The death of submarines in the USSR: sunken submarines. Russia has a sunken submarine with nuclear weapons on the ocean floor

Post-war losses of the USSR submarine fleet
After the end of the Second World War, a new confrontation began - the Cold War. The guns did not fire, the planes did not bomb the enemy, and the ships did not exchange artillery and rocket salvoes, but this did not protect against losses involving dozens of human lives. And some of the biggest losses on the Cold War fronts were suffered by submariners.

In the post-war period, the Soviet fleet lost nine boats, including three nuclear-powered ones. In addition, many boats were seriously damaged, and the nuclear-powered K-429 sank, but was subsequently raised and put back into operation. At first, the destruction of submarines in the USSR concerned only diesel submarines. Between 1952 and 1968, six boats died from various causes, including one at the base, and several more boats were damaged in the explosion. A total of 357 people died. Accidents also occurred on nuclear boats during this period, but all of them were accomplished without “irretrievable losses” in technology.

The sunken submarines of the USSR belonged to different fleets: two boats each from the Northern, Pacific and Baltic fleets. On April 12, 1970, the Soviet nuclear submarine K-8 was lost, on board of which there was a fire during a military campaign. It was fires that became the main problem of Soviet submariners, regularly breaking out on boats of various projects. The crew fought the fire for four days, but were unable to save the boat, and the flames “took” the lives of 52 crew members.

The following year, the nuclear boat K-56 miraculously escaped death, having received a hole as a result of a collision with the scientific vessel Akademik Berg. The accident cost the lives of 27 sailors who battened down the compartment and saved the lives of others. This was followed by a long period of calm. The largest number of sunken submarines of the USSR occurred in the 80s, marked by glasnost and perestroika. And if the death of the diesel boat S-178 on October 21, 1981 did not cause a resonance (collision with a cargo ship), then the death of the nuclear-powered K-219 in October 1986 had great publicity. For three days in the Sargasso Sea, the crew fought the fire, but the boat could not be saved. Fortunately, only four people died.

In the interval between the two accidents, on June 24, 1983, the K-429, which went out for testing after repairs, sank. As a result, the boat took on water during the dive, and incorrect actions by the crew led to the boat sinking to the bottom. 104 people made it to the surface, and another 16 died. The boat was later raised and returned to service.

But the most famous death of a submarine in the USSR occurred on April 7, 1989, when, as a result of a fire and subsequent flooding, the newest submarine “Komsomolets”, returning from combat duty, sank. 42 sailors were killed in the accident. It is worth noting that the death of submarines in the USSR occurred much more often than in the United States, which lost only two of its nuclear submarines.

There were also losses in Russian times. And if the K-159 towed for scrapping cannot be considered a full-fledged combat boat, then the death on August 12, 2000 of the Project 945A nuclear submarine cruiser Kursk was a real tragedy, which led to the death of 118 submariners.

Finally, we note that sunken Soviet submarines are located in all parts of the world, from their native shores to the Sargasso Sea, Hawaii and the Bay of Biscay, indicating the location of the Cold War front line.

IN this day marks 27 years since the tragedy,
shocked not only the Soviet, but also the entire world community. On this day, April 7, under strange circumstances, the Soviet nuclear submarine Komsomolets sank in the Norwegian Sea. Of the 69 crew members, 42 people died.

A nuclear torpedo submarine from the Red Banner Northern Fleet perished southwest of Medvezhiy Island while returning from combat duty as a result of a massive fire in two adjacent compartments.

The boat was a new word in world shipbuilding. It was believed that in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, a nuclear submarine of this class is ahead of its time by about a quarter of a century: a super-strong hull made of titanium, more than 1000-meter diving depth (it holds the absolute record for diving depth among submarines - 1027 meters), underwater displacement 8500 tons, speed over 30 knots, completely undetectable and inaccessible to any weapon.

The ammunition load is 22 torpedoes (with nuclear warheads), some of which could be replaced with S-10 Granat cruise missiles.

On April 7, 1989, the K-278 Komsomolets submarine was returning from combat service. A fire broke out on the Komsomolets, which led to loss of buoyancy and the sinking of the unique submarine to the bottom.

The boat lies at a depth of 1858 meters. The boat's reactor was securely shut down, but until then two torpedo tubes still contain torpedoes with a nuclear warhead.

The general concept, called “Plavnik” in the outlines of the design idea, then “Project 685” and widely known as “Komsomolets”, was born in the 1960s in the context of growing confrontation between the USSR and the USA. According to the designers, the deep-sea nuclear submarine “Project 685” was intended to combat enemy submarines and protect their ships.
The technical design was approved in December 1974. The construction of the boat was carried out at the largest military shipyard “Sevmashpredpriyatie” in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk region.

The boat was launched in August 1983, and on August 5, 1984, upon completion of outfitting work afloat, it was transferred to the 1st submarine flotilla of the Red Banner Northern Fleet.

Even during the period of sea trials, with designers and builders on board, the boat dived to 1040 meters, setting an absolute depth record for submarine warships.
During the five years of service as part of the Komsomolets association, the main crew repeatedly dived to a depth of 1000 meters. No one had any doubts about the reliability of the ship.

On February 28, 1989, the K-278, which along with the main crew received the highly respected title of “excellent ship” in the navy with the right to wear the corresponding sign on the superstructure and the name by which it is now known, took on board a replacement crew and set out on its next autonomous voyage.

The tragedy began on Friday, on the 37th day of the campaign. On April 7, 1989, while in combat service, the K-278 was traveling at a depth of 386 meters at a speed of 6-8 knots. In the morning the combat shift kept watch as usual. Between 11.00 and 11.03 a fire started in the aft compartment. At 11.03, the signal “The temperature in the seventh compartment is more than 70 degrees” came on on the watch mechanic’s console.

The commander of the submarine, Captain 1st Rank Evgeny Vanin, in a matter of seconds made the only correct decision in this situation to use the boat’s volumetric chemical fire extinguishing system (LOX) in the emergency compartment.

But the system, which in theory should neutralize a high-intensity fire, turned out to be powerless in the face of the elements.

The sudden increase in temperature broke the seal of the high-pressure pipeline, and the emergency compartment immediately turned into something like an open-hearth furnace. The fire spread to the sixth compartment. The steam generator was immediately stopped. The left turbogenerator switched off on its own. The reactor's automatic protection tripped. In addition to this, the vertical rudder jammed, the intercompartment communication was interrupted, and the system of hose breathing apparatus was damaged, as a result of which part of the crew received severe poisoning.

The boat, increasing its speed, began to emerge. However, at a depth of about 150 meters, the emergency protection of the reactor was activated, and the K-278 lost speed. At 11:16 a.m., after the main ballast tanks had been purged, she surfaced.

From 11 hours 20 minutes to 12 hours 17 minutes, the boat transmitted the established emergency signal eight times, but the first of them was heard at the General Headquarters of the Navy and at the Northern Fleet command post only at 11 hours 41 minutes. However, the signal was unintelligible.

The signal about the accident was received on the shore only at 12:19. From that moment on, measures began to be taken at all levels to provide assistance and rescue the boat and its crew.

The team heroically fought for the survivability of the ship.

When Komsomolets surfaced, the crew managed to localize the fire in the seventh compartment, supply freon to the sixth compartment and seal the rest. One by one, the emergency parties pulled the burned and poisoned sailors out into the fresh air.

Most of the crew was taken upstairs. Many were brought back to life. But they, weakened and not yet recovered, will die later in the cold water, when superhuman efforts will be required from everyone. No one thought that in a few hours everyone would find themselves in the icy water of the Norwegian Sea.

Coming out of the compartments of the submarine, everyone was sure that the titanium hull of the Komsomolets was the most durable in the world, as the designers assured. It was for this reason that submariners went up without diving suits. For many, this was a fatal mistake.

The first to surface was an Orion patrol plane from the Norwegian Air Force.

The boat was afloat, but its position was becoming more and more dangerous every minute, the stern was sinking into the water before our eyes, and the bow was rising higher and higher. It became clear that there was no hope of saving the boat.

At the moment when the boat tilted and it became clear that it would sink, the crew members sang the song “Varyag”, saying goodbye to those who remained forever on board the Komsomolets.

At 17:08 the boat sank at a depth of 1685 meters, having exhausted its buoyancy reserve.

Help soon arrived. The floating base "Alexei Khlobystov" picked up sailors one after another. By this time, 16 people had died from hypothermia and drowned; 30 living and 16 dead sailors were brought on board.

As soon as the crew members were brought on board, the ship's doctors began fighting to save the sailors, ten of whom were already without signs of life.

Three could not be saved, although qualified doctors transported to the scene on the cruiser Kirov did everything possible. On the way to Severomorsk we used all medical means suitable in such a situation. They did a thorough rubbing. The sailors were placed in warm baths. Doctors were on duty around the clock. The condition of the three sailors was moderate. They were treated in the intensive care unit.

The condition of the remaining 24 team members was quite satisfactory. All the guys underwent thorough medication, psychotherapy, and reflexology treatment. Only one of the victims had a slight burn. Military doctors and sailors, who had been through various troubles and emergency situations, were shocked by the resilience of the team.

27 rescued sailors were being treated at the Northern Fleet naval hospital.

Later they intended to raise Komsomolets. The Rubin design bureau, with the participation of the Dutch consortium of deep-sea operations, developed a lifting project, but they could not implement it. We limited ourselves to using a special compound to seal all potentially dangerous places on the lost ship right at the bottom.

Until now, the exact causes of the fire on board the nuclear submarine Komsomolets have not been clarified. It is impossible to lift the submarine from a depth of more than one and a half kilometers in the Norwegian Sea. However, it is known that a fire in one of the aft compartments led to the death of the submarine.

Photos of sailors' funerals.

On December 14, 1952, the submarine Shch-117 set out on its last voyage. She went missing.

The reasons for her death have not yet been established. On this occasion, we will talk about six submarines that died under unclear circumstances.

Soviet diesel-electric torpedo submarine of the Second World War, belongs to the V-bis series of the Shch project - “Pike”.

December 14, 1952 Shch-117 went on its last trip as part of the TU-6 exercise to practice attacking targets with a group of submarines. Six submarines of the brigade were supposed to take part in the exercises, and Shch-117 was supposed to guide them towards ships of the mock enemy. On the night of December 14-15, the last communication session took place with the boat, after which it disappeared. There were 52 crew members on board, including 12 officers.

The searches for Shch-117, carried out until 1953, yielded nothing. The cause and place of the boat's death are still unknown.

According to the official version, the cause of death could have been a failure of diesel engines in a storm, an explosion on a floating mine, and others. However, the exact cause has never been established.

American nuclear submarine "Thrasher" sank in the Atlantic Ocean on April 9, 1963. The worst submarine disaster in peacetime claimed the lives of 129 people. On the morning of April 9, the boat left the harbor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Then there were vague signals from the submariners that there were “some problems.” After some time, the US military stated that the boat, which was considered missing, sank. The causes of the disaster have not been fully established.

The Thresher nuclear reactor still rests somewhere on the ocean floor. Back on April 11, 1963, the US Navy measured the radioactivity of ocean water. The indicators did not exceed the norm. Senior American officers insist that the reactor is harmless. The depths of the sea cool it and prevent the core from melting, and the active zone is limited by a durable and stainless container.

Diesel-electric submarine of the "Pike" type, Shch-216, was presumed dead but undetected for many years. The submarine was lost on February 16 or 17, 1944. The submarine is believed to have been damaged but its crew struggled desperately to reach the surface.

In the summer of 2013, researchers discovered a boat near Crimea: they saw an exploded compartment and rudders brought to the floating position. At the same time, apart from one destroyed compartment, the hull looked intact. Under what circumstances this boat perished has not yet been established.

S-2, a Soviet Series IX diesel-electric torpedo submarine, set sail on 1 January 1940. The S-2 commander, Captain Sokolov, was given the following task: to break into the Gulf of Bothnia and operate on enemy communications. On January 3, 1940, the last signal from S-2 was received. The boat never made contact again; nothing was known for certain about its fate and the fate of the 50 members of its crew.

According to one version, the submarine died on a minefield laid by the Finns in the area to the pier of the lighthouse on Merket Island. The mine explosion version is official. In the history of the Russian fleet, until recently, this boat was listed as missing in action. There was no information about her, her location was unknown.

In the summer of 2009, a group of Swedish divers officially announced the discovery of the Soviet submarine S-2. It turns out that 10 years ago, the lighthouse keeper on the island of Merket Ekerman, who probably observed the destruction of S-2, showed his grandson Ingvald the direction with the words: “There lies a Russian.”

U-209- a medium-sized German Type VIIC submarine from World War II. The boat was laid down on November 28, 1940 and launched on August 28, 1941. The boat entered service on October 11, 1941 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Brodda. U-209 was part of the "wolf packs". She sank four ships.

U-209 went missing in May 1943. Until October 1991, historians believed that the cause of death was the attack of the British frigate HMS Jed and the British sloop HMS Sennen on May 19, 1943. However, it later turned out that U-954 was actually killed as a result of this attack. The cause of the death of U-209 remains unclear to this day.
"Kursk"

K-141 "Kursk"- Russian nuclear submarine missile-carrying cruiser Project 949A “Antey”. The boat was put into operation on December 30, 1994. From 1995 to 2000 it was part of the Russian Northern Fleet.

The Kursk sank in the Barents Sea 175 kilometers from Severomorsk, at a depth of 108 meters on August 12, 2000. All 118 crew members were killed. In terms of the number of deaths, the accident became the second in the post-war history of the Russian submarine fleet after the explosion of ammunition on a B-37.

According to the official version, the boat sank due to the explosion of torpedo 65-76A (“Kit”) in torpedo tube No. 4. The cause of the explosion was a leak of torpedo fuel components. However, many experts still disagree with this version. Many experts believe that the boat could have been attacked by a torpedo or collided with a mine from World War II.

Time is a sworn enemy that inexorably carries away into oblivion the names of people who died while doing their job, turning tragedy into another date on the pages of history. Almost two decades have passed since the moment when the Kursk submarine sank, and with it 118 people died.

Submarine "Kursk"

The nuclear power plant of the Antey project, K-141 Kursk, was designed in 1990 in Severodvinsk at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise. Two years later, the chief designers of the project I.L. Baranov and P.P. Pustyntsev made some changes to the development of the nuclear submarine, and already in May 1994 the submarine was launched. At the end of December this year, the Kursk was put into operation.

From 1995 to 2000, the nuclear submarine was part of the Russian Northern Fleet and was based in Vidyaevo. It is interesting to note the fact that the crew was formed back in 1991, the first commander of the Kursk was Captain Viktor Rozhkov.

The submarine was in service in the Navy from August 1999 to October 15, 2000, when the submarine was scheduled to enter the Mediterranean Sea. But when the Kursk submarine sank, only records in the protocols began to remind of this campaign.

Tragedy

So where did the Kursk submarine sank? She met her death 170 kilometers from Severomorsk in the Barents Sea, falling to the bottom at a depth of 108 meters. All crew members died, and the ship itself was raised from the ocean floor only in the second half of 2001. In world history, this accident became the second largest number of naval soldiers killed in peacetime.

But back on August 10, the Kursk was successfully completing combat training missions next to Captain Lyachin. Then the ship was commanded by Captain Lyachin, his task was to conduct combat exercises. The morning of August 12 began with an attack by a squadron led by the cruisers Admiral Kuznetsov and Peter the Great. According to the plan, preparatory work was to begin on the Kursk nuclear submarine at 9.40 am, and exercises were held from 11.40 to 13.40. But the last entry in the logbook is dated 11 hours 16 minutes, and at the appointed time the Kurs nuclear submarine never made contact. In 2000, the Kursk submarine sank during an exercise. How did such a tragedy happen? Why the Kursk submarine sank, taking more than a hundred lives with it.

August 12, 2000 (Saturday)

On the day the Kursk submarine sank, the ship’s crew never made contact. The military observing the exercise noticed that the planned attacks did not follow at the appointed time. There was also no information that the submarine had surfaced. At 2:50 p.m., naval ships and helicopters began searching the perimeter in an attempt to locate the submarine, but efforts were in vain. At 17.30, the captain of the Kursk submarine was supposed to report on the exercise, but the crew of the nuclear submarine never got in touch.

At 23.00, the military leadership already realized that the submarine had crashed when the captain of the Kursk did not get in touch for the second time. Half an hour later, the nuclear submarine is declared emergency.

August 13, 2000 (Sunday)

The next morning began with the search for the Kursk. At 4.51 am, the echo sounder of the cruiser "Peter the Great" detected an "anomaly" at the bottom of the sea. Subsequently, it turned out that this anomaly was the Kursk submarine. Already at 10 am, the first rescue ship was sent to the scene of the tragedy, but based on the depth at which the Kursk submarine sank, the first attempts to evacuate the crew did not bring the desired results.

August 14, 2000 (Monday)

It was only on Monday at 11 a.m. that the Navy first reported the tragedy on the Kursk. But then the military’s testimony became confused: the first official statement indicated that radio contact had been established with the crew. Later this information was denied, saying that communication occurs through tapping.

Closer to lunch, rescue ships rush to the scene of the tragedy; the news reports that the power supply on the submarine has already been turned off, and the bow is completely flooded. Probably, in order to avoid panic, the military is beginning to actively deny the possibility of flooding the bow of the submarine. However, when talking about the time of the accident, they say Sunday, although problems with communication began on Saturday afternoon. Obviously, it is not beneficial for someone to divulge the whole truth about the death. Why did the Kursk submarine sink? Even today, when almost two decades have passed since the tragedy, many questions remain unanswered.

At six o'clock in the evening, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Kuroyedov, confirmed that the submarine was seriously damaged and the chances of saving the crew were very low. In the evening of this day, they begin to put forward assumptions about the reasons for the death of the sunken Kursk submarine. According to one version, she collided with a foreign submarine, but this information was refuted, as it later became known that there was an explosion on board the submarine.

On the same day, Britain and the United States offered their assistance in the rescue operation.

August 15, 2000 (Tuesday)

A full-scale rescue operation was supposed to begin on this day, but because of the storm, rescuers cannot begin work. At 9 o'clock in the morning, a message came from the military that the sailors in the Kursk submarine were alive, and that the Russian fleet was capable of independently carrying out a rescue operation without interfering with foreigners.

After three o'clock in the afternoon, when the storm subsided, the rescue operation began; the sailors reported that there was not much oxygen left on the Kursk. At 9 pm, the first rescue capsule began diving, but due to a renewed storm, all manipulations had to be stopped. In the evening of this day, representatives of the Russian military forces meet with their NATO colleagues.

August 16, 2000 (Wednesday)

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the Russian President declared the situation on board the Kursk critical, shortly after which Deputy Prime Minister I. Klebanov announced that no signs of life were found on the submarine.

At 16.00, Admiral Kuroyedov said that Russia would ask for help from Great Britain and other friendly states. A few hours later, official requests for help were sent from Moscow to London and Oslo. The governments of Norway and Great Britain reacted quickly; already at 7 pm a rescue ship with an LR-5 (mini-submarine) was delivered to Trondheim (Norway).

August 17, 2000 (Thursday)

When the Kursk submarine sank, several attempts were made to save it. According to official sources, there were 6 such attempts, but, in fact, there were 10 of them, and all failed. Weather conditions did not allow attaching the rescue capsule to the submarine's hatch.

On August 17, a rescue ship leaves Trondheim. According to the plan, he will not be at the disaster site until Saturday. Another rescue crew was also sent from Norway and planned to arrive at the scene on Sunday evening.

Negotiations began with NATO, in particular with representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance. For a long 8 hours, the authorities discussed the plan for the rescue operation.

August 18, 2000 (Friday)

From the very morning, the military began to carry out rescue operations, but weather conditions prevented this, just like last time.

In the afternoon, Colonel General Yu. Baluevsky (Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces) said that although the crash of the Kursk nuclear submarine had reduced the potential of the flotilla by a military unit, the tragedy had no effect on the reduction in combat power. Many residents were outraged by this statement, because at that time it was necessary to think about saving the sailors who were on the ship. In addition, the public was more interested in the truth, why did the Kursk submarine sink?

Information that the submarine could have collided with other waterfowl was completely denied. Alexander Ushakov stated that at the time of the military exercises there were no third-party objects in the Barents Sea area.

The list of crew members has not yet been published; naval leaders explain this by the fact that a rescue operation is currently underway. In the evening, the situation on the Kursk was already called “supercritical,” but rescue operations were not canceled.

August 19, 2000 (Saturday)

The Russian President returns from Crimea with a statement that there is practically no hope left to save at least someone from the Kursk. At 5 pm, Admiral M. Motsak announced that there were no longer any living people left on board the submarine.

Rescue operations are ongoing. In the evening, a rescue crew from Norway arrives at the place where the submarine sank. The next morning the LR-5 dive is planned. The military speculates that the submarine experienced an explosion of live shells when it hit the seabed.

August 20, 2000 (Sunday)

The rescue operation resumed on Sunday morning. The Russian navy was joined by British and Norwegian military forces. Although in the morning the head of the government commission, Klebanov, said that the chances of saving at least some of the Kursk crew were “exclusively theoretical.”

But, despite such a pessimistic statement, the Norwegian robotic arm reached the sunken submarine at 12.30. Divers in a capsule descend behind the robot. At 5 pm, the naval headquarters receives a message that the submariners managed to get to the Kursk hatch, but they cannot open it. Along with this, a message appears: the submarine divers are sure that there was someone in the airlock chamber and trying to get out.

August 21, 2000 (Monday)

After receiving information that someone was in the airlock chamber on the night of August 21, Klebanov claims that it is impossible to manually open the hatch. However, Norwegian rescuers say that this is quite possible, and this is what they will do early in the morning.

At 7.45 the Norwegians opened the hatch of the Kursk submarine, but found no one. Throughout the day, divers try to break into the sunken submarine in order to save at least someone. At the same time, he notes that the ninth compartment, to which the second hatch leads, is probably flooded, so there will be no survivors there.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the news agency reported that divers managed to open the hatch to the ninth compartment, as previously expected - it was filled with water. Half an hour after opening the hatch, a camera was placed in the airlock; with its help, experts tried to understand the condition of the 7th and 8th compartments. In the 9th compartment, a video camera recorded the body of one of the crew, and already at 17.00 M. Motsak made an official statement that the entire crew of the Kursk nuclear submarine had died.

It was August already in 2000, the year in which the Kursk submarine sank. For 118 people, that summer was the last of their lives.

Mourning

According to the decree of the President of Russia, issued on August 22: August 23 was declared a day of national mourning. After that day, they began to prepare an operation to raise the dead sailors. It began on October 25 and ended on November 7. The submarine itself was raised a year after the tragedy (photos of the sunken Kursk submarine are presented in the article). On October 10, 2001, the Kursk, which had sunk into the depths of the sea, was towed to the Roslyakovsky shipyard. During all this time, 118 people were removed from the submarine, three of whom remained unidentified.

To find out why the tragedy occurred, 8 investigative groups were formed, which began inspecting the submarine as soon as the water was pumped out from the compartments. On October 27, 2001, Prosecutor General of Russia V. Ustinov stated that according to the results of the inspection, it can be concluded that an explosion occurred on the submarine, and the subsequent fire spread throughout the entire submarine. Experts found that at the epicenter of the explosion the temperature exceeded 8000 degrees Celsius, as a result the boat was completely flooded 7 hours later, after it settled to the bottom.

But even today the cause of the explosion is unknown, some believe that the submarine was carelessly “shot by their own” during an exercise, others believe that the explosion occurred by itself. But this does not change the fact that the boat sank, and more than a hundred people died with it.

Naturally, the families of the victims received compensation, and the crew members were awarded medals for Courage posthumously. In different cities of Russia, monuments and memorials have been erected in memory of the dead sailors who served on the Kursk. This event will forever remain in the memory of the relatives of the victims and will become another date in the history of Russia. The criminal case into the death of the Kursk was closed due to the lack of corpus delicti. Who is to blame for the tragedy remains a mystery: either the villainous fate was gloating, or human negligence was well hidden by the authorities.

The distant and tragic year 2000 - that’s the year the Kursk submarine sank. 118 dead sailors and a new date on the pages of history. These are just numbers, but unfulfilled hopes, unlived lives, unreached heights - this is truly a terrible grief. A tragedy for all humanity, because no one knows, maybe there was a person on board the Kursk who could change the world for the better.

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. According to the 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.