K-219 - Soviet nuclear submarine

In the mid-eighties of the 20th century, US short-range nuclear missiles were deployed in Western Europe, which posed a real threat to the security of the Soviet Union. In the event of the outbreak of war, the most important objects on the territory of our country could be struck even before information on the launches of missiles was received. To maintain strategic balance of forces, an urgent and adequate response was needed.

Restoring the balance of power in the world

Since the Soviet Union did not have the opportunity to use a sufficient number of ground-based missile bases located in the immediate vicinity of the territory of the United States, the country's leadership took the only possible decision at that time - to establish regular patrols of neutral nuclear waters near the American shores by domestic nuclear submarines. This made it possible to equalize the degree of mutual danger and restore the balance of power.

Rocket submarine of the Northern Fleet

One of the submarines, which was assigned this mission, was a strategic missile cruiser, code-named K-219. In 1972, he disembarked from the Severodvinsk plant "Sevmash" and for eight years was part of the Northern Fleet, based in Gadzhievo, Murmansk region. In 1980 the ship was completely modernized in accordance with the project 667АУ "Nalim", which allowed using it to solve the most complex and responsible combat missions.

This submarine cruiser possessed a huge destructive potential. On its board there were sixteen ballistic missiles with a range of three thousand kilometers, each carrying three nuclear warheads. In addition, for its own protection against a possible attack of enemy ships, the K-219 had six torpedo tubes. The crew consisted of one hundred and nineteen people - perfectly trained and specially trained seamen.

Troubles of the past

Even before the offensive on combat duty off the coast of America, this submarine missile carrier had a serious accident in 1973. Then, as a result of a breach of the tightness of one of the missile silos, the seawater began to enter and, reacting with one of the rocket fuel components , caused the formation of an extremely aggressive nitric acid, which ultimately led to an explosion. As a result, one of the crew members was killed, and the emergency mine was put out of operation and was not used again.

The last cruise of the missile carrier

The atomic submarine K-219 made its last cruise in 1986. After leaving the port of registry, she went to the shores of America to perform patrol service. From the very beginning of the voyage, serious malfunctions were discovered: in one of the missile shafts, a leak opened, but the officer responsible for this area, frightened of responsibility, did not report to the commander of the ship, the captain of 2nd rank I. Britannov, and tried to hide the fact of the malfunction.

Such violation of the charter had fatal consequences for the boat and crew. Soon it was necessary twice a day to pump out the water supplied to the mine, until, finally, it was completely depressurized and was not flooded. All further events became an exact repetition of the accident that occurred in 1973 - an aggressive mixture of water and rocket fuel components was formed, which resulted in an explosion.

Consequences of an explosion in a rocket shaft

The shock wave destroyed plutonium warheads and damaged the outer shell of the mine. Separate parts of the rocket were inside the submarine and, reacting with water, gave off deadly gases. The situation was aggravated by the fact that as a result of the explosion a hole was formed on the deck, through which water poured in. Having received, in this way, excessive ballast, the submarine immediately sank to a critical depth for itself - three hundred meters, but thanks to the competent and timely actions of the commander, it was soon able to lift to the surface.

In an emergency, the damaged and dangerously gassed rocket compartment was abandoned by the crew and carefully tidied up. However, the crew had yet to fulfill the main task at that time - to stop the nuclear reactor. It was necessary to do this in the shortest possible time, since the sensors recorded a sharp increase in temperature in the cooling system, and a real threat of an atomic explosion arose .

The feat of sailors - submariners

Under normal conditions, this operation is performed from the main control panel, but the first attempt showed the failure of this critical system. The catastrophe was approaching, and the seamen had the last chance to manually shut down the damaged reactor, but in this case they had to enter the missile compartment and inevitably receive a critical dose of radiation. Volunteers volunteered to fulfill the assignment: Senior Lieutenant N. Belikov and sailor S. Preminin. Both of them died, but after carrying out the necessary actions, they saved the rest of the crew.

American rescuers and Soviet ships

Assistance to the Soviet submarine in distress was offered by the Americans. To this end, their ships immediately arrived in the area of the accident. But, despite the mortal danger, the submariners could not use the offer, since it was quite obvious that the main interest for Americans was not represented by them, but a submarine full of equipment secret at that time. Thanking for the assistance offered, the sailors of the submarine contacted the radio with several Soviet ships in the vicinity of them, and they hurried to the rescue.

The current situation clearly showed that the submarine could not move by its own course, and it would have to be towed. The Americans here also offered their help, but the Soviet command rejected it, not wanting to show their helplessness in such a situation. During the next few days, only its commander, Captain II Britanov, and members of the emergency crew attempting to extinguish the fire were on K-219. The rest of the crew was stationed on the vessels that arrived by that time "Krasnogvardeisk" and "Anatoly Vasiliev".

The death of the nuclear submarine K - 219

Everything was ready to tow an underwater vessel to the Soviet shores. This mission was undertaken by the Krasnogvardeisk dry cargo ship, for which its board was connected to the submarine by a thick cable. The rescue team left the boat, as the concentration of poisonous combustion products in the air became excessively high. Only the commander remained on board, with weapons in hand, guarding the ship against possible penetration of Americans into it.

The death of K-219 occurred on the night of October 6, 1986, when, for an unspecified reason, the tow rope broke off, and the submarine began to sink to the depth. I. Britans, who was on board until the very last moment, moved to the lifeboat, only when the waves began to overwhelm the battle deck of the submarine cruiser.

Possible causes of death

There are several versions of the reasons for the break of the tow line. The most probable of them can be considered the one according to which the misfortune occurred because of the large amount of water penetrated inside the boat. It is not excluded and the intervention of Americans, who could cut the cable by cutting the submarine, which followed a parallel course.

But, as the experts say, there could be one more, quite probable cause of K-219 death. It is possible that the commander himself sent her to the bottom, cutting the tow line. The fact is that shortly before that, an order was sent from Moscow to the entire crew to return to the emergency cruiser and to follow them to the nearest Soviet port on their own. It was truly an insane order, since, being inside the submarine, the entire crew would surely have died by poisoning with gases or receiving a strong dose of radiation.

Results of the last voyage

Since then, the nuclear submarine cruiser K-219 is at rest at the bottom, at a depth of five thousand meters, with fifteen nuclear ballistic missiles in its launching mines. The sailors rescued and delivered to Havana returned to Moscow in a few days. Of the crew members, four people died during the accident, four more died later as a result of radiation on board.

After all that happened to the commander of the submarine K-219, whose last expedition proved to be disastrous for her, and the senior mechanic N. Krasilnikov, criminal cases were opened, which almost ended for both long terms of imprisonment. But, fortunately, the situation in the country by that time had changed. With the new Perestroika, the newly appointed Defense Minister D. Yazov ordered the closure of both cases. Thus, the prisons were avoided, but the commander of the sunken boat was fired from the fleet. The accident on K-219 put an end to his career.