Nuclear Submarine Caught Fire Up-Top
A fire on board of St. Daniel of Moscow submarine broke in the Barents Sea Wednesday night. It killed two crew members and one sailor is in the hospital. The submarine that is anchored at Vidyaevo naval base now has had no scheduled repair since it was constructed, i.e. for 16 years.
A fire in one of the cells of St. Daniel of Moscow broke when the submarine was yet up-top, running from Vidyaevo naval base to the Barents Sea. When fighting the fire, two members of the crew, warrant officer Rafim Shibanov, 35, and contract sailor Igor Etyuev, 28, were heavily intoxicated by the carbon monoxide and evacuated to the vessel, which was nearby to back up the submarine in distress. But the physicians failed to save the sailors.
There is no threat of the nuclear contamination, the Navy assured. The breakdown wasn’t significant, said North Fleet Briefer Vladimir Navrotsky. "The fire broke in the electrical control unit, all systems were well-coordinated and the nuclear reactor was shut off.”
Nevertheless, the chiefs are unable to explain how the carbon monoxide could have killed the sailors despite that they were well equipped by special breathing apparatus. A sailor used a breathing apparatus, it is known now, but the oxygen ended in 10 minutes instead of the required 15 minutes.
St. Daniel of Moscow (B-414, former K-414) is referred to 671RTMK Shchuka (Pike) project (Victor-III under the NATO classification). It floated out August 31, 1990 and was assigned to the North Fleet March 14, 1991.
Its submerged displacement is 6,280 tons, the length reaches 106 meters and the width is 10.6 meters. The machinery plant includes two VM-4A reactors; the maximum submergence depth is 400 meters.
The submarine launched an expedition to the North Pole in summer 1994.
“The machinery failed again,” said Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Masorin, when asked about the reasons of breakdown. Its reliability was duty confirmed, and St. Daniel of Moscow has had only minor repair during 16 years of service. But it was to to go through the first major overhaul seven years ago.
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All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 08, 2006
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