Submarine nuclear power plants: how many nuclear warheads have been lost in the oceans?

The cases of “Broken arrow”, that is, of atomic warheads lost mainly due to air accidents or malfunctions of strategic missiles. Yet there are many nuclear warheads scattered in the oceans, sunk with attack submarines or sunk strategic missile launchers, often without a trace and with an unspecified location. These are particularly dangerous warheads also because, over time, brackish water can corrode the warheads and lead to the dispersion of radioactivity or extremely toxic substances such as plutonium. Yet these cases are often ignored by the general public.

Here is a brief collection of the most significant incidents in which submarine atomic warheads were dispersed.

• USS Scorpion : In the late 1960s, the SSN-589 USS Scorpion, a Skipjack-class nuclear submarine, was in service in the Mediterranean Sea. In service with the 6th Fleet until May of that year, it then headed west to reach the port of Norfolk, Virginia on May 16.The USS Scorpion was then tasked with observing Soviet naval activity in the Atlantic in the vicinity. of the Azores. Once these operations were completed, the Scorpion prepared to return to Naval Station Norfolk, where it was due to arrive on May 20, but never succeeded. At the time it had a crew of 99 and two nuclear warhead torpedoes, in addition to its nuclear propulsion systems.

  For a period of time between 20 and 21 May, the Scorpion attempted to send radio signals to the Naval Station of Rota, Spain, but only managed to reach a Navy communication station in Nea Makri, Greece, which attempted to forward the messages to the United States. Six days later the ship was officially declared missing and a search and rescue mission was launched. The wreck was found at 3,300 meters deep, approximately 320 nautical miles (592 km) south of the Azores. No survivors were found and presumably the ship still had its nuclear-armed torpedoes aboard. The cause of the sinking was never understood.

• K129 : On April 11, 1968, the Soviet diesel-powered K-129 submarine was maneuvering in the Pacific Ocean. On board were three nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, as well as several nuclear-armed torpedoes, and its crew of ninety-eight. For some unknown reason, the submarine had serious technical problems and disappeared, presumably sinking with its crew and its cargo in the depths of the ocean. The Soviet Union lacked the technology to attempt recovery and left the submarine to its fate. However, the sunken submarine offered the United States a privileged opportunity to try and gather some important information about the Cold War.

  The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) believed it could attempt to recover part or all of the submarine, which was at a depth of approximately 3 miles (4.82 km). To this end, a custom ship was commissioned, the Hughes Glomar Explorer, built under the code name of “Azorian Project”. Disguised as an ocean-going mining ship, the ship was dispatched to find the wreck and retrieve what it could. Apparently, parts of the submarine were successfully recovered, but it is unclear whether all nuclear weapons were also recovered from the sea floor. nuclear warheads and torpedoes may still be there.

• The November : On April 12, 1970, a Soviet type 627 November-class nuclear submarine was crossing the Bay of Biscay, a waterway notoriously dangerous for submarines. The K-8 submarine, powered by two nuclear reactors and equipped with a payload of four nuclear-warhead torpedoes, entered active service in the late 1960s. It was being maneuvered as part of a large Soviet naval exercise aimed at showing the power of the Soviet Navy when, suddenly, the K-8 was hit by two uncontrollable fires. This caused the two reactors to shut down, forcing the submarine to emerge. A rescue attempt was made, but the combination of bad weather and loss of power made the mission too difficult. Tragically, the K-8 sank with forty crew members trapped inside, as well as its powerful payload. To this day, its nuclear torpedoes still remain inside it on the seabed.
• The K-219: In the mid-1980s, a Soviet Navaga-class “Yankee 1” nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine was on patrol several hundred miles east of Bermuda. Called K-219, on board were the ship's two nuclear reactors and 16 ballistic missiles, each armed with two nuclear warheads. In addition, of course, to its crew of about 120 people. K-219 was 15 at the time and engaged in a regular Cold War nuclear deterrence patrol in the Atlantic. Everything seemed to be fine until, for unknown reasons, a massive explosion and fire broke out in one of its missile tubes. Subsequent investigations found that the probable cause was a failure in the gasket of one of the missile tubes. This allowed the water to penetrate, breaking the missile's fuel tanks, eventually allowing it to burn and sink the submarine. The crew of the submarine put it in a state of "nuclear safety" and made it resurface using only battery power. Later, a Russian cargo ship arrived to bring the submarine home under tow as the crew tried to contain the flooding and gas leaks. Unfortunately, these attempts failed and the submarine was overwhelmed. It sank on 6 October to the bottom of the Hatteras Abyssal Plain, at a depth of about 6,000 meters. None of her nuclear weapons were recovered, but all crew are believed to have survived.
• The K-278: On April 7, 1989, the Komsomolez (a Soviet nuclear-powered and armed attack submarine of Project 685 Plavnik) was on patrol several hundred miles off the Norwegian coast. It had a crew of 69 and a payload of two nuclear-armed torpedoes. Also known as K-278, it was the only one in its class and represented a real technological feat. In August 1984 it set a record reaching a depth of 1,020 meters in the Norwegian Sea. Designed to evaluate the technology needed for a fourth generation submarine, it officially entered service in 1983. During its third operational patrol of the Arctic Ocean, a series of uncontrollable fires broke out in its aft compartments. Despite this very serious problem, the K-278 managed to re-emerge and remain afloat for about 5 hours before sinking to a depth of 1,700 meters in the North Atlantic Ocean. Of the entire crew, 42 people were killed in the accident. The ship also brought with it nuclear reactors and torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads. The latter have never been recovered. After the discovery of the wreck, the ship was found to be leaking small amounts of plutonium into the sea. Then an attempt was made to seal the submarine to prevent environmental damage.

So there are at least twenty nuclear warheads scattered at the bottom of the seas, which probably no one will be able to recover and which pose a risk to the environment and to safety.

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The article Submarine nuclear weapons: how many nuclear warheads have been lost in the oceans? comes from ScenariEconomici.it .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/nucleari-sottomarine-quante-testate-atomiche-sono-andate-perse-negli-oceani/ on Sat, 08 Oct 2022 20:30:27 +0000.