K-279 was the first Project 667B Murena

Delta class submarine

The Delta class is a class of submarines which formed the backbone of the Soviet and Russian strategic submarine fleet since its introduction in 1973...

 (also known by the NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

 "Delta-I") ballistic missile submarine

Ballistic missile submarine

A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine equipped to launch ballistic missiles .-Description:Ballistic missile submarines are larger than any other type of submarine, in order to accommodate SLBMs such as the Russian R-29 or the American Trident...

 of the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The 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...

. Development of Project 667B began in 1965. Her keel was laid down in 1971 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...

 at the Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk

Severodvinsk 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...

 shipyard. She was launched in January 1972, and commissioned in the Soviet Northern Fleet on 22 December 1972.

Service history

In 1983, while operating under the Arctic Ocean

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions...

 icecap at the depth of 190 meters (625 feet), K-279 struck an iceberg

Iceberg

An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...

. The submarine rolled about 20 degrees and lost depth control, diving to 300 meters (1000 feet) before recovering. The submarine continued her mission for another two months before returning to port, despite the significant damage she had suffered. The Soviet Navy published an advisory to submarine captains warning that the bottoms of icebergs can extend to depths of 200 meters (650 feet) or more.

The american writers claims that on 20 October 1986, collided with K-279 in the eastern Atlantic. Soviets claims that Augusta collided with K-457.

In 1992, K-279 was decommissioned and held in reserve. In 1998 she was dismantled at Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk and her reactor section was towed to Sayda Bay.

External links

This article includes material adapted from the Bellona Foundation's Web site and from an 8 June 2004 interview with Rear-Admiral Vitaly Fedorin by Pravda

Pravda

Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....

.