Sounds like great scenario fodder for a Kobayashi Maru scenario.

 

Fire aboard Russian nuclear sub kills two

 

September 07 2006 at 09:53AM

IOL

 

Moscow - A fire broke out aboard a Russian nuclear submarine belonging to the Northern Fleet late on Wednesday, killing two of its crew, the Defence Ministry said.

 

The submarine was anchored north of the Rybachiy peninsula near the Finnish border when it caught fire, Interfax news agency reported, quoting navy sources. The agency said there was no threat of a radiation leak.

 

The submarine was now being towed to the port of Vidyayevo, a base for Russian submarines in the Barents Sea, Interfax said.

 

"There was a fire, we can confirm that it happened. Two people were killed," a Defence Ministry spokesman said. He said a fuller statement would be released later.

 

Interfax quoted a navy source as saying: "The fire was extinguished at midnight. It broke out in the electromechanical compartment. The device protecting the nuclear reactor was enacted. There is no radioactive contamination threat whatsoever."

 

Russia's navy has been dogged by accidents. The worst in recent years was when the Kursk submarine sank in the Barents Sea six years ago, killing all 118 people on board.

 

Last year, the British navy helped rescue the crew of a Russian navy mini-submarine that was stranded 600 feet down in the Pacific with dwindling air supplies.

 

"This incident shows once again that we are faced with a very serious question: should we have these reactors at sea at all?" said Vladimir Tchouprov, head of the energy unit at Greenpeace Russia.

 

Russian media said the submarine on which the fire broke out was called St Daniel of Moscow. It was not immediately known if the vessel has been carrying armaments.

 

It is a Viktor-3 class submarine which was built in 1988 and has a crew of 85, according to the website www.hazegray.org/worldnav/russia/submar.htm which lists the vessels in service in the world's navies.

 

Russian media reports said that in 1994 the Daniil Moskovsky sailed under the ice to the North Pole where it surfaced and planted the St Andrew's Flag, symbol of the Russian navy.

 

Western governments have been channelling aid to the Northern Fleet to help it safely dismantle decommissioned atomic submarines.

 

Many have been rusting for years in dock with their reactors still on board.

I can't imagine how low morale must be among Russian submariners.

 

Here's yet another blow to the service:

 

Missile Test from Russian Sub Fails