Russian Sub Museum

We have lost a good friend, Sergey Aprelev! Prior to its arrival in Providence this sub was used as a prop in several scenes of the 2002 Hollywood film, K 19; The Widowmaker which starred Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Most of the filming was done in Canada either in Halifax, NS or film studios elsewhere. As a Russian filmmaker himself, Sergey was a technical advisor for this film. Rest in peace Sergey.

https://vimeo.com/1410693

Navy raises sunken Russian Submarine PROVIDENCE, RI (July 25,2008) Former Soviet submarine Juliett 484 submerges to surface after sitting on the bottom of the Providence River for over a year. U.S.…

From Europe to USA. Forever..

Sergei Preminin was born on October 18, 1965 in the village of Skornyakovo (district of Veliky Ustyug). His father was an electrician and mother worked at the flax factory. They had three sons. Sergei left school in the town of Krasavino and decided to follow in his elder brother's footsteps. Like Nikolai he graduated from the ship-repair college in Veliky Ustyug (Vologda Oblast).

Sergei Preminin, a submariner of the Soviet Navy who sacrificied his life and may have saved thousands of Americans and his own countrymen.

On October 23, 1984 Sergei was called up for millitary service in the Navy. He served at the K-219, a Soviet strategic nuclear submarine (Project 667 A - Yankee class).

Today we recount Seaman Preminin's selfless sacrifice, which saved the lives of countless unsuspecting Americans. In 1986 the Soviet Navy was sending its fleet of obsolete boomers to patrol the eastern coast of the US. The submarine K-219 equipped with 2 nuclear reactors and carrying 19 nuclear missiles sank in the Atlantic ocean north of Bermuda with ballistic missiles on board after an explosion in one of the missile tubes. The explosion caused a leak in the fourth compartment (missile compartment). Steam and smoke from the missile fuel began to stream out of the damaged missile tube. At the time of the explosion, only one of the vessel's two reactors was running. The submarine surfaced and the other reactor was started up. Despite the fact that water was beginning to come in, a fire broke out in the fourth compartment. A short in the electrical system tripped off one of the submarine's emergency systems. One life was lost in the struggle to lower the control rods. Though still in a surfaced position, the buoyancy of the submarine was steadily impaired when water filled the main ballast tank.

When the second reactor broke down, the crew was transferred to a rescue vessel. The captain and nine crew members remained in the conning tower, but when the bow began to sink, they were obliged to abandon the ship. On October 6, at 11:03, the submarine sank with a loss of four lives (Captain 3rd Rank and three seamen). The reason for the explosion in the missile tube is unclear. There are two theories of how the accident happened: a defect in the missile tube itself or a fire that broke out following an unintentional collision with an American submarine USS Augusta. According to the second theory K-219 sustained severe damage which left her flooding and burning, with an open missile-hatch, on the surface. Her nuclear reactor began to overheat. In fact, the crew struggled for survival for 78 hours trying to localize the fire, eliminate steam and smoke and water access to the solid compartment. The wireless communication got lost.

We will never forget Sergei Preminin, who voluntarily entered the hot reactor and manually cranked down the stuck baffle-plates, thus preventing a meltdown mere miles off the American coast. But he could not leave the missile compartment. The missile-hatch got stuck because of the insreased pressure. The seaman was unable to equal the pressure in the 7th and 8th compartments. Those who stayed in the 8th compartment tried in their futile attempts to open the door. The missile compartment of the submarine became the last haven to S.Preminin (21 years old). K-219 foundered in her desperate and dangerous death-throes at a depth of 5500 metres. The rescued crew was taken first to Cuba and then to Moscow.

Sergei Preminin was posthumously awarded the title of a Hero of the Russian Federation and an Order of the Red Star.

Now in Sergei's home town there is a monument immortalizing an extraordinary deed of an ordinary Russian seaman and a commemorative marble plaque. The inscription reads: "To Russian Seaman Sergei Preminin, who prevented the world from a nuclear catastrophe."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Preminin

Loss of a Yankee SSBN During the Cold War, as the United States military trained primarily to fight and win major theater wars, the country as a whole pursued a strategy of containing the Soviet Union and the seven satellite nations in Eastern Europe who signed the Treaty of Friendship and Mutual Assistance in Warsaw on…

Remembering the sould lost on the Russian submarine Kursk on this day in the year 2000.

K-77 played the part of K-19 in the 2002 Hollywood film "K-19: The Widowmaker" which was about this incident. Some "cosmetic" modifications were made in Halifax, NS for the filming, then K-77 was restored to original appearance per the terms of the contract.

First Recorded Soviet Nuclear Submarine Accident

The first nuclear accident to occur on a Russian submarine was on the Northern Fleet's ballistic missile submarine K-19 (Project 658 - Hotel class). On July 4, 1961, during exercises in the North Atlantic, a leak developed in an inaccessible part of the submarine K-19's primary cooling circuit. The leak was specifically located to a pipe regulating the pressure within the primary cooling circuit. The leak caused a sudden drop in pressure, setting off the reactor emergency systems.

To prevent overheating of the reactor, superfluous heat must be removed, and this is done by continually circulating coolant through the reactor. There was no built-in system for supplying coolant to the primary circuit, and it was feared that an uncontrolled chain reaction might start. An improvised system to supply coolant to the reactor was devised. This required officers and midshipmen to work for extended periods under radioactive conditions in the more remote areas of the reactor compartment as they attended to the leak in the primary circuit.

The radiation in this case came from noxious gases and steam. All of the crew were exposed to substantial doses of radiation, and eight men died of acute radiation sickness after having undergone doses of 50 to 60 Sv (5000 - 6000 rem). The crew was evacuated to a diesel submarine, and K-19 was towed home to base on the Kola Peninsula.

http://spb.org.ru/bellona/ehome/russia/nfl/nfl8.htm

Photo Credit: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/658.htm

We extend Happy Birthday wishes to Sergei Khrushchev who celebrates his 78th birthday today!

For all you fans of the book "Shadow Divers". Enjoy!

Shadow Diver on the U869 narrated by John Chatterton John Chatterton guides you through his first tri-mix dive on the U869.

Remarkably similar to an incident that happened on K-77 back in 1976 that killed two crew members.
http://www.rttnews.com/2021727/two-russians-face-retrial-over-2008-nerpa-submarine-disaster.aspx?type=msgn&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=sitemap

Two Russians Face Retrial Over 2008 Nerpa Submarine Disaster The retrial of two Russian navy personnel accused of causing a deadly accident on board a Nerpa nuclear submarine in 2008 opened at a court in the eastern city of Vladivostok on Tuesday.