Soviet submarine K-77 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

K-77 was a "Project 651" (also known by its NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

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

of ) cruise missile submarine 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...

. Her keel was laid down in the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky

Nizhny Novgorod

Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

on 31 January 1963. 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 11 March 1965, and 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 31 October 1965 into the Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet

The Red Banner Northern Fleet is a unit of the Russian Navy that has access to the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and is responsible for the defense of northwestern Russia. It was established in 1937 as part of the Soviet Navy...

.

K-77 was built later in the Juliett class, so her hull was conventional steel and her battery

Battery (electricity)

An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...

was of the conventional lead-acid type, rather than the austenitic steel and silver-zinc batteries used in the first Julietts. K-77 was also used as the set for the motion picture K-19: The Widowmaker
K-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...

, 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...

Career

The details of K-77’s career remain largely unknown. Juliett-class submarines were used to follow United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

aircraft carrier battle groups in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. Circumstantial evidence indicates that K-77 often patrolled the Mediterranean, off the coast of West Africa

West Africa

West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

, and at least once in the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

near the United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

. Papers found aboard her during inspection in Helsinki suggest that she had shadowed Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

s.

At some point in her career, K-77 (the K standing for крейсерская, kreyserskaya — "cruiser") was redesignated Б-77 (the Б standing for большая, bolshaya — "large"). In 1987, K-77 was withdrawn from the blue-water Northern Fleet

Northern Fleet

and transferred to the Baltic Fleet

Baltic Fleet

The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

. The redesignation and transfer could easily be related.

The Soviet Navy began withdrawing the Julietts from active service in 1988. K-77 was decommissioned sometime after 1991, and by the end of 1994, all Julietts had been retired.

Finland

At the end of the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, Finnish businessman Jari Komulainen

Jari Komulainen

Jari Komulainen is a Finnish businessman. He got famous by being married to the Finnish President Mauno Koivisto’s daughter, Assi Koivisto.-Personal life:...

, who was married to the only daughter of President of Finland

President of Finland

The President of the Republic of Finland is the nation's head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the President and the government, with the President possessing extensive powers. The President is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years....

Mauno Koivisto

Mauno Henrik Koivisto is a Finnish politician who served as the ninth President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as Prime Minister 1968–1970 and 1979–1982...

, used his influence as Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

's "first son-in-law" to convince the Russian government to lease him a Project 641 "Foxtrot" class submarine

Foxtrot class submarine

The Foxtrot class was the NATO reporting name of a class of diesel-electric patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union. The Soviet designation of this class was Project 641....

, probably the ex-. Komulainen opened it to the public in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

in the spring of 1993 as a tourist attraction. He then purchased two s, one Juliett replacing the Foxtrot in 1994, becoming a bar and restaurant as well as a tourist attraction. Komulainen believed that his restaurant had been K-81, based on a metal plate discovered inside the boat. However, it later transpired that that plate and others bearing different numbers were provided for the crew to display on the submarine's sail during surface running to confuse NATO reconnaissance aircraft. Komulainen also held a beauty pageant “Miss Submarine” at his Soviet submarine K-77. Eva Maria Fahler was crowned as Miss Press/Best in Media Attention and Anitra Ahtola

Anitra Ahtola

Anitra Ahtola is a Finnish model, beauty queen and an entrepreneur.-Career:Anitra was the first runner up in the Miss Finland contest of the year 1996. She met Jari Komulainen, when she won a beauty pageant, Miss Submarine, which Komulainen had arranged. She started dancing when she was 4 years...

won the competition who became later his third wife.

As a restaurant, K-77 was modestly successful, but was not lucrative enough to satisfy Komulainen. In 1998, he leased his submarine to a Canadian promoter, who towed it to Tampa Bay, Florida. However, the intended mooring location in the harbor was too shallow and the investors were forced to move the proposed tourist attraction to a more remote site. Soon, the promoter filed for bankruptcy, and K-77 reverted to Komulainen.

eBay

Komulainen did not want to repeat the nerve-wracking trans-Atlantic tow, and instead tried at least twice to auction the submarine on eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

— auctions #222791130, ending on 20 December 1999, and #270148521, ending on 7 March 2000. In each case, bidding was to start at US$1 million. No bids were received.

Widowmaker

The eBay auction, however, caught the attention of Intermedia Film Equities Ltd.

Intermedia (production company)

Intermedia is a film production company, wholly owned by IM Internationalmedia AG.The company mostly acts as a co-producer, funding films through the IMF funds.-History:...

, who chartered K-77 for US$200,000 and towed her to Halifax, Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

, in 2000 to become the set for the motion picture K-19: The Widowmaker
K-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...

, starring Harrison Ford

Harrison Ford

and Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

Museum

In 2002, after the film wrapped up, the submarine was purchased by the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation,http://www.saratogamuseum.org towed to Collier Point Park in Providence, Rhode Island

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...

, and opened to the public in August 2002. Prior to its sinking, the K-77 offered public tours and a comprehensive educational program in accordance with New Standards and attuned to the advancement requirements of both Girl and Boy Scout programs.

When the Saratoga Museum Foundation took possession of the submarine it was described as K-81, which is what was stated in the initial press releases from the Saratoga Museum Foundation. After spending months refurbishing the interior, which included removing several bulkheads, moving large pieces of equipment and going deep into the bilges, there were documents found that provided incontrovertible proof that the submarine was the K-77 and not the K-81 as earlier thought. The records confirming this information include maintenance reports, equipment exchanges, radio messages, duty rosters, log entries and torpedo firing exercises, which all identify the submarine as K-77.

Sinking

The submarine sank on April 18, 2007 after a storm, and plans were made to raise it off the river bottom. The Museum's theory on why the submarine sank is that a modified hatch was not properly watertight. Recovery efforts by U.S. Navy and Army divers began in June 2008 as part of a project to train military divers through real-world, community-based projects.

On June 2, 2008, divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

arrived and began preparations to raise the submarine. On July 25, 2008, she was brought to the surface by US Navy and Army divers. The work of pumping out water was completed in August 2008. The sub was badly deteriorated and in need of substantial repair.

On August 11, 2009, RI Recycled Metals LLC towed the sub to a facility 1000 yards from the museum site so that it could be scrapped.

External links

http://www.juliett484.org/juliett/
http://www.brown.edu/Students/INDY/cms/content/view/203/39/
Ships of the K-19: Widowmaker film Photos from Mac's Navy Links
Military.com, June 25, 2008: Navy and Army work to raise sunken K-77

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