Soviet submarine K-8

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K-8 was a November class submarine of the Soviet Northern Fleet.

Contents 1 Accidents 1.1 1960 Loss of Coolant 1.2 1970 Bay of Biscay fire 2 References

[edit] Accidents

[edit] 1960 Loss of Coolant

On 13 October 1960, while operating in the Barents Sea, K-8 suffered a ruptured steam generator tube, causing a loss of coolant accident. While the crew jury-rigged a system to supply emergency cooling water to the reactor, preventing a reactor core meltdown, large amounts of radioactive gas leaked out which contaminated the entire vessel. The gas radiation levels could not be determined because instrumentation could not measure such large scales. Three of the crew suffered visible radiation injuries, and many crewmen were exposed to doses of up to 1.8 – 2 Sv (180 – 200 rem).

[edit] 1970 Bay of Biscay fire

Russian officials confirmed in 2004 that on 10 January 1970, K-8 received orders to lay a number of tactical atomic torpedoes as naval mines in the Bay of Naples, to be used against the United States Seventh Fleet.^[1] The success of her mission is not directly known.

Four months later, on 8 April 1970, K-8 suffered fires in two compartments simultaneously. Both nuclear reactors were shut down.^[2] The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship but was countermanded. 52 crewmen, including the captain, re-boarded the submarine, and were lost when she sank in rough seas while being towed in the Bay of Biscay. Since only four of her initial load-out of 24 nuclear mines were found in the wreck, the Italian government is concerned that twenty nuclear weapons may lie in the ocean floor in the Bay of Naples.

[edit] References

1. ^ The Independent March 19 2005
2. ^ Inventory of accidents and losses at sea involving radioactive material, IAEA 2001, online pdf version

• The Bellona Foundation (http://bellona.no) — Bellona material is ©, but "reuse and reprint recommended provided source is stated."
• Memo from Prof. Mario Scaramella, advisor to the Mitrokhin Commission, to Dott. Guido Bertolaso, Capo Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (Chief of the Department of Civil Protection)
• "Soviet Navy left 20 nuclear warheads in bay of Naples", The Independent, 2005-03-19. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.

November-class submarine

K-3 | K-5 | K-8 | K-52 | K-21 | K-11 | K-181 | K-159 | K-50 (K-60)

List of Soviet and Russian submarines List of Soviet and Russian submarine classes