SUBMISS/SUBSUNK

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The following is a list of Russian Nuclear Powered and/or armed submarines which, for a variety of reasons, were lost at sea. The list comes from Wikipedia.

 K-8 was a November-class submarine of the Soviet Northern
Fleet that sank
in the Bay of Biscay with its
nuclear weapons on board on April 12, 1970. A fire on April 8 had disabled the
submarine and it was being towed in rough seas. Fifty-two crewmen were killed
attempting the salvage of the boat
when it sank.

K-141 Kursk (full Russian name
Атомная Подводная Лодка «Курск» (АПЛ «Курск»), Atomnaya Podvodnaya Lodka "Kursk" (APL
"Kursk"), meaning "Nuclear-powered submarine Kursk") was an Oscar-II class
nuclear-powered cruise-missile submarine of the Russian Navy which was lost with all
hands when it
sank in the Barents Sea on 12
August 2000. It was a Project 949A Антей (Antey, Antaeus; NATO reporting name "Oscar
II") submarine.

K-219 was a
Project 667A Navaga-class ballistic missile submarine (NATO reporting name
"Yankee I") of the Soviet Navy. She carried 16 (later 15) SS-N-6
liquid-fuel missiles powered by UDMH with IRFNA, equipped with an estimated 34
nuclear warheads.K-219 was
involved in what has become one of the most controversial submarine incidents
during the Cold War.

On Friday 3 October 1986, while on an
otherwise routine Cold War nuclear
deterrence patrol in the North Atlantic 680 miles (1,090 km) northeast of Bermuda, the 15-year-old K-219 suffered an explosion and fire in a missile
tube. The seal in a missile hatch cover failed, allowing saltwater to leak into
the missile tube and react with residue from the missile's liquid fuel. Though
there was no official announcement, a published source (citing no sources) said
the Soviet Union claimed that the leak was caused by a collision with the submarine USS Augusta. Augusta was certainly operating in proximity,
but both the United States Navy^[2] and the
commander of K-219, Captain Second Rank Igor Britanov, deny that a collision took place.^[3] K-219 had previously experienced a similar casualty;
one of her missile tubes was already disabled and welded shut, having been
permanently sealed after an explosion caused by reaction between seawater
leaking into the silo and missile fuel residue.

 K-278 Komsomolets was the
only Project 685 Plavnik (Плавник, meaning "fin", also known by its NATO reporting name of
"Mike"-class) nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Soviet Navy. On 4 August 1984 K-278 reached a record submergence depth of 1,020
metres (3,350 feet) in the Norwegian Sea.^[1] The boat sank in 1989 and is
currently resting on the floor of the Barents Sea, one mile deep, with its nuclear reactor and two
nuclear warheads still on board.
This list is of Nuclear submarines only. From the end of WWII, from memory, there at least 15 other submarines lost at sea.
In another thead, I asked if it could be possible for a Red October scenario to have taken place during the Cold War years. The consensus at the time was that it could not have.
There have been a number of incidents when, Russian submarines in particular, have suffered major mechanical problems at sea and have surfaced to await assistance. In several cases, it is believed that US Navy submarines, which just happened to be in the area have also surfaced to offer assistance, which was allegedly rejected.
One particular occurance remains somewhat of a mystery. That of K-141 Kursk.
Could the Kursk, or one of it's non-nuclear sister ships, have been rescued by USS Navy or allied vessels?
Bearing in mind the fact that Russia has remained very secretive about the loss of it's submarines, I suggest that one in fact could have either been rescued and/or the crew defected. Of course Russia would never admit it if it did happen.
What do you think folks?
Impossible?
Improbable?
Just possible?
Highly likely

Edited by toyomotor - 24 Mar 2017 at 23:10