In September of 2021, a Russian expedition searching for radioactive waste pinpointed
the exact location of the reactor compartment of the troubled Soviet submarine K-19,
60 years after she was deliberately thrown overboard in the Kara Sea.
K-19 was Moscow’s first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine and was launched in 1959 as
the Russian's answer to the USS Nautilus. However, her production and testing were
so rushed that even her captain did not believe she was fit for combat.
Two years later, during her first ever mission in the North Atlantic Sea,
K-19's nuclear compartment suffered a malfunction. Already considered one of the unluckiest vessels
to ever serve any nation and without a backup coolant system while hundreds of feet underwater,
Russia's mighty vessel was now on the verge of turning into a nuclear bomb…
World War 3
In the spring of 1961, the Soviet K-19 nuclear submarine was ordered to conduct
exercises in the North Atlantic, near the southern tip of Greenland, and the
crew was thrilled to take the helm and serve the Motherland on her first official mission.
On July 4, while in the middle of a maneuver, the submarine suffered a malfunction when her
previously damaged coolant pipe burst. As the cooling system failed and liquid
leaked into the reactor, the temperature within the nuclear core alarmingly rose.
Because the submarine had been launched so quickly into her first mission,
she was not fitted with a backup system. Her reactor was then shut down,
but it continued to heat up, reaching a temperature of 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit.
Unless urgent measures were taken, the nuclear reactor would explode,
causing more extensive damage than the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
And while a reactor meltdown inside a submarine is already a significant threat for her crew,
K-19 held more importance than usual. As she was operating near one of the NATO bases in
the Atlantic Ocean, an explosion, however accidental, could lead the United States
and the Allies to believe the Soviet Union was attempting to start a full-blown nuclear war.
Moreover, there was no way of contacting their superiors for advice on the situation,
as the long-range radio system also broke.
The fate of the entire world now rested on Captain First Rank Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev,
who, while utterly overwhelmed, was still determined to do something.
Make Do
Captain Zateyev’s first order of business was to abort the mission
and direct the submarine south in hopes of encountering a friendly submarine in
the vicinity. And with no coolant system to stop the submarine's nuclear reactor from overheating,
he asked for volunteers to break into the reactor compartment and fix the leak.
Lacking sufficient protection gear and with only a few naval raincoats and gas masks,
the entire crew knew that whoever volunteered for the task would not come back.
Still, 22 brave sailors raised their hands.
During the crew's opening of the sealed reactor room,
radioactive steam was released and sucked up by the ship's ventilation system,
putting everyone at risk of radiation poisoning. The volunteers had no time to lose.
After Zateyev organized the sailors into several teams of three men, he ordered the engineers to
head directly into the reactor room and create a makeshift cooling system, cutting one of the
valves on the reactor and connecting it to the drinking water supply on board.
The teams would run into the compartment, work for
only five to ten minutes and then run out to reduce the radiation exposure to a minimum.
Racing against the clock, the volunteers
opened the compartment’s door and headed right into nuclear gasses.
Russia’s First Nuclear Submarine
In 1957, Russia launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit,
putting the Soviet Union ahead of the United States in the space race. Still,
the Soviets were behind in the nuclear-powered arms race, particularly under the water.
To catch up, the Soviet Union began developing its first
ballistic missile-equipped nuclear submarine in 1958.
K-19 was the first generation of Soviet nuclear submarines equipped with three
nuclear ballistic missiles, each with ranges of 400 miles and thus capable
of delivering severe blows to the United States coastline.
The K-19 submarine, capable of operating at a maximum depth of 490 feet underwater,
was completed on November 12, 1960. And while she was undoubtedly a major technological advance for
the Soviets, the construction was incredibly rushed, as the Russians were determined to
build a nuclear submarine fleet that would rival the United States as soon as possible.
Bad Omens
The frantic pace in the development of the K-19 submarine led to sloppiness and shortcuts,
and the quality of workmanship was compromised to speed up the launching.
In 1959, two accidental explosions and poisoning mishaps caused eight casualties.
During construction, as the builders hurried to finish the project, a welder let hot
solder drip onto a coolant pipe that led the substance into the reactor core. As a result,
the pipe suffered a microscopic crack that went unnoticed. It would later prove disastrous.
As the K-19's mechanics complained about the proceedings, the top brass
told them that the reactor was already too complex to do anything more about it.
After the submarine was deemed seaworthy in 1959, the Soviet Navy held a christening
ceremony to celebrate the nation’s newest technological achievement.
Going against naval tradition, a woman was chosen to break a champagne bottle
against the vessel before she launched. However, as the lady
swung the bottle against the submarine's stern, the champagne bounced off unbroken.
For the superstitious sailors,
this bad omen was one of the significant clues that hinted at a troubled future.
The Most Elite Crew
The nuclear reactor aboard the submarine was improperly operated at first,
which led to the mishandling of one of the control rods and its subsequent bending.
This was caused chiefly by confusion and miscommunication among the crew.
The ensuing repairs delayed the submarine's first mission, and some of the crewmembers
involved in the incident, including the ship's captain, were demoted.
As the K-19 crew was being drawn up once again, the comrade chosen to command
the Soviet Union's latest technological marvel was Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev.
An ambitious and capable officer, Zateyev received an early promotion
to captain during his defense of the Soviet Union in World War 2.
Still, even Captain Zateyev believed that the production and testing of the submarine
were extremely rushed and felt that the submarine fleet was not fit for combat,
voicing his opinion several times to no avail.
Despite K-19's questionable quality, the ship was in the global spotlight due to the arms race.
And with the eyes of the entire world placed on Russia, several high-ranking officials decided
to ignore all the problems. The submarine was then commissioned on April 30, 1961.
The 139-sailor crew of the most advanced Russian submarine of the era had mostly served on diesel
submarines and were now part of one of the most elite naval teams in the entire Soviet Union.
In addition, the submarine also hosted missile men, reactor officers, torpedo men,
doctors, cooks, stewards, and several observing officers.
The Escape
As the volunteers stumbled out of the nuclear reactor room on July 4, 1961,
just minutes after entering, it became clear that the exposure was too much for a human to handle.
Thankfully, the team's provisional cooling system was working.
Soon, a United States Navy destroyer picked up the K-19's short-range distress call.
The American ship began to shadow the submarine and even offered to help, however,
Zatayev was afraid he would be deemed a traitor back in the Motherland and refused.
Despite the captain not wanting the Americans
to get a hold of the Soviet's first ever nuclear submarine,
his crew was becoming anxious as time dragged on, and Zatayev was running out of options.
Luckily, an S-270 Russian vessel appeared on the horizon at the last minute.
The crew was later evacuated to the diesel-powered submarine,
and K-19 was towed back to base on the Kola Peninsula.
Nevertheless, the engineering team had been significantly exposed to radiation doses in the
form of noxious gas and steam while installing the makeshift device. And while a complete disaster
was averted by the brave volunteers that saved K-19, it cost them their lives within two years.
A Hiroshima Submarine
K-19 was back in service a few months after the
incident, but the Soviet Navy dumped the radioactive compartment into the Kara Sea.
Still, bad luck would follow the submarine wherever she went.
In November of 1969, K-19 was involved in a collision with
the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea and suffered heavy damage.
Three years later, a fire resulted in 32 casualties, and in 1972,
the submarine secured her reputation as a cursed ship, earning the nickname Hiroshima.
Then, in 1990, with her bad luck mounting and with Russia crumbling into pieces,
Hiroshima was finally decommissioned.
Before the fall of the Soviet Union, K-19's fate was a closely guarded secret, but Western
intelligence was still aware of many rumors. The Soviet crewmembers had been sworn to secrecy,
and they were expected to lie to doctors in routine checkups even decades later.
Finally, a year after the submarine's decommissioning, the Russian newspaper
Pravda confirmed that radiation had taken the lives of many members of the submarine’s crew,
publishing the story of the brave men that fought for their nation until their very last breath.
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