One of Russia's biggest nuclear submarines has caught fire while docked but no radiation leak has been reported.

 

The 11,740-tonne vessel was undergoing repairs in the northern Murmansk region when the blaze broke out, defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

 

Massive Blaze On Russian Nuclear Submarine

Got intel from a very reliable source - the fire took place on a Delta IV SSBN. Sccafolding caught fire, which caused the sound-dampening anecoic tile to catch fire. Man, that's gotta suck!

 

FWFS,

 

Greg Emerson

DM1(SW), USN-Retired

Got intel from a very reliable source - the fire took place on a Delta IV SSBN. Sccafolding caught fire, which caused the sound-dampening anecoic tile to catch fire. Man, that's gotta suck!

FWFS,

Greg Emerson

DM1(SW), USN-Retired

 

That much was already reported by Russian news agency RIA Novosti here.

Here's a current update of the ongoing saga of the Delta IV SSBN Fire ...

 

Submarine’s Torpedo Compartment Was On Fire (BARENTS OBSERVER (NORWAY) 03 JAN 12)

 

Revealing photos of the nuclear powered submarine “Yekaterinburg” from before and during last week’s fire clearly indicate that the flames come from inside the torpedo-compartment.

A photo taken of “Yekaterinburg” in the floating dock in Roslyakova before the fire started on December 29th shows a large cut in the hull on the port side of the submarine. The hull is near the front bow, the part where the torpedo compartment is located. A second photo, posted anonymously on blogger51, shows that the massive flames are coming out from the same cut in the hull. Blogger51 is a portal in Murmansk well known for posting information you normally don’t find in other Russian media. Barents Observer has got permission from Blogger51 to re-post the images.

A third photo, taken after the fire was finally extinguished after 20 hours, shows that not much of the acoustic rubber coating on the surface of the submarine hull is damaged by the fire. The images contradict earlier statements that the fire stroked the outer hull.

Northern fleet spokesman Capt. 1st rank Vadim Serga told RIA Novosti that the wooden scaffolding around the submarine caught fire, which spread to the submarine’s outer hull.

The blogger that has posted the images writes: …this was shocking, I earlier incorrectly suggested that the markings on the front end came from an external fire, but here it is clear that the fairing was damaged from inside. Concerning the rubber coating, on the junction on the right side are not as many burned fragments of rubber coating, as dismantled ones. The fire and the reasons for the fire are a hot topic in social media like Facebook, Vkontakte and Twitter in the Murmansk region.

The question many ask is; why was there a large cut in the hull of the submarine’s torpedo compartment? What combustible material inside the hull made such large flames over such long period and why was it so difficult to extinguish the fire?

Submarine experts Barents Observer has showed the photos to, say the investigators appointed to look into the cause of the fire have many good questions to answers. As Barents Observer reported on Monday, President Dmitri Medvedev has instructed Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to conduct a thorough investigation to find good answers to what happened with “Yekaterinburg” last Thursday.

 

FWFS,

 

Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired

Renton, WA, USA

The hole in the hull exposes the sonar array, but it doesn't look like it was cut cleanly, as one might expect from ongoing maintenance on the boat. It may have been removed as a result of damage sustained by an external fire.

 

It is impossible to tell from the second photo, showing the actual fire, whether the blaze is coming from inside the boat or is just burning of the anechoic tiles on the outside of the hull.

 

Btw, Greg, please post links to the source of any information gathered from external sites.

Gotcha on the link! Here ou go: http://www.barentsobserver.com/submarines-...3663-58932.html

 

FWFS,

Greg

Undersea Warfare continues to track on the Russian Delta IV fire:

 

Nuclear submarine fire mystery deepens

The ‘Yekaterinburg’ torpedo compartment blaze could have had catastrophic consequences even though it did not affect the reactor. Environmental organisation Bellona reported the damaged Delta-IV class sub sailed from the Roslyakovo dry dock to Severodvinsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast via the Okol’naya base. Equipment at Okol’naya includes cranes to remove ballistic missiles.

The Russian Defence Ministry refused to confirm the Okol’naya route, maintaining there was no weaponry about ‘Yekaterinburg’.

Nevertheless, Bellona’s Alexander Nikitin, a former Russian submarine captain, claimed leaving any such arsenals aboard, including Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) or nuclear warheads, is common for short-term repairs.

The 18,200-ton vessel can carry up to 16 ICBMs, each with four warheads, as well as 12 torpedoes. According to RT, these missiles were removed beforehand.

Meanwhile, Vice-Admiral Einar Skorgen, former commander of defence for northern Norway, said there was never any danger the fire would damage the reactor, which had been shut down.

“As far as I know, there are two important things that are located forward in the submarine, the torpedo tubes pass through the section and the sensors are [also] located there,” he told NRK.

To damage the reactor, the fire “would have to have occurred on the inside of the pressure-proof hull, but there is little chance that it might have happened.”

He alleged the Russians withheld information about the fire “to hide they had made another mistake.” The 'Yekaterinburg' blaze took 20-hours to extinguish. It is estimated nine people were injured.

 

One has to wonder what was cooking-off inside of there. 20-hours is a loonnngggg time to fight a fire.

 

FWFS,

 

Greg Emerson, DM1(SW), USN-Retired

Renton, WA, USA

Paint me skeptical, but I have yet to see evidence that suggests anything more than shoddy safety standards and firefighting capabilities. I think if there was a "cook off" of any torpedoes the damage to the forward section of the boat - even just to the sonar array we see exposed in some of the pictures - would have been much more serious.

You're right Brad, I was probabl hasty with saying, "cooking-off," which usually applies to ordinance/weapons burning up and exploding. When I said, "cooking-off," I meant to say, "Holy smokes now that a fire!" My apologies if I mislead anyone.

At this point I'm going to put on m conspiracy-thinking, tinfoil hat briefly ... Something had to be in there (other than lagging, systems, wiring, etc.) to produce flames like that. I have to give the Russkie squids a little credit - they are probably trained on DC like other navies sailors (mabe not as good). Even inept firefighters should be able to put out a scafolding fire relativel quickly (but I know what your thinking - we're talking about the Russian here).

I am assuming (and I remeber we are talking about the Russian) all weapons were off-loaded prior to drydocking. That's the way the USN does things. I think a high probability cause may be the Russian equivalant of torpedo (OTTO) fuel storage. If there is a storage tank for OTTO fule up forward and it wasn't purged after being pumped out, the fumes could have started a fire of that magnitude. I know US OTTO fuel is some particularly nasty stuff. That Russian version has to be as bad (or worse).

That's my analysis.

 

FWFS,

Greg

At this point I'm going to put on m conspiracy-thinking, tinfoil hat briefly ... Something had to be in there (other than lagging, systems, wiring, etc.) to produce flames like that. I have to give the Russkie squids a little credit - they are probably trained on DC like other navies sailors (mabe not as good). Even inept firefighters should be able to put out a scafolding fire relativel quickly (but I know what your thinking - we're talking about the Russian here).

 

I'm thinking poorly paid (i.e. motivated) sailors (and/or civvy yard workers?) who don't get regular training in firefighting.

 

I am assuming (and I remeber we are talking about the Russian) all weapons were off-loaded prior to drydocking. That's the way the USN does things. I think a high probability cause may be the Russian equivalant of torpedo (OTTO) fuel storage. If there is a storage tank for OTTO fule up forward and it wasn't purged after being pumped out, the fumes could have started a fire of that magnitude. I know US OTTO fuel is some particularly nasty stuff. That Russian version has to be as bad (or worse). That's my analysis.

 

I think they've moved on from the HTP to a monopropellant like OTTO II, but yeah, generally nasty stuff. Some kind of chemical fire is certainly possible. The catalyst or chemical may have been something other than inside the boat?

Good point! Most average squids (especially Russian variants) probably don't realize that somethings don't react well with others.

 

Greg

From RIA Novosti

 

[excerpt]

 

16/1/2012 21:28

Repair, modernization of fire-damaged sub may cost $30 mln

MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti)

 

The cost to repair and modernize the Yekaterinburg, a Russian nuclear submarine damaged by fire late last December, could total 900 million rubles ($30 million), a representative of United Shipbuilding Corporation said on Monday.

From Russian Military Reform blog

 

[excerpt]

 

More details on the Ekaterinburg fire

February 13, 2012 by Dmitry Gorenburg

 

In the last week, there have been two very interesting reports with additional information on the fire that seriously damaged the Ekaterinburg strategic nuclear submarine back in December. All the reports seem to agree that the submarine’s nuclear missiles and torpedoes had not been offloaded prior to the start of the repair, which meant that there had been a serious risk of a torpedo explosion while the fire burned.

I have seen references to a claim that the New START treaty requires that missiles be offloaded prior to repair of the sub.

 

I doubt that the treaty is quite as straight forward as that, but if anyone can find the specific provision(s), please holler.

The latest SITREP has a good article on this and how bad it could have been.

 

They're talking 3 to 4 years to repair this.