Russian Navy

The Russian submarine fleet celebrates 50 years of nuclear power

12/22/2008
The first Soviet nuclear powered submarine, the K-3, later named Leninsky Komsomol, was delivered to the Soviet Navy December 17 1958.

Building of the first soviet nuclear submarine started at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk, in 1955. It was put on water in August 1957 and the nuclear reactor was launched in 1957. The submarine was taken into service in the Northern Fleet in March 1959, and in 1962 she got the name Leninski Komsomol, Sevmash Shipyard informs in a press release.

- Our Leninski Komsomol played a crucial role in the peace keeping process, General Director at Sevmash, Nikolay Kalistratov, says to newspaper Pravda Severa. USA already had nuclear powered submarines, and K-3 made the two superpowers’ chances more even, Kalistratov says.

39 of the crew were killed in a fire aboard Leninsky Komsomol in the Norwegian Sea in September 1967. The submarine was taken out of duty in 1991, and is waiting to be made into a museum. In order to build K-3, a new department had to be opened at Sevmash, department no 42. It was until recently one of the most secret departments in the country. Here were the first nuclear powered submarine, the first deep-diving submarine and the first titanium submarine built.

Source: www.barentsobserver.com

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