A submarine collision at sea
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of The Hunt for Red October with a guided read-along
Welcome back to the Two Navy Guys Debrief, the (mostly) weekly forum where we take on real—and fictional—national security issues.
The picture above is the USS Tucson, a Los Angeles-class submarine, at speed on a surface transit. If you’re wondering if it’s as much fun as it looks, I (David here) have the answer:
Yes, it is absolutely as much fun as it looks.
The Hunt for Red October read-along starts next week
For those of you waiting to start our guided reading of The Hunt for Red October, we will publish a reading schedule and background info next week. If this is the first you’re hearing about it, here’s the details. It’s free to all subscribers.
An international incident worthy of a Clancy novel
It seems that in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Hunt for Red October this month, reporters are scouring the archives for some relevant real-life examples to illustrate the Cold War submarine cat-and-mouse game played between the US and USSR.
They found a good one. One that David would rather not relive, thank you very much.
In February 1992, less than 2 months after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the USS Baton Rouge collided with the Russian Sierra-class B-276 Kostroma in international waters outside of Murmansk. David was a member of the crew.
If you’re not up on your Russian geography, Murmansk is a major Russian naval base about 125 miles north of the Arctic Circle. As this article recounts, the incident took place north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea about 12 nautical miles from shore (i.e. international waters).
Incidents involving US and Russian submarines had happened before, but the rules of the game were along the lines of “I can neither confirm nor deny…” or, if necessary, the old standby, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.”
Not so this time. Due to the political climate of the moment (i.e. the Soviet Union, a nuclear power, had just collapsed), things went in a different direction:
In a surprise move, the Pentagon acknowledged that a collision had occurred, which was contrary to official policy at the time…The incident proved significant enough that it prompted a meeting between then-U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to discuss the situation. No official transcript of what was said has ever been released, and it is doubtful the conversation will ever be made public.
That’s right. While the Baton Rouge was still at sea, the fact that our sub had been involved in a collision with a Russian submarine was released to the news media.
Here’s the kicker: the Navy hadn’t even told our families. They heard about it on CNN like the rest of the world. (Keep in mind, this was before Fox News or MSNBC even existed. CNN was really the only game in town.)
How bad was it? This is what the Russian sub looked like:
According to this article in War History Online, Kildin Island Incident: When a Russian Submarine Surfaced Right Under an American Spy Sub.
The Kostroma hit Baton Rouge at 8 mph as it was trying to surface. That speed seems slow but carried significant force due to the enormous weight of the submarine…The Russian submarine sustained damage to its conning tower (pictured above) because of its upward motion. The American submarine received heavy scratches and a torn ballast tank.
As a member of the crew, I can confirm that the USS Baton Rouge made it safely back to our homeport of Norfolk, where we were greeted by a media circus waiting for us on the pier.
Be happy. Stay healthy. Read (or listen to) a book.
As always, thanks for being a supporter –
David & JR, AKA the Two Navy Guys
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