The lethal fire broke out on a vessel based in the Arctic port Severomorsk. This was the same base where the Kursk sank was based before that sub sank killing 118 sailors in a searing tragedy for the Russian Navy. In the Kursk sinking and subsequent accidents in Russia’s submarine fleet, the navy has been slow in acknowledging the gravity of emergencies, the scale of human loss or the environmental threat. The submarine has been identified as the AS-12 (nicknamed LOSHARIK) – nuclear deepwater station of Project 10831. It is powered by a nuclear reactor and is believed to be able to operate at a depth down to 6,000 meters. Displacement 2000 tons submerged, length about 60 meters, complement 25 officers (no private ranks). (from Maritime News)
The Russian authorities say an explosion on a Russian submarine , within Russian territorial waters has killed 14 sailors.
The submarine is identified as AS-12 (nicknamed LOSHARIK). President Putin said seven of the 14 were captains and that two of the dead had received high military honors.
Russian authorities did not say how many people were aboard the vessel at the time of the fire. The Ministry of Defense said the vessel was returned to the base at Severomorsk.
The authorities refused to say if the vessel was powered by a nuclear reactor or whether it was submerged at the time of the accident.
On Tuesday evening, an official with the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in Norway said the agency had taken radiation measurements after the incident but detected nothing unusual, Reutersreported.
The Kursk, a strategic missile submarine powered by twin nuclear reactor sank in 2000 after a torpedo exploded during a test launch. The Russian military, lacked rescue equipment and waited days before appealing for international help. A note was later found by a crew member who had survived long enough to write that 23 sailors had been trapped alive.
Although the Ministry of Defense described the stricken vessel as a “scientific experimental deep water apparatus intended to study the natural environment and sea floor” other sources describe it as a nuclear-powered submarine used to spy.
The accident aboard the Kursk in 2000 had proved a difficult moment for Mr. Putin.
The Kursk, sank after a torpedo exploded during a test launch. The Russian military, threadbare after the Soviet collapse, lacked rescue equipment and waited days before appealing for international help.
Vladimir Putin was outspoken about this secret submarine and especially about the crew, most of whom were officers. “It is not an ordinary vessel, as we know. It is a scientific-research vessel, its crew is highly professional.” The officers who died included First rank captain Denis Dolonsky, the commander of the Losharik. Dolonsky received the Hero of Russia for “Arctic and Antarctic research works”. Nikolay Filin, another captain and recipient of the Hero of Russia award, was a tester of deep sea military equipment.
A third captain was Andrey Voskresensky, the son-in-law of Russian rear admiral Vladimir Bederdinov. In all seven first rank sea captain were killed on board the submarine while deployed on an unknown secret mission.