One of the most difficult and dangerous military specialties is the profession of a submariner. For decades in the Soviet Union, there have been silenced cases of tragedies on submarines, which became the cause of human casualties. The situation changed in 1989, when the whole country shuddered at the news of the Komsomolets submarine accident. Then they started talking about other disasters, including the circumstances in which the K 8 submarine died.
Specifications
K-8 is a submarine of the USSR Navy with a nuclear reactor, which was created as part of the implementation of Project 627 A Kit. Its construction began in 1957, and in the summer of 1960 a new submarine was credited to the Northern Fleet. K-8 (submarine) had the following specifications:
- length - 1074 cm;
- width - 796 cm;
- immersion depth - 300 m;
- speed under water - 30 knots;
- average draft - 565 cm;
- surface speed - 15.5 knots.
First accidents
After the K-8 (submarine) was adopted by the Soviet Navy, the first unforeseen situation was recorded on it: a breakdown of the cooling circuit pipe followed by a leak of coolant and a strong release of radioactive gas. As a result, part of the crew received fairly significant doses of radiation, and three sailors showed signs characteristic of acute radiation sickness. Similar incidents also occurred on June 1 and October 8, 1961, so the navy began to say that the K-8 is a submarine, the service of which is life-threatening.
Events prior to the disaster
From the beginning of August 1966 to July 1968, the K-8 nuclear submarine was located at the famous Zvezdochka shipyard, where it was overhauled. In addition, in May 1969, an experienced submariner V.B. Bessonov, immediately won the respect of the crew. Thus, it seemed that soon the K-8 (submarine) would be able to restore its reputation, and it would no longer be called “damned”.
Mediterranean hike
On the night of February 17, 1970, the K-8 (submarine), whose crew was well trained, left the Gremikha base for its first and last long autonomous voyage. The submarine was ordered to go to the North Atlantic area and take part in the largest exercises in the history of the USSR Navy called “Ocean-70”. Their beginning was scheduled for April 14, and the final coincided with the day of the celebration of the centenary of V.I. Lenin.
April 8th
The death of the submarine K-8 occurred in the waters of the Bay of Biscay. At that time, she was not far from the Azores, and nothing portended trouble. On April 8, when surfacing from a depth of 160 m in the cabin of K-8 sonar acoustics, where power cables pass near the submarine, a fire broke out. At the same time, the commander was informed of the fire that occurred in the 7th compartment. The crew immediately began the struggle for life, and after 5 minutes the submarine was in the water position. The situation was complicated by the fact that the fire began to spread very quickly through the submarine through the air ducts. At that moment, officers V. Khaslavsky, A. Chudinov, G. Chugunov and G. Shostakovsky, who were in the 7th compartment covered by the fire, made a real feat: realizing that they doomed themselves to death, the sailors lifted up the hatch and prevented a thermal explosion. In addition, they managed to stop the nuclear reactor.
April 9th
After midnight, part of the crew climbed the bridge through the central post. At 2 a.m., sailors with great difficulty pulled open the hatch of the 8th compartment, took 4 people out and carried 15 corpses. The reason for the death of people was a strong smoke and lack of protective equipment. They also managed to save 19 crew members from the 4th compartment. While the boat was afloat, the sailors continued the struggle for life.
In the afternoon, the sea swell increased, and the submarine began to roll. To counter this situation, the main ballast tanks were purged, however, it did not give positive results.
Later, 43 crew members were evacuated to transport, and the remaining were placed in the first two compartments and on the bridge.
Salvation and loss
Most of the K-8 personnel was taken out on the ship Avior, owned by Bulgaria. In a severe storm, part of the crew continued the struggle to save the ship, but the submarine sank. The death of the nuclear submarine K-8 was the first major loss of the domestic nuclear fleet. A total of 52 crew members were killed, and the submarine itself remained forever lying 490 km from the coast of Spain at a depth of 4680 m.
Investigation
To clarify the circumstances of the death of the ship in Severomorsk immediately began to work a government commission. Crew members delivered there at the Volga floating base. A few days later they were offered to play the whole course of events that occurred on April 8-9 on board the submarine K-181, which is an exact copy of the K-8. This investigative action made it possible to establish that both the command of the submarine and its crew behaved extremely professionally and competently in emergency situations.
By government decree to the dead captain of the submarine V.B. Bessonov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, and all other midshipmen and officers were awarded the Order of the Red Star. As for the sailors, both the dead and the survivors were presented to Ushakov’s medals.
Memory
As was customary in Soviet times, the K-8 accident did not receive much publicity. However, two streets in the city of Gremikha were renamed in honor of the commander of the submarine and the ship's doctor Yu. Ilchenko. The latter sacrificed his life, losing his breathing apparatus to one of the operated crew members, who at the time of the accident was in the infirmary.
4 years after the accident, a monument was erected in the same town. On it you can see the crew members of the K-8 (submarine), a list of the dead and the inscription "to the submariners who died in military posts, who have completely fulfilled their duty."
Now you know how one of the first nuclear submarines of the Russian fleet perished, and what caused this disaster.