At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub

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At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub


By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) - More than 20 people were killed and another 21 injured in an accident aboard a Russian nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean, the navy said on Sunday, in the worst submarine disaster since the Kursk sank eight years ago.
A Russian naval spokesman said 208 people were aboard the submarine when an accident involving the activation of a fire extinguishing system occurred during sea trials. He said the nuclear reactor was intact and radiation levels were normal.
But the death toll makes it the worst mishap for the accident-prone Russian navy since the Kursk nuclear submarine sank in the Barents Sea in 2000 with the loss of all 118 sailors.
"More than 20 people were killed on a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Ocean during routine testing as a result of the unsanctioned functioning of the fire extinguishing systems," the navy spokesman, Igor Dygalo, said by telephone.
"The reactor section (of the submarine) is working properly," he said. "The radiation levels on the ship are normal."
Dygalo did not give the name or class of the submarine or specify where it was located. Some of those killed were from a shipbuilding company, he added. He said a Russian destroyer was taking the injured to the Far East coast.
President Dmitry Medvedev has been informed about the accident, the Kremlin press service said.
Former Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who had been president for just a few months at the time of the Kursk disaster, was criticized at home for his slow reaction to that incident.
Russia's navy has suffered a string of fatal accidents, despite sharp increases in funding and Kremlin attempts to use its largely Soviet-era fleet to project an image of strength abroad and at home.
SUMBARINE TESTING
Russia's navy said a Russian destroyer, the Admiral Tributs, was providing assistance and taking some of the injured crew from the submarine to port.
Dygalo did not say where the ships were but the Tributs is normally based at Vladivostok, Russia's main Far Eastern naval port. State-owned RIA news agency said it would take about 10 hours for the destroyer to reach the coast.
The agency quoted a source in the Amur Shipbuilding Enterprise as saying the accident occurred aboard the Nerpa, a Project 971 Shchuka-B attack submarine, known inside NATO as an Akula-class submarine.
The Nerpa -- which has been modernized in recent years -- embarked on trials on the open seas late last month, according to local media. Construction of the Nerpa was started in 1991 but funding dried up in the chaos of the 1990s.
RIA quoted a highly placed official in the Pacific Fleet as saying the accident happened in the bow of the submarine, which was making its way back to the coast.
In August 2005, seven Russian sailors were freed with help from a British rescue crew after three days trapped inside an AS-28 mini-submarine 600 feet down in the Pacific with dwindling air supplies.


Link
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSTRE4A738V20081109?sp=true
 
My sympathy for the families of the sailors who were killed, but I cannot say I'm surprised for the Russian military has always put pride over the safety and its always the crews who pay the price.

And worse for the Russian Military, the enlisted personnel know exactly how valueless their lives are considered by Moscow. (Did anyone see the the 'Rap' video of the Russian Lieutenant who sung about conditions on the barracks...the one who was sent to Siberia for dare criticizing the general Staff). I rest my case.

You couldn't pay me enough to be on a Russian sub, there are about a dozen ways to die on a sub, and none of them are quick or painless. I'd sooner take my chances on the ground.

Since 1950 they have officially lost 11 submarines due to accidents and their are constant rumors that this number is in fact higher because the Russian/Soviet fleet was too embarrassed to acknowledge.

Of course this doesn't include non-sinking accidents aboard Soviet/Russian subs which are too numerous to count.
 
There are few countries in the world where servicemen are held in high regard as they are in the US. Or even to the standards in the UK.
I've said it before, in South Korea if you are a serviceman and you are killed in the line of duty, no one will give a sh*t.
 
My sympathy for the families of the sailors who were killed, but I cannot say I'm surprised for the Russian military has always put pride over the safety and its always the crews who pay the price.

And worse for the Russian Military, the enlisted personnel know exactly how valueless their lives are considered by Moscow. (Did anyone see the the 'Rap' video of the Russian Lieutenant who sung about conditions on the barracks...the one who was sent to Siberia for dare criticizing the general Staff). I rest my case.

You couldn't pay me enough to be on a Russian sub, there are about a dozen ways to die on a sub, and none of them are quick or painless. I'd sooner take my chances on the ground.

Since 1950 they have officially lost 11 submarines due to accidents and their are constant rumors that this number is in fact higher because the Russian/Soviet fleet was too embarrassed to acknowledge.

Of course this doesn't include non-sinking accidents aboard Soviet/Russian subs which are too numerous to count.

+1

My prayers with the families of the lost. But the Soviets place a higher value on the machines then the people manning them. It's not the first time and it won't be the last time.
 
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