Wreck of Soviet Submarine K-219
Bermuda /
Saint George /
World
/ Bermuda
/ Saint George
/ Saint George
World
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On October 3rd 1986, while on patrol 680 miles (1100 km) northeast of Bermuda, the Soviet 'Yankee' Class Ballistic Missile Submarine K-219 suffered an explosion and fire in one of her missile tubes caused by a seal failure, allowing seawater to leak into the missile tube and react with residue from the missile's liquid fuel. Three of her crew were killed by the initial explosion, and a fourth was killed when he voulnteered to shut down the subs two nuclear reactors by hand and was trapped in the ships reactor compartment.
The sub remained on the surface for three days while efforts were made by her crew to have the stricken vessel towed by a Soviet Merchantman, however on October 6th several gas leaks forced her Captain to order ship abandoned against orders from the Kremlin. Shortly after the crew went over the side the submarine rolled and sank, carrying both her nuclear reactors and 34 nuclear warheads with her to the bottom of the Atlantic.
The Soviet Union officially blamed the US Navy for the damage to K219, stating that the damage resulted from a collision with USS Augusta (SSN-710), which was trailing K219 at the time. The US Navy denies this and points to a previous similar missile tube mishap on the sub as evidence that the ship was in poor condition.
To this date, there have been no public efforts to remove the nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel from the sub, however the Soviet Navy has stated they perform periodic testing of the surrounding seabed, flora and faunae for radiation from the subs hull, but this has yet to be confirmed. K-219 now lies upright in two pieces at this location in approximately 18,000ft of water.
The sub remained on the surface for three days while efforts were made by her crew to have the stricken vessel towed by a Soviet Merchantman, however on October 6th several gas leaks forced her Captain to order ship abandoned against orders from the Kremlin. Shortly after the crew went over the side the submarine rolled and sank, carrying both her nuclear reactors and 34 nuclear warheads with her to the bottom of the Atlantic.
The Soviet Union officially blamed the US Navy for the damage to K219, stating that the damage resulted from a collision with USS Augusta (SSN-710), which was trailing K219 at the time. The US Navy denies this and points to a previous similar missile tube mishap on the sub as evidence that the ship was in poor condition.
To this date, there have been no public efforts to remove the nuclear weapons or nuclear fuel from the sub, however the Soviet Navy has stated they perform periodic testing of the surrounding seabed, flora and faunae for radiation from the subs hull, but this has yet to be confirmed. K-219 now lies upright in two pieces at this location in approximately 18,000ft of water.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_submarine_K-219
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Coordinates: 31°28'4"N 54°41'6"W
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