Russia submerges nuclear submarine to douse blaze

Reuters ^ | December 29, 2011 | Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Peter Graff

[decimon]

MURMANSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia said it had won the battle with a raging blaze aboard a nuclear submarine on Friday by submerging the stricken vessel at a navy shipyard after hours of dousing the flames with water from helicopters and tug boats.

There was no radiation leak, authorities said.

Television pictures showed a giant plume of smoke above the yard in the Murmansk region of northern Russia as over 100 firemen struggled to douse flames which witnesses said rose 10 metres (30 feet) above the Yekaterinburg submarine.

"The fire has been localized," Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu told officials who were leading the firefighting effort from an emergencies control room in Moscow more than nine hours after the blaze began at 1220 GMT (7:20 a.m. EDT) on Thursday.

Shoigu's comments indicate the fire was still burning but that efforts to partially sink the submarine at the dock had succeeded in reducing the intensity of the flames.

Russia said the nuclear reactor had been shut down and all weapons had been removed from the 167-metre (550 feet) Yekaterinburg, which launched an intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea at a firing range thousands of miles away in Kamchatka as recently as July.

"Radiation levels are normal," a spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry said. "No one was injured."

[driftdiver]

Right, radiation levels are normal but they can’t get the fire out.

How long until the ocean begins to boil in that area?

[Raycpa]

There was no radiation leak, authorities said.

check is in the mail.

[Michael Barnes]

Wasn’t this in a movie once?

[Publius]

“K-19: The Widowmaker”

[stboz]

Well done, Ivan....I hope.

[decimon]

Ping

[Yo-Yo]

"Andrei, you lost another submarine?"

[ColdOne]

Sure everything is fine. Russia is always up front with news of this sort.. the Kursk comes to mind...oh wait.

[RitchieAprile]

Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu

probably a good idea Russia has one given the scale
of their emergencies...

[Average Al]

[Venturer]

I have been in a lot of basement fires. Bad news. I cannot imagine going down a hot hatch into a submarine to fight a blaze in it. Nowhere to vent the heat, nowhere to push the fire.No way to get out fast if the SHTF. You hit the fire and the steam comes right back on you.

Not a fun days work.

[Calvin Locke]

Hmmm, could they not have achieved the same thing by closing the hatches?

Or would the resulting vacuum cause greater damage?

I read Iron Coffins about 40 years ago. When a U-boat was running on snorkel with an inexperienced officer in charge, the snorkel would often seal itself, and the diesels would suck air from the sub, making it uncomfortable for the crew, but no damage otherwise.

[tacticalogic]

Sounds like it could also be a missile propellant fire.

Anybody know if their SLBMs are solid or liquid fueled?

[The Working Man]

“We had to sink her to save her.”

It’s funny to read about but at the same time it must have been terrifying to have been there. I hope the crew managed to escape in time.

[decimon]

I have been in a lot of basement fires.

You're a fireman or you run a meth lab? ;-)

[DUMBGRUNT]

more than nine hours after the blaze began

Local media reports were vague, but the blaze was believed to have started when wooden scaffolding caught fire during welding repairs to the submarine,

The scaffold burns for 9 hours?

Shouldn't most of the contents of a submarine be fire resistant?

[Calvin Locke]

In the 1980s, the Soviets had a nuclear sub fire in the Baltic, iirc.

There's an emergency air system that the fire fighters can plug into. However, the fire comprised the system and the FFs plugged in to a fatal supply of toxic gases.

Abandoning the sub, some of the officers were still inside when it went down. They made their way to an escape pod, but by the time they sealed the hatch, they also sealed in a multiple of atmosphere.

When the pod hit the surface, the hatch blew, killing one guy that went out with the excess air pressure, while another was thrown half way out. He was able to escape the escape pod before it filled with water, taking the remaining occupants down.

At the time, the Soviets stationed a vessel above it, cognizant of the Glomar Explorer...

[Pollster1]

The Yekaterinburg is what we call a "Delta IV", carrying sixteen SS-N-23 MIRV-capable submarine launched ballistic missiles. Unclassified sources list that missile as liquid fueled. The boat is reported to be in overhaul (and is due for major maintenance, so this is believable), so he would not have been carrying any missiles when the fire started - assuming they offloaded the missiles just before or just after the test launch this past summer. It sounds like a scaffolding or dry dock blocks fire (welding?) that spread to hull insulation.

[tacticalogic]

The scaffold burns for 9 hours?

Shouldn't most of the contents of a submarine be fire resistant?

Seems like a wooden scaffolding fire would have been a lot easier to put out. Now, if they were getting ready to paint when they were done welding, and had brought a bunch of paint onboard, into the same compartment where they were welding........