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Europe | |
2 Die When Russian Nuclear Submarine Sinks | |
2003-08-30 | |
"Oops, there goes another nuclear sub" apologies to the Chairman of the Board A Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank in the Barents Sea on Saturday morning as it was being towed to a scrapyard, killing at least two of the 10 sailors on board, the Defense Ministry said. The nuclear reactor of the 40-year-old K-159 was shut down at the time the vessel sank at about 4 a.m. about 3 miles northwest of Kildin Island, the Defense Ministry said. No weapons were aboard the sub, the ministry said. How about the reactor vessel?
Condolences to the families of each and every one. The K-159, a November-class attack submarine, was decommissioned on July 16, 1989. It was being towed on four floating hulls from its base in the town of Gremikha to a plant in Polarnye to be scrapped. The hulls were torn off on Friday night during a fierce storm, and the submarine sank in 560 feet of water, the ministry said. Memo to: CinC, Russian Submarine ServicesNovember-class submarines entered service between 1958-1963, according to Jane’s Fighting Ships. They carried 86 crew members and low-yield nuclear torpedoes. Russia has about 200 decommissioned submarines, which clutter harbors and pose an increasing environmental risk. Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Sardinia for meetings with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. It was unclear whether he had been informed of the sub’s sinking. | |
Posted by:Steve White & Pete Stanley |
#14 Three cheers for Russian |
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-8-30 10:52:49 PM |
#13 You're right Steve. Hold out for a decent Victor III sailed only on odd years. |
Posted by: Shipman 2003-8-30 8:43:35 PM |
#12 Always check Submax.com before purchasing a used submarine to ensure you don't buy a lemon. |
Posted by: Steve D 2003-8-30 4:12:20 PM |
#11 The 2003 Fickle Finger of Fate award for Bad Trim on a Submersible goes to... |
Posted by: mojo 2003-8-30 3:51:13 PM |
#10 Are you sure that the Arafish was not once a submariner on a Russian sub with a leaky reactor? |
Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-8-30 3:50:49 PM |
#9 He's not playing Jack Ryan anymore. Although, I wonder if this means that Putin will be beaten in the next election? Losing two submarines, 100-200 sailors, and towing a obsolute vessel in a bad storm doesn't look very good. |
Posted by: Charles 2003-8-30 2:01:39 PM |
#8 Looks like Harrison Ford's got another sequel... |
Posted by: tu3031 2003-8-30 10:34:28 AM |
#7 I wonder if they put things like in their sales brochures to the Red Chinese? |
Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2003-8-30 10:25:16 AM |
#6 Rapael - why not fish there???, where else would you get one of these, outside Springfield of course |
Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-30 9:43:57 AM |
#5 Well atleast it's reassuring to know that they are going to recover that nuclear reactor... they are going to recover it, right? note to self: cancel the Barents Sea fishing trip |
Posted by: Raphael 2003-8-30 8:09:19 AM |
#4 Hey Murat interested in purchasing a pre-owned nuclear submarine,only sank once? |
Posted by: raptor 2003-8-30 7:08:01 AM |
#3 Russian Ambassador: One of our submarines, an Alpha, was last reported in the area of the Grand Banks. We have not heard from her for some time. Nat'l Security Advisor: Andre... you've lost another submarine? |
Posted by: True German Ally 2003-8-30 2:18:39 AM |
#2 Doing some Googling -- An attack submarine NATO designated November Class. Russians call them Leninskiy Komsomol Class. Commissioned 4 November 1963. Decommissioned somewhere between '89-92. Were they stripping it for spare parts and/or removing the nuclear material? |
Posted by: Pete Stanley 2003-8-30 2:15:32 AM |
#1 Submariners! Start your conjecturing! |
Posted by: Penguin 2003-8-30 2:14:12 AM |