5IA HISTORICAL REVIEWRELEASEAS
Fire on Soviet Nuclear-Powered Submarine
I- on So.id Nuclear-Powered Suhmarine
oviet
acodcni ai sea. which resulted in lhc dcaih of ai kail nine men. The submarine-tuS. lorpcdoatiack unii-had* complete loss of power.esult, il could not communicate and had to send usessage fromBritish mcrehani ship lhal respondedts distress flare..
We believe lhal the aceidcni occurred while the submarine was surfaced und probablyydroc-cn fire/exedosion compounded by the generation Of icwiche cause or the accident -asailure of Ibe buttery ventilation system, which leduildup of hydroeen. Human error tilmwi certainlyontributing factor
There is no evidence lhat thereany problem with Ihc nuclear reactor either before or arter the accident. We believe lhal the reactor safely Ctrcum operated properly andshui down the reticle- when the accident occurred. Extensive monitoring showed no evidence of radioactive leakage.
7Vienfoc'ioilon It
Fire onuclear-Po-(red Submaiior
AlOi before. onO. ihc office, of Ihch andrilUhnatural fa* carreer, iheighted diaireaa fla .ea about IS nauticaly. The Car. ahercd ce-rvt io investigate and ahoelly aflc.-ard< -demif-ed lheleard loepedo aitack laahnurine. locatedautical mile* east noelhcati of Naha. Okinawa
Ship* .ende.int im.iuiKci*ires* siiuaiioflrcqui.ed ioetailed recoednt. and thc limes ihey oeeur. We hare rrxci.vd occrpt* hom ihc Carl'*eck loc lhal include dce.ipiion. of iNlltMS and ob*"vuiiwn* concerning ihi* incident.
Eaceepii Fromthe Cati apprbached the submarine, it observed manual duties, iignak
a numbc. of men on deck Byi ihe Gari had clc-edie
of ihe .ubma.ine There -etc at lead SO men on the deck ol the iv.bma.mc with -hai apps-red io be bedund Aa* bead,. -bodic*on decken -cman on ihe afieidech Wvnvcv not Mack smoke orm the esk hatch, and men -Caring breathing apparatusthe halcl
Atihe Gaarfifeboji iat the charge ofswel office..eeeder: to theand laiee reasonedand tunc dead e.ull olnie figure II *icv.ial axiihro-ing bucket, uf sea-aicehe afterhatch of iheIvteI Ai noi.me didppear to be an. po-er on .he MbawiM andone on deckto be it eha.ee
The lifeboul returned io thc0 "ilh th.ee men liom lheradio operator, an interpreter,unappearedunior UtTtOCr, fromation -ilhen. il -a. under.loudire had occurred about II* VJ. one hour before ihca- ihe distressnd (hat ninelThe Soviet*requeued morphine, which -a* provided b> ilie Gaii.
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ItlCkl
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Fictile i
Adi.ll> Around Aite.hnlchlaa* Gil II I
The MM from ihco requested ihallhc Cijfiicdshe USSR. Wc do aoi kao. ihc nature ul .hoc IBfjlfl Thc UtoUf of thcCaii. bowcsel.Orvl. pc'inluJ lb* W* repeal lhe leiscraldKircs* call ian.uala-f d ioessagehe So-iei Ambosodoe ia Tokyo, The So-tei merchant i. shir Meridian answered theall and indicated it would proceed the mat When ihc threeere .nfotrnedapuisew lacl-we' -a. en route. ihe> seemedand the Master ol the Cm formedopinion thai onl> osMslarKCcnict ship would be wekom.
The Ihtcc Soviet* were returned lo ihc submarine aiOvJO. Thc Gari supplied drinkingin all available eoeiuiincrs. The rescue hclnupictew minute*d made repealed attempt* lo ciinintl ihc submarine These jticmpi* were ignored by ihe subnurinc Thc Gun's lifcbonl was iccovcrcdl about thc same lime, lhe hclkaptcr dopuitcd for ns bo'C There was rto further coniact between the Guri and the submarine
Jum before noon ibc Meridian reported in cMimaied lime of arrival on lhc write of MOO.. cCt thai ihc crew, of lhc submarine cviniinuvd mthrnsv *eawnler imn ihc nfierh.iich A- ings. nfappeared in be bedd been riggedof ihe sail during midmominft txec
5 ihe Meridian arrived and loweredilslifeboat, which immediately began transferring men from lhc submarine lolheew minutes later. Ihe Ouri resumed ili voyage, having received permission from lhc Japanese Maritime Safely Agency.
Comments . al'urri arrived in Japan, lhc Ma.Mtr and ilircc of
Observationsship's officers were debriefed on ihc incident. Theirhich
(.urithc ctcerpls from ihe ship'* deck log. arc its follows-
- InilijMs there were aboul SO men cm deck. Thc number incicnwd looserone Cari officers ihc morning wore on. All remained afln shade uas rigged forward; then mosi of ihe men moved forssard.
Monitoring ltadioncii>itv
Su bod inere observed on deck. There were no obvious signs of burnt on Ihc torso, and legs of ihc partialis covered bodies or on any of ihc oihcr men on deck Ihe Soviets later Mated ihai ihcic were in fact nine dead and three injured men.
submarine had no power There wai no moverrsenl of thc propellers, control surfaces, or mailt Photograph' shows ihai one rcii'copc. one high-frequency (HFlanienna. one aery high-frequency! VI tFl antenna, ond thc intercept antenna were all ta ihc raised position (seeo machinery noises were heard. The submarine appeared lo be fatly buoyant ssiih no trim or list (confirmed by
Both the Tore nnd afi deck hatches were open. Nostrum, srnokc. or llamcs were aeen.alll*csugh"whitehich had an acrid Odor,ung from ihe aftcrhateh. When pressed to identify ihe odor. Gari officers aard tl might ha been that of chlorine, but they were uncertain.
few men oa the subrrsarinc were observed entering and ciitmg ihe aftcrdeck hatch. They -ere dressed in protectee clothing und wore rescue breathing apparatus For at least four hours, one or Iwo men were noted pouring buckets of sea water down the aftcrhateh.
Ihc men on deck appeared confused, disorganized, and leaderand none seemed overears old No one 'eemcd lobe in charge or able to direct the mooring of thc Gad's lifeboat. Eventually an older crewman came topside.6cand returnedounger man who spoke some English. This man along with ihc radioopcratoroung junior officer went to thc Gan to send the distress message. They tisked Ihe Gari officer*osition tohc distress message
cilcnsivc monitoring for radioactivity in lhe
vicinity of the submarine. Water samples were obtained aboutter the incident occurred Addition al samples were taken iwo days btter.o*eters astern of the subrrsarinc as II was being lowed home. None of these samples showed any evidence of radioactive leakage. Airborne sampling also was negative The Gnri.officers and crewmen "ho had been ia contact uiih the Soviett. and their clothing were monitored forihey arrived in JapanoorOraily was
VJUICCS
ckat lhat the vobmJ..rKrol ihe three. __
of pu-ce (nuclearKraMr*,ba.ie.yi iM electricalhehe Soviet, hado aboardmerer, am0itties* messagehai iheee .asm* even bitier. po-ct fot ihc radio Both HI and VHF antenna* *crc erected and could hut been uvtdadio set wereomplete low of powerhave caused all ventilationo be inoperative
The fact thai noSuvict of fiecr. mher than the swung officer .ho -cm to the Can. was teen or identified .uggc.ls that of ihe officer. uerc killedhc incidcni. Comment. b> the Gari officer, uhotil the lad of lc.ideir.hip support this prcrmw. An ultcriuilivchai the officer* remained bcluwh. ihce do noi bel.ee thi. to be Iheowever, because almost .it liour.cl.ip.ed bcissccnihe accident and the bast contact by Car, officer. The fiat thai ihear. officero-it.or. to put in their distress nicvuigii indicate, that the navigator and other senior officer, did not survive the accident. It also indicate, thai theompari men t.avigation chart uiiih lhe sjbmarincicurreni position would have been. iitaceesubk some three boon after thc accident
Photography taken between IfJOOand lOiOt.bout five lo fag hour, after thehew* ihc submarine riding al or above iu normalo hoc -mat no trim (see figure il This thows ihai lhere was no significant floodiag ifsuggests thai the Submarine .as surfaced at (he rime of !hc accident. The fael lhat radio sntennsc -ere creeled also .nrge-a- that the submarine was surfaced
of tat Accide-nl
have rccoostriiciedodent that occurred onctas. submarine based on an anal, si* of theentshelog and obse.vai.onc made bs ihcnd ere. of ihe Gari We believe that ihc submarine iva* pr.KecdinC on ihe surfr.ee und Hearing Ihc endaiie-rj charge when ihe accident occurred
The accident probablyydrogen-fueled flash fire and cplosion in ihc battery tximpeiitincnt. rcstillingh-amperage short ci.euiu and thc evolution of toxic gas and po.siblj acidad-ucid Murage balkrv alwayi evolve, hydrogen. Rut tlie rate of cvoluiion -hen ihc baitery icon charge, as ii may have been al ihe lime of Ihc ucvidcni.much greater than when ii 'is on discharge or on upon eircuil
accideni prr>baM> -a. causedailure of the ventilation ,js,cni for Iheoss of ventilationatter, chargeandatory signal touic the charge. If this is not done immedi.ilcli the hydrogen
Miramatically 5low/ actionpersonnel and/or inadcouatc or fiiults monitoring of Ihc atmosphere (Ould compound the mechanical failuic at ihc vcniilalion system and. in ihtt case.oB pcreeni mixiurc ol hydiogen and airborn Concern rat ionscrccnl will explodeo caving force ai lhc hydrogen enn-cent rat ion increases. Dcpark to igniicixture is almost always urexniubmarine, ihe only safe wjj toire or Caploiionis to keep thc hydrogen concetti, ai ionerceni
The fire/explosion most likely caused major damage io lhc batieej and its conneciors. which caused high-ampceagc Short circuits. Electrical transients undoubtedlyeactor scram and ultimately Ihe lots ol all power
Carbon monoxidearoons Irom oxidircd material undoubtedly were generated by thc fire. In addition, three toxic gases-phosgene, phenol amiould have been generated git en certain circumstances
Phosixnc is generated when freon refrigerant is oodito! at high tent,> virtually, impossible tocomplclcly eliminate all freon leaks Troni airosndnioning and refrigeration equipment. Qui good maintenance Can keep the Ireon concentration belowans per million, an acceptable irontonemoother products of ihc oiidation of from arc hydrofluoric and hydrochlnric acid fumes
. i. -encrnlevl -hen lire und eketrknlnkhenolic
rcein Uminjics If Such laminates arc slit'usedichbOardsand mountings for electrical touipment in Sovici vubnurines. some phenol mas have been formed. The use of these laminateserious, design deficiencs. and the United States hasnoi used them inie power systems lor submarines0
Chlorine gas is generaied when scswilcr contacts batters electrolyte It is not likely lhal chlorine wouldormed, unless there was an ill-advised jtiempi to extinguish the battery fire wiih scawater
Thc ofT.ecr.of thc Can mentioned the presence of an acr-dodoe Ph.ssgene has -he odor of freshly cui grass, but hydrofluoric and hydrochloric .ieid fumes have acrid od.Ks Phenol und Chlorine also have un aCridodof. particularly in low concentrations.
Officer berthing and Ihc storage baiter) jic located in thc second dnipari-mcnt oflas> submarine, the control CCnier and the radio room net in the third, and lhc diesel genctaiois are in the fourth isec figureone
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Original document.
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