A memorial service in Kronstadt, Russia, on Thursday for the sailors killed in a fire on a military submersible in the Barents Sea.
Credit Anton Vaganov/Reuters
By Ivan Nechepurenko
July 4, 2019
MOSCOW — The Russian military submersible that suffered a deadly fire in the Arctic has a nuclear-powered engine, President Vladimir V. Putin revealed on Thursday, but his defense minister said the power unit was not seriously affected by the accident.
The fire erupted on Monday aboard what Russian officials described as a deep-sea research vessel in the Barents Sea, killing 14 Russian Navy officers. The vessel was able to return to port.
Speaking before reporters in the Kremlin on Thursday, Mr. Putin asked Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu, “What about the nuclear power unit?” according to a transcript released by the government.
The unit “has been sealed off and all personnel have been removed,” Mr. Shoigu replied. The crew, he said, took “the necessary measures to save the unit, which is in working order. This means we can repair the submersible quickly.”
The Defense Ministry did not acknowledge the incident until the day after it occurred, prompting fears that significant details had been withheld.
But the government of Norway, which also borders the sea, has said it has not detected any radiation leak in the region.
Russia has not revealed the name of the submersible or the number of people it carried, or said much about its mission. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told journalists on Wednesday that this information was a state secret.
Mr. Shoigu said that the vessel had been studying the seabed of the Barents Sea. In recent years, Russia has asserted territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean, far beyond its shores.
“We have pinpointed the main reason for the tragedy: a fire in the battery compartment that spread out,” he said.
The incident evoked memories of the disaster of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in 2000, killing 118 sailors — a searing tragedy for the navy that posed an early test for Mr. Putin’s leadership. In that case, too, the navy was slow in releasing details.
The officers who died in this week’s accident had “taken part in many difficult underwater expeditions to study the Arctic, reaching maximum depths,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Speaking on Wednesday in the port city of Severomorsk, where the submersible is based, Mr. Shoigu said that the 14 officers had fought bravely to contain the fire before succumbing to smoke inhalation. They rescued one civilian from the affected part of the vessel and then sealed it off, protecting the rest of the ship.
“They sacrificed their lives in order to to fulfill their task: They destroyed the fire’s source, rescued their comrades and the deep-sea vessel,” Mr. Shoigu said in a statement broadcast by Russian TV.
Mr. Putin ordered high military honors for the dead officers.
Follow Ivan Nechepurenko on Twitter: @INechepurenko.
By Ivan Nechepurenko
July 4, 2019
MOSCOW — The Russian military submersible that suffered a deadly fire in the Arctic has a nuclear-powered engine, President Vladimir V. Putin revealed on Thursday, but his defense minister said the power unit was not seriously affected by the accident.
The fire erupted on Monday aboard what Russian officials described as a deep-sea research vessel in the Barents Sea, killing 14 Russian Navy officers. The vessel was able to return to port.
Speaking before reporters in the Kremlin on Thursday, Mr. Putin asked Defense Minister Sergei K. Shoigu, “What about the nuclear power unit?” according to a transcript released by the government.
The unit “has been sealed off and all personnel have been removed,” Mr. Shoigu replied. The crew, he said, took “the necessary measures to save the unit, which is in working order. This means we can repair the submersible quickly.”
The Defense Ministry did not acknowledge the incident until the day after it occurred, prompting fears that significant details had been withheld.
But the government of Norway, which also borders the sea, has said it has not detected any radiation leak in the region.
Russia has not revealed the name of the submersible or the number of people it carried, or said much about its mission. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov told journalists on Wednesday that this information was a state secret.
Mr. Shoigu said that the vessel had been studying the seabed of the Barents Sea. In recent years, Russia has asserted territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean, far beyond its shores.
“We have pinpointed the main reason for the tragedy: a fire in the battery compartment that spread out,” he said.
The incident evoked memories of the disaster of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in 2000, killing 118 sailors — a searing tragedy for the navy that posed an early test for Mr. Putin’s leadership. In that case, too, the navy was slow in releasing details.
The officers who died in this week’s accident had “taken part in many difficult underwater expeditions to study the Arctic, reaching maximum depths,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Speaking on Wednesday in the port city of Severomorsk, where the submersible is based, Mr. Shoigu said that the 14 officers had fought bravely to contain the fire before succumbing to smoke inhalation. They rescued one civilian from the affected part of the vessel and then sealed it off, protecting the rest of the ship.
“They sacrificed their lives in order to to fulfill their task: They destroyed the fire’s source, rescued their comrades and the deep-sea vessel,” Mr. Shoigu said in a statement broadcast by Russian TV.
Mr. Putin ordered high military honors for the dead officers.
Follow Ivan Nechepurenko on Twitter: @INechepurenko.
The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns - YouTube PHIL OCHS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKaNxA-V3_E
Lyrics
Sailors climb the tree, up the terrible tree
Where are my shipmates have they sunk beneath the sea?
I do not know much, but I know this cannot be
It isn't really, it isn't really,
Tell me it isn't really.
Sounding bell is diving down the water green
Not a trace, not a toothbrush, not a cigarette was seen
Bubble ball is rising from a whisper or a scream
But I'm not screaming, no I'm not screaming,
Tell me I'm not screaming.
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sail the sea
It's all the same.
Captain my dear Captain we're staying down so long
I have been a good man, I've done nobody wrong
Have we left our ladies for the lyrics of a song?
That I'm not singing, I'm not singing
Tell me I'm not singing
The schooner ship is sliding across the kitchen sink
My son and my daughter they won't know what to think
The crew has turned to voting and the officers to drink
But I'm not drinking, no I'm not drinking
Tell me I'm not drinking
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sail the sea
It's all the same.
The radio is begging them to come back to the shore
All will be forgiven, it'll be just like before
All you've ever wanted will be waiting by your door
We will forgive you, we will forgive you
Tell me we will forgive you
But no one gives an answer not even one goodbye
Oh, the silence of their sinking is all that they reply
Some have chosen to decay and other chose to die
But I'm not dying, no I'm not dying
Tell me I'm not dying
Captain will not say how long we must remain
The phantom ship forever sail the sea
It's all the same.
Lyrics
In Portsmouth town on the eastern shore
Where many a fine ship was born.
The Thresher was built
And the Thresher was launched
And the crew of the Thresher was sworn.
She was shaped like a tear
She was built like a shark
She was made to run fast and free.
And the builders shook their hands
And the builders shared their wine,
And thought that they had mastered the sea.
Yes, she'll always run silent
And she'll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
Though the waves will never weep
They'll never weep.
And they marvelled at her speed
marvelled at her depth
marvelled at her deadly design.
And they sailed to every land
And they sailed to every port
Just to see what faults they could find.
Then they put her on the land
For nine months to stand
And they worked on her from stem to stern.
But they could never see
It was their coffin to be
For the sea was waiting for their return.
Where many a fine ship was born.
The Thresher was built
And the Thresher was launched
And the crew of the Thresher was sworn.
She was shaped like a tear
She was built like a shark
She was made to run fast and free.
And the builders shook their hands
And the builders shared their wine,
And thought that they had mastered the sea.
Yes, she'll always run silent
And she'll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
Though the waves will never weep
They'll never weep.
And they marvelled at her speed
marvelled at her depth
marvelled at her deadly design.
And they sailed to every land
And they sailed to every port
Just to see what faults they could find.
Then they put her on the land
For nine months to stand
And they worked on her from stem to stern.
But they could never see
It was their coffin to be
For the sea was waiting for their return.
Yes, she'll always run silent
And she'll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
And the waves will never weep
They'll never weep.
And she'll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
And the waves will never weep
They'll never weep.
On a cold Wednesday morn
They put her her out to sea
When the waves they were nine feet high.
And they dove beneath the waves
And they dove to their graves
And they never said a last goodbye.
And its deeper and deeper
And deeper they dove
Just to see what their ship could stand.
But the hull gave a moan
And the hull gave a groan
And they plunged to the deepest darkest sand.
They put her her out to sea
When the waves they were nine feet high.
And they dove beneath the waves
And they dove to their graves
And they never said a last goodbye.
And its deeper and deeper
And deeper they dove
Just to see what their ship could stand.
But the hull gave a moan
And the hull gave a groan
And they plunged to the deepest darkest sand.
Now she lies in the depths
Of the darkened ocean floor
Covered by the waters cold and still.
Oh can't you see the wrong
She was a death ship all along
Died before she had a chance to kill.
Of the darkened ocean floor
Covered by the waters cold and still.
Oh can't you see the wrong
She was a death ship all along
Died before she had a chance to kill.
And she´ll never run silent,
And she´ll never run deep,
For the ocean had no pity
And the waves, they never weep,
They never weep.
And she´ll never run deep,
For the ocean had no pity
And the waves, they never weep,
They never weep.
And it's 8000 fathoms of the water above
And over 100 men below
And sealed in their tomb
Is the cause of their doom
That only the sea will ever know
And over 100 men below
And sealed in their tomb
Is the cause of their doom
That only the sea will ever know
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