Nine nuclear submarines have sunk, either by accident or scuttling. The
Nine nuclear submarines are known to have sunk: two U.S. Navy vessels, five in service to the Soviet navy, and two Russian boats. Three of these—USS Thresher, USS Scorpion, and the K-141 Kursk—were lost with all hands aboard.
The Russian Navy has confirmed it has decommissioned its nuclear-powered strategic submarine Dmitry Donskoy, which formed part of Moscow's formidable Cold War weapon system. There had been speculation for months about the fate of the submarine, which had been launched in 1980 and whose NATO reporting name was Typhoon.
The nuclear-powered Project 949A Antey (Oscar II class) submarine K-141 Kursk sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea. It was taking part in the first major Russian naval exercise in more than 10 years. All 118 personnel on board were killed.
Only a part of the submarine was recovered from its position 4.9 km (16,000 ft) below the surface, making this the deepest attempt to raise a ship. The cover story was that the salvage vessel was engaged in commercial manganese nodule mining.
Decommissioning and fate
On 19 April 1990 the submarine was decommissioned, and was transferred in 1994 to the naval repair yard at Polyarny. In March 2002, she was towed to the Nerpa Shipyard, Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk, to be scrapped.
The wrecked submarine is on the floor of the Barents Sea, about 1.7 km (1 mile) deep, with her nuclear reactor and two nuclear warhead-armed torpedoes still on board.
1. How long did Kursk crew survive? According to experts, 23 crew members took shelter in the 9th compartment and survived for six to eight hours. However, when oxygen levels dropped, they tried to change a potassium superoxide chemical oxygen cartridge, but it fell into the oily waters and burst.
In the first sixty years after the end of World War II, no one was able to find any of the 52 American submarines lost during the War whose exact locations were not already known. In most cases, the submarines were lost with all hands, and the exact locations of their sinkings were lost to history.
In 2000, one of the worst peacetime submarine accidents ever took place off the coast of Russia. A huge explosion sank the giant nuclear-powered submarine Kursk, killing most of its crew and stranding nearly two dozen survivors hundreds of feet underwater.
But the same cannot be said of the vessels Russia hides below the surface of the world's oceans and seas. Unlike the more visible surface ships, Russia's submarines are widely considered some of the best in the world.
Yasen-class is the Navy's newest generation multi-purpose submarine. With an estimated cost of $1,5 billion and a construction period of nearly 20 years, the first vessel of the class, the «Severodvinsk» was approved for the Northern fleet earlier this year.
The US nuclear submarine fleet was mostly. designed during the Cold War, with many active submarines being over 30 years old. They're still in working order, and many will likely be in service. for at least 42 years before being replaced.
Submarines may carry nuclear fuel for up to 30 years of operation. The only resource that limits the time underwater is the food supply for the crew and maintenance of the vessel.
Data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies shows that the US has by far the largest nuclear-powered fleet worldwide.
The tremendous accomplishments of American submarines were achieved at the expense of 52 subs with 374 officers and 3,131 enlisted volunteers lost during combat against Japan; Japan lost 128 submarines during the Second World War in Pacific waters.
Germany built 1,162 U-boats during World War II and 785 were destroyed by the end of the war. The remaining 377 U-boats were surrendered (or scuttled by the Germans). In contrast, U-boats sank about 3,000 Allied ships (merchant ships and warships).
A nuclear submarine can dive to a depth of about 300m. This one is larger than the research vessel Atlantis and has a crew of 134. The average depth of the Caribbean Sea is 2,200 meters, or about 1.3 miles. The average depth of the world's oceans is 3,790 meters, or 12,400 feet, or 2 1⁄3 miles.
The revelation that 23 of the Kursk's 118 crewmen survived the sinking, at least for a while, set off a sensation and demolished assurances by senior military officials that the Kursk's entire crew most likely had perished within minutes of the accident.
Typhoon, one of the many manifestations of Soviet gigantomania, eventually made history. Today, the world's largest submarine is the BS-329 Belgorod, a special purpose unit, a carrier of 2M39 Poseidon nuclear torpedoes.
Two other sailors, flown to Leningrad--now St. Petersburg--for treatment, also died within a week and were buried there. Others survived grueling treatments in Moscow and Leningrad hospitals. The K-19 was gutted.
What is the crush depth of a ww2 submarine? World War II German U-boats generally had collapse depths in the range of 200 to 280 metres (660 to 920 feet).
The deepest depth a submarine has gone is 10,925 meters (35,843 feet) by the Deepsea Challenger in 2012.