The worst submarine disasters (photos).

April 7 is a special day in Russia - the Day of Remembrance of Dead Submariners. It is celebrated in memory of everyone dead sailors submarine fleet, but the immediate reason for setting the date 7...

April 7 is a special day in Russia - the Day of Remembrance of Dead Submariners. It is celebrated in memory of all the dead sailors of the submarine fleet, and the immediate reason for setting the date on April 7 was the tragedy that occurred on this day in 1989 in the Norwegian Sea. Then the nuclear combat submarine K-278 Komsomolets crashed. Of the submarine's 69 crew, 42 were killed.

Submariner is a heroic profession. Unfortunately, its specificity is such that, when setting sail, officers, midshipmen, foremen, and submarine sailors do not know whether they will see their family and friends again. The history of the Soviet and Russian submarine fleet is not only about achievements, increasingly advanced submarines and military victories. These include human losses, thousands of submariners who did not return from combat missions in both war and peacetime.

So, from 1955 to 2014. only six nuclear submarines sank - 4 Soviet and 2 Russian (although the K-27 was sunk for disposal purposes, but before that there was a serious accident on the boat, which subsequently became the reason for the decision to sink it).

The Soviet nuclear submarine K-27 was launched in 1962 and received the nickname “Nagasaki” among sailors. On May 24, 1968, the K-27 submarine was in the Barents Sea. The crew of the boat checked the parameters of the main power plant in running modes after completing work to modernize the equipment. At this time, the reactor power began to decrease, and the sailors tried to raise it. At 12:00, a release of radioactive gases occurred in the reactor compartment. The crew reset the emergency protection of the left reactor. The radiation situation on the boat has worsened. The accident led to serious consequences for the crew. All sailors on the boat were irradiated, 9 crew members died - one sailor suffocated in a gas mask on board the boat, eight people died later in the hospital from the effects of radiation doses received on board the boat. In 1981, the boat was disposed of in the Kara Sea.

On April 12, 1970, exactly 47 years ago, in the Bay of Biscay, 490 km from the Spanish coast, K-8, the Soviet nuclear submarine of Project 627A “Kit” sank. The K-8 boat was commissioned into the USSR Navy on March 2, 1958, and launched on May 31, 1959. Like other first-generation nuclear submarines, the K-8 was not perfect - accidents often occurred on it due to various equipment breakdowns. For example, on October 13, 1960, a cooling circuit pipe ruptured in one of the reactors, resulting in a coolant leak, as a result of which the crew received various radiation doses. On June 1, 1961, a similar incident occurred again, as a result of which one of the crew members had to be discharged with acute radiation sickness. On October 8, 1961, an accident occurred again.

Vsevolod Bessonov, commander of the K-8 nuclear submarine.

However, despite the crew's attempts to save the boat, K-8 sank within a short time. A total of 52 people died on the submarine. Thus, 46 crew members managed to escape. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated June 26, 1970, captain 2nd rank Vsevolod Borisovich Bessonov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero Soviet Union. The entire crew of the submarine received state awards. The death of K-8 and 52 sailors was the first such loss of the Soviet nuclear submarine fleet and opened the account of other similar tragedies.

The K-219 strategic nuclear submarine was laid down in 1970 - the same year when the terrible accident on the nuclear submarine "K-8". In 1971, the nuclear submarine was launched. Over the fifteen years of service of the nuclear submarine, it has repeatedly encountered a wide variety of problems associated with nuclear missile launchers and missile silo covers. For example, already in 1973, the tightness of rocket silo No. 15 was broken, as a result of which water began to flow into the silo, which reacted with a component of the rocket fuel. The resulting aggressive nitric acid damaged the rocket's fuel lines and an explosion occurred. One crew member became his victim, and the missile silo was flooded. In January 1986, there was a problem with a missile launch during a training exercise, which forced the boat to surface after launch and return to the naval base on the surface. However, on September 4, 1986, the nuclear submarine K-219 set off on a voyage to the US coast, where it was to carry out patrol duty with 15 nuclear missiles on board. The submarine cruiser was commanded by Captain 2nd Rank Igor Britanov. Before the K-219 went to sea, 12 submarine officers out of 32 were replaced. They had to go on a campaign with a new senior officer, assistant commander, commanders of the missile and mine-torpedo combat units, the head of the radio engineering service, the commander of the electrical division, the commanders of 4 compartments, the ship's doctor. In addition, 12 midshipmen out of 38 midshipmen of the crew were replaced, including two foremen of the missile warhead-2 teams. When the cruiser plunged into the Barents Sea, a leak opened in missile silo No. 6. The officer in charge of the missile armament did not inform the K-219 commander Britanov about this incident. It is likely that he was guided by considerations of his own career - he did not want to be responsible for the consequences of returning the boat to the naval base. Meanwhile, the malfunction in the missile silo had been known for a long time, but was not reported to higher command - the remark was removed by the division's flagship specialist.

While the boat was between the UK and Iceland, it was detected by US Navy sonar systems. At the same time, K-219 made every effort not to be detected. On October 3, K-219 was discovered by the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Augusta, which was heading to the USSR coast - also to perform patrol functions. By this time, it was already necessary to pump water out of missile silo No. 6 twice a day. However, in the end, in the early morning of October 3, 1986, missile silo No. 6 completely depressurized and water poured into it. The officer in charge of the missile armament, Petrachkov, put forward his proposal - to surface to a depth of 50 meters, fill the missile silo with water, and then fire the missiles by emergency starting the main engines. This way he hoped to protect the rocket from destruction in the silo itself. However, there was not enough time, and the rocket exploded in the mine itself. The explosion destroyed the outer wall of the missile body and warheads. Its parts fell inside the cruiser. The hole contributed to the rapid immersion of the ship to 300 meters - almost to the maximum permissible depth. After this, the cruiser commander decided to blow out the tanks in order to get rid of ballast water. Two minutes after the explosion, K-219 abruptly floated to the surface. The personnel left the missile compartment and battened down the sealed bulkheads. Thus, the boat was divided into halves - the command and torpedo compartments were isolated by the emergency missile compartment from other compartments - the medical, reactor, control and turbine compartments, located in the stern of the ship.

In memory of the fallen submariners. Major accidents on Soviet and Russian nuclear submarines The commander of the reactor compartment, senior lieutenant Nikolai Belikov, and 20-year-old special hold sailor Sergei Preminin (pictured) went to the reactor enclosure - they were going to lower the compensating grids. The temperature in the cell reached 70 °C, but senior lieutenant Belikov still lowered three of the four bars, and only then fell unconscious. The last fourth grate was lowered by the sailor Preminin. But he was unable to get back out - due to the difference in pressure, neither he nor the sailors on the other side were able to open the compartment hatch. Preminin died, at the cost of his life, preventing nuclear explosion. It is noteworthy that then his feat was not properly appreciated - the sailor was posthumously given the Order of the Red Star, and only in 1997, already in the post-Soviet period national history, Sergei Preminin was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

K-219 established contact with the Soviet civilian refrigerator "Fedor Bredikhin". In addition to the refrigerator, the timber carrier "Bakaritsa", the tanker "Galileo Galilei", the bulk carrier "Krasnogvardeysk" and the roll-off vessel "Anatoly Vasilyev" approached the scene of the accident. Then the US Navy ships arrived - the tug USNS Powhatan and the submarine USS Augusta. The command of the USSR Navy decided to tow the K-219. There was a great danger that the boat, if abandoned by the crew, would be captured by the American Navy. Due to the spread poisonous gas In the end, the Soviet command decided to evacuate the crew, but the commander of the K-219 Britanov remained on the boat to protect it from possible penetration of the Americans with weapons in their hands. He, a group of officers and secret documents, was the last to leave the boat - on a boat. As a result of the accident on the K-219, 4 people died - the commander of the warhead-2, captain 3rd rank Petrachkov Alexander; sailor for weapons Smaglyuk Nikolay; driver Kharchenko Igor; reactor engineer Sergei Preminin. Upon his return to the USSR, Igor Britanov was under investigation, then the charges against him were dropped, but he was dismissed from the ranks of the USSR Navy. Quite a lot of articles have been written about the accident on K-219, various versions have been put forward and are being put forward. possible reasons accidents. Without going into more detail on this issue, it should be noted that the sailors of the boat, at the cost of their lives, tried to correct emergency situation that originated on a submarine. Eternal memory to them for this.

November 8, 2008 occurred during factory sea trials in the Sea of Japan, built at the Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur and not yet accepted into the Russian Navy. As a result of the unauthorized activation of the LOX (boat volumetric chemical) fire extinguishing system, freon gas began to flow into the boat compartments. 20 people died, another 21 people were hospitalized with poisoning. In total, there were 208 people on board the submarine.

August 30, 2003 in the Barents Sea while towing to the city of Polyarny for disposal. There were ten members of the mooring crew on board the submarine, nine of them died, one was rescued.
During a storm, with the help of which the K‑159 was towed. The disaster occurred three miles northwest of Kildin Island in the Barents Sea at a depth of 170 meters. On the nuclear submarine nuclear reactor was in a safe condition.

August 12, 2000 during naval exercises of the Northern Fleet in the Barents Sea. The disaster occurred 175 kilometers from Severomorsk, at a depth of 108 meters. All 118 crew members on board were killed.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, "Kursk" is inside the fourth torpedo tube, which resulted in the explosion of the remaining torpedoes located in the first compartment of the APRK.

April 7, 1989 upon returning from combat service in the Norwegian Sea in the area of Bear Island. As a result of a fire in two adjacent compartments of K‑278, the main ballast tank systems were destroyed, through which the submarine was flooded with sea water. 42 people died, many from hypothermia.
27 crew members.

October 6, 1986 in the area of Bermuda in the Sargasso Sea (Atlantic Ocean) at a depth of about 5.5 thousand meters. On the morning of October 3, an explosion occurred in a missile silo on board the submarine, and then a fire started that lasted for three days. The crew did everything possible to prevent a nuclear explosion and a radiation disaster, but they were unable to save the ship. Four people died on board the submarine. The surviving crew members were lifted onto the Russian ships "Krasnogvardeysk" and "Anatoly Vasilyev", which came to the aid of the submarine in distress.

June 24, 1983 4.5 miles from the shores of Kamchatka, the nuclear submarine K‑429 from the Pacific Fleet sank during a dive. K‑429 was urgently sent from repair to torpedo firing without checking for leaks and with an assembled crew (some of the staff were on vacation, the replacement was not prepared). During the dive, the fourth compartment flooded through the ventilation system. The boat lay on the ground at a depth of 40 meters. When trying to blow out the main ballast due to open valves ventilation of the main ballast tank, most of the air went overboard.
As a result of the disaster, 16 people died, the remaining 104 were able to reach the surface through the bow torpedo tubes and the aft escape hatch shaft.

October 21, 1981 diesel submarine S-178, returning to base after a two-day trip to sea, in the waters of Vladivostok with a transport refrigerator. Having received a hole, the submarine took on about 130 tons of water, lost buoyancy and went under water, sinking at a depth of 31 meters. As a result of the disaster, 32 submariners were killed.

June 13, 1973 occurred in Peter the Great Gulf (Sea of Japan). The boat was on the surface heading to the base at night after performing firing exercises. "Akademik Berg" hit "K-56" on the starboard side, at the junction of the first and second compartments, making a huge hole in the hull into which water began to flow. The submarine was saved from destruction at the cost of their lives by the personnel of the second emergency compartment, who battened down the bulkhead between the compartments. The accident killed 27 people. About 140 sailors survived.

February 24, 1972 when returning to base from combat patrol.
At this time, the boat was in the North Atlantic Ocean at a depth of 120 meters. Thanks to the selfless actions of the crew, K‑19 surfaced. Navy ships and vessels took part in the rescue operation. In conditions of a severe storm, it was possible to evacuate most of the K-19 crew, supply electricity to the boat and tow it to the base. As a result of the boat accident, 28 sailors were killed, two more died during the rescue operation.

April 12, 1970 in the Bay of Biscay of the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the loss of buoyancy and longitudinal stability.
The fire started on April 8 almost simultaneously in two compartments, when the boat was at a depth of 120 meters. K-8 floated to the surface, the crew courageously fought for the survivability of the boat. On the night of April 10-11, three vessels of the USSR Marine Fleet arrived in the area of the accident, but due to a storm, it was not possible to take the submarine into tow. Part of the submarine’s personnel was transported to the Kasimov ship, and 22 people, led by the commander, remained on board the K-8 to continue the fight for the survivability of the ship. But on April 12, the submarine sank at a depth of more than 4,000 meters. 52 crew members were killed.

May 24, 1968 occurred, which had two reactors using liquid metal coolant. As a result of a violation of heat removal from the core, overheating and destruction of fuel elements in one of the submarine’s reactors occurred. All the boat's mechanisms were taken out of action and mothballed.
During the accident, nine people received lethal doses of radiation.

March 8, 1968 from the Pacific Fleet. The submarine carried out combat service in the Hawaiian Islands, and since March 8 it has stopped communicating. According to various sources, there were from 96 to 98 crew members on board the K-129, all of them died. The cause of the disaster is unknown. Subsequently, the Americans discovered K-129 and recovered it in 1974.

September 8, 1967 In the Norwegian Sea, a fire occurred in two compartments on the submarine K-3 "Leninsky Komsomol" while underwater, which was localized and extinguished by sealing the emergency compartments. 39 crew members were killed. The submarine returned to base under its own power.

January 11, 1962 at the Northern Fleet naval base in the city of Polyarny. A fire started on the submarine standing at the pier, followed by an explosion of torpedo ammunition. The bow of the boat was torn off, the debris scattered over a radius of more than a kilometer.
The nearby S-350 submarine suffered significant damage. As a result of the emergency, 78 sailors were killed (not only from the B-37, but also from four other submarines, as well as from the reserve crew). There were also casualties among the civilian population of the city of Polyarny.

July 4, 1961 during the Arctic Circle ocean exercises of the main power plant. A pipe in the cooling system of one of the reactors burst, causing a radiation leak.
For an hour and a half, the submariners repaired emergency system cooling the reactor without protective suits, bare hands, in army gas masks. The crew members said the ship remained afloat and was towed to base.
From the received doses of radiation in a few days.

January 27, 1961 The diesel submarine S-80, part of the Northern Fleet, sank in the Barents Sea. On January 25, she went to sea for several days to practice improving the tasks of solo navigation, and on January 27, radio contact with her was interrupted. The S-80 did not return to the base in Polyarny. The search operation yielded no results. S‑80 was found only in 1968, and was later raised from the bottom of the sea. The cause of the accident was the flow of water through the valve of the RDP (a retractable device of a submarine for supplying atmospheric air to its diesel compartment during the periscope position of the submarine and removing diesel exhaust gases). The entire crew died - 68 people.

September 26, 1957 in the Gulf of Tallinn Baltic Sea from the Baltic Fleet.
A fire broke out on a submarine that was measuring underwater speeds on a measuring line at the training ground of the Tallinn naval base. Having surfaced from a depth of 70 meters, M‑256 anchored. Brought to the upper deck due to heavy gas pollution interior spaces the crew did not stop fighting for the survivability of the boat. 3 hours 48 minutes after surfacing, the submarine suddenly sank to the bottom. Most of the crew died: out of 42 submariners, seven sailors survived.

November 21, 1956 near Tallinn (Estonia) as a result of a collision with destroyer"Statny" sank the diesel submarine M‑200 from the Baltic Fleet. Six people were immediately rescued from the water. As a result of the accident, 28 sailors were killed.

In December 1952 The diesel-electric submarine S-117 from the Pacific Fleet was lost in the Sea of Japan. The boat was supposed to take part in the exercises. On the way to the maneuver area, its commander reported that due to a breakdown of the right diesel engine, the submarine was going to the designated point on one engine. A few hours later he reported that the problem had been fixed. The boat never made contact again. The exact cause and place of death of the submarine are unknown.
There were 52 crew members on board the boat, including 12 officers.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

The sunken nuclear submarines of the USSR and Russia are a topic of ongoing debate. During the Soviet and post-Soviet years, four nuclear submarines (K-8, K-219, K-278, Kursk) were lost. The sunken K-27 was sunk independently in 1982 following a radiation accident. This was done because the nuclear submarine could not be restored, 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's nuclear fleet. The cause of the ship's death on April 12, 1970 was a fire that broke out during its stay in (Atlantic). The crew struggled for a long time for the survivability of the submarine. The sailors were able to shut down the reactors. Part of the crew was evacuated on board a Bulgarian civilian ship that arrived in time, but 52 people died. This sunken submarine was one of the first nuclear-powered ships of the USSR.

Submarine K-219

Project 667A was at one time 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 its silo. As a result of the accident, 8 people died. In addition to two reactors, the sunken submarine had at least fifteen and 45 thermonuclear warheads on board. The ship was badly damaged, but demonstrated amazing survivability. It was able to emerge 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.

"Komsomolets" (K-278)

This sunken Project 685 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 great international resonance. Before this, the sunken submarines of the USSR did not attract so much attention (partly due to the secrecy regime).

"Kursk"

This tragedy is probably the most famous disaster involving the loss of a submarine. The "Aircraft Carrier Killer", a formidable and modern nuclear-powered cruiser, sank at a depth of 107 meters, 90 km from the coast. 132 submariners were trapped at the bottom. Efforts to rescue the crew were unsuccessful. By official version, the nuclear submarine sank due to the explosion of an experimental torpedo that occurred in the mine. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty about the death of the Kursk. According to other versions (unofficial), the nuclear-powered submarine sank due to a collision with the American submarine Toledo, which was nearby, or due to being hit by a torpedo fired from it. The unsuccessful rescue operation to evacuate the crew from the sunken ship was a shock for all of Russia. 132 people died on board the nuclear-powered ship.

To rescue 44 sailors from the submarine San Juan, which went missing in the South Atlantic in mid-November. The search for the submarine itself will continue. The submarine's disappearance became known on November 17.

RBC recalled the largest accidents with foreign submarines after World War II

1951 British diesel submarine HMS Affray

April 16, 1951 The submarine Affray left its home port to participate in exercises. There were 75 people on board. Soon the submarine stopped communicating. It was discovered only two months later at a depth of about 90 m in the waters of the English Channel. There were no survivors on board. It was never possible to establish the final cause of the ship's death. An official investigation concluded that there was metal fatigue in one of the air supply units. According to another version, the cause was an explosion on board.

1953 Turkish submarine Dumlupinar

Photo: Sait Kucuk CPOS (Ret) / Turkish Navy

April 4, 1953 The Turkish submarine Dumlupinar collided with the Swedish cargo ship Naboland in the Dardanelles Strait, after which it quickly sank at a depth of 85 m. At the time of the collision, there were five submariners on the bridge, they managed to escape. The remaining crew members, 81 people, were killed.

1963 American lead nuclear submarine of the Thresher project

April 10, 1963 The lead nuclear submarine of the Thresher project went to sea to conduct deep-sea test dives. The tests turned into the largest accident in the history of the world submarine fleet. Due to the violation of the integrity of the housing and the entry of water into engine room the boat quickly sank to its maximum depth and began to fall apart. Its wreckage lies at a depth of 2560 m in the Atlantic Ocean. There were 129 people on board, all died. This disaster was the first loss of a nuclear submarine in history.

1968 Israeli diesel submarine "Dakar"

Photo: Havakuk Levison / FMS / Reuters

January 25, 1968 The Israeli diesel submarine Dakar sank in the Mediterranean Sea. The British-built submarine was traveling from Portsmouth to Haifa. The sunken submarine was discovered only 31 years later: it was found along the approved route at a depth of 3 km. Immediately after the sinking of the submarine, the Israeli military put forward the version that the Dakar was sunk by a Soviet submarine. After an examination, this suspicion was removed: in 2015, the media reported that a technical malfunction could have led to the loss of control over the submarine.

1968 US nuclear submarine USS Scorpion

Photo: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command/AP

May 22, 1968 Another nuclear submarine, the American Scorpion, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of her death could not be established, as one of possible options called the explosion of a torpedo on board. The nuclear submarine itself lies at a depth of more than 3 km, and representatives of the US Navy periodically monitor the radiation background in the flooding area. In 2012, US Navy veterans called for a reopening of the investigation into the causes of the disaster and an underwater expedition.

1971 Pakistani submarine Ghazi

Photo: LCDR Tomme J. Lambertson USN (RET)

December 3, 1971 The Pakistani submarine Ghazi sank off the southeast coast of India during the Indo-Pakistani War. There were 92 crew members on board, all of them died. The Indian military claimed that the boat was sunk by their destroyer Rajput. According to the Pakistani side, this was due to an explosion on board or a mine. The death of the Ghazi was the first combat loss of a submarine since World War II.

2003 Chinese submarine No. 361

April 16, 2003 Chinese submarine No. 361 sank in the Yellow Sea. There were 70 crew members on board, all of them died. Chinese authorities reported the disaster only on May 3, 2003. The cause was cited as a malfunction of the diesel shutdown system, which led to the production of all oxygen on board. During the investigation into the disaster, four high-ranking military officials were dismissed.

August 30, 2003 in the Barents Sea while towing to the city of Polyarny for disposal. There were ten members of the mooring crew on board the submarine, nine of them died, one was rescued.
During a storm, with the help of which the K‑159 was towed. The disaster occurred three miles northwest of Kildin Island in the Barents Sea at a depth of 170 meters. The nuclear reactor on the nuclear submarine was in a safe condition.

June 24, 1983 4.5 miles from the shores of Kamchatka, the nuclear submarine K‑429 from the Pacific Fleet sank during a dive. K‑429 was urgently sent from repair to torpedo firing without checking for leaks and with an assembled crew (some of the staff were on vacation, the replacement was not prepared). During the dive, the fourth compartment flooded through the ventilation system. The boat lay on the ground at a depth of 40 meters. When trying to blow out the main ballast, due to the open ventilation valves of the main ballast tank, most of the air went overboard.
As a result of the disaster, 16 people died, the remaining 104 were able to reach the surface through the bow torpedo tubes and the aft escape hatch shaft.

July 4, 1961 during the Arctic Circle ocean exercises of the main power plant. A pipe in the cooling system of one of the reactors burst, causing a radiation leak.
For an hour and a half, the submariners repaired the emergency cooling system of the reactor without protective suits, with their bare hands, and wearing military gas masks. The crew members said the ship remained afloat and was towed to base.
From the received doses of radiation in a few days.

September 26, 1957 in the Tallinn Bay of the Baltic Sea from the Baltic Fleet.
A fire broke out on a submarine that was measuring underwater speeds on a measuring line at the training ground of the Tallinn naval base. Having surfaced from a depth of 70 meters, M‑256 anchored. The crew, brought to the upper deck due to heavy gas pollution in the interior, did not stop fighting for the survivability of the boat. 3 hours 48 minutes after surfacing, the submarine suddenly sank to the bottom. Most of the crew died: out of 42 submariners, seven sailors survived.

November 21, 1956 Not far from Tallinn (Estonia), the M-200 diesel submarine from the Baltic Fleet sank as a result of a collision with the destroyer Statny. Six people were immediately rescued from the water. As a result of the accident, 28 sailors were killed.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources