Fatal Fire on Russian Nuclear Submarine "Losharik" - Further Background at bottom!

On July 3, 2019 the Australian Government owned ABC News reported a fatal fire, July 1, 2019, on the Russian nuclear spy submarine Losharik.

PETE COMMENT

As well as research the Losharik is a spy submarine, which conducts top secret missions. For example Losharik is used for tapping Western undersea cables (some perhaps from Australia) and laying secret fixed anti-submarine sensors in the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans. The Losharik has been described as a “small...or mini-submarine” but it is reported as weighing 2,000 tons which is a full sized submarine! See this 2015 Submarine Matters' article about Losharik.

ARTICLE

The ABC News article, at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-03/russia-submarine-fire-kills-14-losharik-nuclear-vladimir-putin/11273188 begins:

“Fire on 'top secret Russian mini-submarine' kills 14 sailors, Vladimir Putin demands Defence briefing

[Photo of the Losharik - file photo taken 1998. (courtesy AP: STR)]

The Russian Defence Ministry says 14 sailors have been killed in a fire on a navy submersible, with media reporting the stricken vessel is the country's most secret mini-submarine.

Key points:

·       Russian media reported the vessel was the nuclear-powered AS-12 Losharik, a mini-submarine

·       A Defence Ministry statement said the fire was put out thanks to the self-sacrifice of crew members

·       The incident happened near Barents Sea, where the Kursk nuclear submarine sank in 2000

The ministry did not say what the vessel was, explain how the fire broke out, or if there were any survivors.

Russian media reported the incident happened on the AS-12 Losharik, a small nuclear-powered vessel designed for sensitive missions at great ocean depths.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the fire broke out while the vessel was measuring sea depths in Russia's territorial waters, and the submersible had since arrived at the Arctic port of Severomorsk, the main base of Russia's Northern Fleet.

"According to preliminary data, 14 sailors died from being poisoned by combustion products," he said.

In a televised meeting with his Defence Minister, President Vladimir Putin said two "Heroes of Russia" were among the dead, referring to the highest military award issued in the post-World War II period.

"This is not a regular vessel ... it's a scientific research vessel. It's a highly professional [Russian Navy] crew," he said.

"Seven out of the 14 dead are first-class captains, two are Heroes of Russia.

"It is a big loss for the fleet and for [the] army in general."

The Ministry said the fire was put out thanks to the "self-sacrifice of crew members" but did not say how many people were on board.

Norway [is] monitoring for radiation in Barents Sea

The blaze marks the most serious Russian naval incident since 2008, when 20 people died after a firefighting system was accidentally triggered while the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine of Russia's Pacific Fleet was undergoing trials.

In the deadliest naval incident in post-Soviet Russia, the Kursk nuclear submarine exploded and sank on August 12, 2000, during naval manoeuvres in the Barents Sea, killing all 118 crew members.

The latest incident also took place in the vicinity of the Barents Sea, but authorities in nearby Norway said they were monitoring, but had not detected, abnormally high levels of radiation.

Per Strand, a director at the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, said Russian officials had told his agency that a gas explosion took place on board the submarine, though Russia denied this.

Secret vessel reportedly has a unique titanium hull design

The [Losharik] was constructed and launched under a veil of secrecy, but some details of the project have been reported by Russian media.

According to an archived [Russian language] report in Russian newspaper Izvestia, the [Losharik] was launched in 2003.

It is described as the most advanced and most obscure Russian submarine and is reportedly named after a Soviet-era cartoon character — a toy horse made of small spheres.

The name is apparently explained by the unique design of its internal hull, which is made of several titanium spheres capable of withstanding high pressure at great depths.

It is reportedly powered by a nuclear reactor and was built over a 15-year period under a veil of secrecy.

None of the claims have been independently confirmed...."

SEE THE WHOLE EXCELLENT ABC NEWS ARTICLE

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Further Background On Losharik

"Losharik" is a Russian nickname for a toy horse connected by spheres. The Losharik submarine contains at least 2 layers of Titanium alloy pressure hulls - with the innermost hull (or hulls) being spheres around the crew of about 25. It is nuclear powered for scientific, operational and secrecy reasons.

Losharik is also variously known as "Project 210", "Hull Number AS-31", “Project 10831” and NATO reporting name "NORSUB-5".

A source with expert knowledge of Russian submarines advises that the Russian Navy/Government considers the manning of Losharik so difficult, dangerous and specialised that the crew are not called "submariners" but "Hydronauts" - a deep sea equivalent of Cosmonauts/Astronauts. Hence most "Hydronauts" are officers.

The much smaller US Nuclear Deep Submergence Vessel NR-1 is an earlier, equivalent example of a nuclear powered deep diving submarine. 

Pete