Truth and Lies About K-159 Submarine

There is a lot of contradictory information about the decommissioned submarine

Everyone knows the story about the Russian K-159 nuclear-powered submarine that sank in the Barents Sea, three miles north-west of the Kildin Island. The tragedy happened on August 29th overnight, when the submarine was being towed to the scrapeyard from the town of Gremikha. This subject is not a headline in the news anymore. It seems that the story with the submarine is over, although there are a lot of unclear things about it.

According to the official version, the K-159 submarine sank during a storm. The storm tore the pontoons off and the sub went 200 meters to the bottom of the sea. There was only one thing clear about everything that one could read, hear and see on television and in newspapers: the authorities were lying to people, like it happened before, with the sunken Kursk submarine. Below is a short list of truth and lies.

1. "The sub was being towed from Germikha to the town of Polyarny, to be dismantled at the Shkval enterprise there." In fact, the submarine was being towed to the town of Snezhnogorsk, to the Nerpa enterprise.

2. "The submarine was towed to a military enterprise to let the defense ministry control the money assigned for dismantling works." The submarine was to be dismantled at the civil enterprises Nerpa, in Snezhnogorsk. The defense ministry does not control that enterprise.

3. "People saved some money on towlines to make a profit on non-ferrous metals." The towing of a submarine is an order, supplied with the necessary equipment. To be on the safe side, they sent more towlines than was actually needed. The towline that fixes pontoons to a submarine is made of steel. It does not have any non-ferrous metals, so there is no use to steal it.

4. "The K-159 nuclear submarine came off the towlines and the pontoons." In fact, the submarine is still attached to the towboat.

5. "There should not be any crewmembers on board the vessel." Members of the crew are obliged to stay on board a towed submarine because of the nuclear reactor.

6. "It is not known, if the reactor's active zone has been unloaded from the submarine." It is known: it has not been unloaded. That is why, the submarine should have been towed to a scrapeyard.

7. "The submarine is very old, it is very rusty." The submarine's strong hull was tested before the towing – it was hermetically sealed.

8. "The storm ripped off the pontoons." The pontoons were very strong, even a fierce storm would not be damageable.

On the photo: Pontoons are being prepared for the K-159 submarine on August 20th, 2003