberate misdiagnosis meant that the surviving crew members had problems in obtaining future employment.
See also
Soviet naval officer Vasiliy Arkhipov — at the time of the nuclear accident on 4 July 1961, he was the executive officer to the CommanderCommander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
, Nikolai Zateyev.
Collision
At 07:13 on 15 November 1969, K-19 collided with the attack submarine in the Barents SeaBarents Sea
The Barents Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Norway and Russia. Known in the Middle Ages as the Murman Sea, the sea takes its current name from the Dutch navigator Willem Barents...
at a depth of 60 m (196.9 ft). It was able to surface by means of an emergency main ballast tank
Ballast tank
A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water.-History:The basic concept behind the ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or argonaut octopus, and the concept has been invented and reinvented many times by...
blow. The impact completely destroyed the bow sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
systems and mangled the covers of the forward torpedo tubes. K-19 was again repaired and returned to the fleet.
Fire
On 24 February 1972, a fire broke out on board K-19 while the submarine was at a depth of 120 m (393.7 ft), some 1300 km (701.9 nmi; 807.8 mi) from Newfoundland, in Canada. A total of 28 sailors died in the fire, caused by hydraulic fluidHydraulic fluid
Hydraulic fluids, also called hydraulic liquids, are the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water...
leaking onto a hot filter. The boat surfaced, and surface warships evacuated the crew, except for 12 men trapped in the aft torpedo room. Towing was delayed by a gale, and the aft torpedo room could not be reached because of conditions in the engine room. After the gale abated, the boat was towed to Severomorsk
Severomorsk
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....
on 4 April, and the men were rescued after surviving 24 days in the lightless, heatless torpedo room. The rescue operation lasted more than 40 days and involved over 30 ships. K-19 was again repaired and returned to the fleet.
Decommissioning
The submarine was decommissioned in 1991, and was transferred in 1994 to the naval repair yard at PolyarnyPolyarny
Polyarny is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the outermost western side of the Kola Bay. Population: -History:It was founded in 1896 and named Alexandrovsk in honor of Tsar Alexander III. Town status was granted to it on , 1899...
. In March 2002, it was towed to the Nerpa Shipyard, Snezhnogorsk
Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk Oblast
Snezhnogorsk is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded in 1970 and was granted town status in 1980. It was previously known as Murmansk-60 and Vyuzhny. The town's main employer is the Nerpa shipyard which is responsible for servicing and repairing the nuclear...
, Murmansk
Murmansk
Murmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
to be scrapped. It was announced in October 2003 that scrapping would start soon.
In 2006, the K-19 was purchased by Vladimir Romanov
Vladimir Romanov
Vladimir Nikolayevich Romanov ; born 1947 in Tver Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR) is an ethnic Russian businessman who also holds Lithuanian citizenship following that country's independence from the Soviet Union. He is chairman of UBIG Investments which is the majority shareholder in Scottish Premier...
, who once served on the sub as a conscript, with the intention of "Turning it into a Moscow-based meeting place to build links between submarine veterans from Russia and other countries." So far, the plans remain on hold, and many of K-19's survivors have objected to them.
Popular culture
The movie K-19: The WidowmakerK-19: The Widowmaker
K-19: The Widowmaker is a movie released on July 19, 2002, about the first of many disasters that befell the Soviet submarine of the same name. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow...
(2002), starring Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
and Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, is loosely based on the story of the K-19s first disaster.
External links
- K-19: the History (from National Geographic)
- K-19, prototype of Hollywood thriller, to be cut up (from PravdaPravdaPravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
)