The unsurpassed Soviet underwater fireworks, or What the Behemoths did in the Barents Sea

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

A few days before the collapse of the huge Soviet state, a significant event took place in the Barents Sea: 16 ballistic missiles soared into the sky from the depths of the water one after another. This unique picture could only be observed by a few on board the patrol ship drifting in the deserted sea. So on August 8, 1991, it entered the glorious history of the Russian fleet as a day of unprecedented accomplishment. The Soviet elite sailors, after the most difficult preparation and a series of failures, made an underwater salvo launch of a full missile ammunition load of a strategic nuclear submarine. The record of domestic submariners remains unsurpassed to this day.

Soviet-American races and first starts

The very first submarine launch took place in the Soviet fleet in November 1960, when Captain Korobov, commander of the B-67 diesel missile submarine, fired a ballistic missile from under the waters of the White Sea. Then the possibility of rocket firing from a submerged submarine was recorded empirically. The greatest achievement of the submarine forces of that period was 8 missiles fired in the fall of 1969 from the K-140, a missile submarine under the command of Captain Beketov. As the ex-commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy, Admiral V. N. Chernavin, in the United States, submarine-launched missiles were considered the most reliable component of nuclear forces.

The USSR also understood this. The American record was represented by an underwater salvo of 4 ballistic missiles. It was noticeable that under the negotiating noise of the perestroika period on the limitations of strategic weapons, they got close to the nuclear submarines. The USSR Ministry of Defense strengthened proposals to get rid of submarine missile carriers. Domestic enthusiasts realized that they were obliged to relieve the situation, which was possible only with the demonstration of an error-free full-rocket launch from a submerged position. To defend the honor of the weapon was entrusted to the crew of the atomic "Novomoskovsk" under the command of Captain Sergei Yegorov. His mission was doubly difficult, as it was preceded by setbacks.

Failed teachings and oblivion

At the end of 1989, the Northern Fleet launched a secret exercise under the code name "Begemot" with the participation of SSBN K-84. The task was extremely difficult - the execution of an underwater salvo of 16 ballistic missiles in a row with the defeat of the intended target. Then a lot of high-ranking representatives arrived on the submarine, wishing to "participate" in such a significant event. There is no need to explain what awards and ranks promised the introduction to this case for the naval commanders. But the presence of the leader's constellation did not guarantee success at all, not to mention the fact that it rather caused unnecessary excitement in the ranks of the crew.

Be that as it may, the operation failed. An underwater rocket fuel leak occurred, followed by a fire. A sharp increase in pressure blew off the multi-ton cover of the mine, damaging the hull of the submarine. After a partial ejection of one missile, the boat surfaced in an emergency mode. The crew worked competently, and the fire was extinguished according to all instructions without casualties. The unsuccessful outcome of the experiment was classified, and they preferred not to remember the Behemoth.

Commander's feat and rear admiral's determination

Believing in the obligatory future success of his life's work, Egorov did not give up, preparing the team for a second underwater launch. Even a layman understands that such an operation requires super-coordinated actions of the crew. A missile salvo from under the water is much more difficult than the Macedonian firing. Egorov spent many months driving personnel on simulators, repeatedly going out to sea for working out. The commander set himself the task of creating a perfectly tuned mechanism from the crew members that will masterfully discharge the most powerful underwater rocket launcher.

This work became the most difficult commander's feat, in the achievement of which Yegorov acted as a kind of Olympian. In addition, the submariners went through a series of checks and commissions that biasedly and meticulously studied the readiness of the submarine for the Begemot-2. The last to arrive from Moscow was Rear Admiral Yu. Fedorov, who was faced with the unspoken task of "checking and preventing." But the latter, having made sure of the impeccable readiness of the crew, unexpectedly sent an honest conclusion to the General Headquarters: "I checked it and I admit it."

Untimely record as a farewell salute to a collapsed power

On August 6, 1991, the K-407 entered the Barents Sea. The submarine was accompanied by a patrol boat with a videographer on board, who captured what was happening. Half an hour before the scheduled start, the underwater communication with the surface ship that was recording the progress of the operation disappeared. The instruction "fire" without established two-way communication was prohibited. But the senior on board Rear Admiral Salnikov took full responsibility and ordered: "Shoot, commander!"

At 21:07 Moscow time, sixteen ballistic missiles took off from the depths of the sea on pillars of fire one by one and carried away to the target at the Kamchatka range. Without the slightest glitch. In a matter of minutes, from the brightest atomic fireworks and the menacing roar over the harsh sea, only a cloud of steam remained in the course of the underwater submarine. The operation accurately hit the second target - the successful flight of heavy intercontinental ballistic missiles was not without fear recorded by the American tracking stations.

Traditionally, the success of this level of experimentation is accompanied by a scattering of high government awards. That case was no exception: the commander of the cruiser was presented to the Hero, the senior assistant to the Lenin order, the mechanic was assigned the Red Banner. But a week later, the Soviet Union fell, and with it Soviet awards disappeared into history. As a result, the sailors got only the next stars on the shoulder straps. And then the real tests of the officer's essence began. The submariners had to rely on naked patriotism to save the missile fleet, and with it Russia. The submarine Novomoskovsk continued its glorious deeds. In 1997, a rocket was launched from the ship at the target from the North Pole, and in 1998, the next launched rocket launched an artificial Earth satellite into space.

The fate of another Soviet submarine was no less dramatic. The crew of the K-19 survived three catastrophes that became for the sailors of the Soviet Hiroshima.