The death of K-219 sub and Quakers

Pravda.Ru has written before about the mysterious death of the Soviet nuclear submarine K-219 in the Bermuda Triangle in 1986. Recent reports by scientists confirmed that the K-219 could have perished from an unidentified floating object.

This theory is now often discussed in specialized journals (mainly English) and in Russia. In a recent TV show famous admirals, former employees of the naval intelligence and security services, quite openly talked about miraculous unidentified underwater objects.

Also read: K-219: The sub that scared Reagan and Gorbachev

That program made me go back to the records of conversations with the untimely deceased famous Soviet submariner, Captain of the first rank Nikolai Tushin, who was a former deputy commander of a brigade that built nuclear-powered boats. In the 1980s, he was part of a rather narrow group of specialists of the Navy tasked with admission of nuclear submarines built in Severodvinsk at Sevmash to the fleet.

Because of his job he had to know all the nuances of underwater accidents that occurred from time to time with Russian atomic submarines. Our very frank discussion took place after his retirement, at a time when little by little secret mysteries of the Soviet oceanic fleet were declassified. He told me about the mysteries sparingly and tactfully, apparently for fear of becoming a source of unnecessary sensationalism. Submariners do not like sensations and only believe their own eyes and ears.  

Nikolai had no doubts that the underwater object that collided with the strategic submarine "K-219" carrying two nuclear reactors and 16 ballistic nuclear missiles was not manmade. Incidentally, he was the one to tell me about the troubles endured by Soviet (as well as American, British, and French) atomic submarines from the so-called "Quakers." He said that experienced sailors were quite serious about the talks of underwater unidentified objects.

According to Tushin, he, like many other submarine commanders, saw glowing balls and cylinders in the ocean. Almost every diver has a "cherished" story. It was not customary to talk about it, and no instruments recorded sightings of such objects.

Even now little is known about these croaking invisible objects. They were first heard a few decades ago, when more or less sensitive sonar equipment that could hear the ocean in many sectors of sonar range appeared on submarines, especially nuclear ones.

In the 1970's, the so-called unidentified floating objects, "Quakers," became a serious concern for the submariners. The Navy Intelligence even established a special group to organize and analyze all unexplained phenomena occurring in the oceans. The officers who had to collect information gathered all the data that was somehow relevant. There was even a series of special ocean expeditions. The Americans also organized several expeditions, hunting for "Quakers."  

The range of "Quakers" action expanded from the Barents Sea to the Mid-Atlantic, including the Bermuda Triangle, where Russian atomic submarine "K-219" has perished. The theory of the man-made origin of the mysterious underwater object sounds rather weak because even the wealthy United States could not afford such costs. 

These mysterious objects persistently pursued Russian (and not only Russian) submarines, and the chase was accompanied by characteristic acoustic signals resembling croaking of frogs.

Secret Soviet intelligence expeditions came to the conclusion that "Quakers" was a secret development of NATO, aimed at tracking Russian submarines. The Americans, too, studied the mysterious phenomenon in detail, and with equal determination reported that this was a top secret development of the USSR for the detection of foreign submarines. Perhaps, had the two countries combined the effort to study this strange phenomenon, the problem would have been solved. But this was the time of the "cold war." 

Those who actually heard the Quakers had a lasting impression that the unknown source of the mysterious sound was aware of its actions. Some even felt that the Quakers, appearing out of the blue, tried hard to make a contact.  

In fact, the Quakers did not pose any threat to submarines. Another thing is that some submariners developed a phobia, and were afraid of starting their watch. They were afraid of losing their sanity because of mysterious sounds of "Quakers."

According to Tushin, sometimes submarines thought that the mysterious objects were displaying friendliness.

The famous atomic experienced diver, admitted to the controls of nearly all projects of the Soviet nuclear submarines, admitted that we might be dealing with some unknown underwater civilization. Indeed, the underwater world is explored much less than space.

I used to serve in the submarine fleet for a number of years, and one day, while I was still a lieutenant, had a chance to hear a "Quaker". Another lieutenant invited me in his operating room and handed me a pair of headphones. I heard "croaking" at a specific, constant frequency. The sound reminded that of an unknown animal.

The boat was moving at a low speed at a depth of 250 meters. Once it moved up to the depth of 120 meters, "croaking" in the headphones stopped. The commander said not to record these sounds in the log.

By the end of the 1980s the Soviet secret research program "Quaker" was discontinued. There was no available funding in the USSR that at the time was falling apart. The most interesting thing is that the sounds of "Quaker" in the ocean disappeared by the time, as if someone told the "unidentified" objects that they were no longer interesting. Since the 1990's there have been no official reports of meetings with them.

The group of scouts and scientists was disbanded, and all of the materials were classified. It remains unclear why the group was disbanded so suddenly and what they were able to learn about the "Quakers". Unfortunately, this information is still classified both in Russia and the U.S., and only occasionally the information about it leaks to the press.

But back to the collapse of the Soviet submarine "K-219" in the Bermuda Triangle not far from the land borders of the United States. As established by a special commission, the cause of the accident was an "incident" in the missile silo that for some reason became unsealed, and the subsequent leak of poisonous rocket fuel into the rocket section. Then there was a fire.

As a result of experimental tests, simulations and careful analysis, it was shown that it was not the fault of the crew but the impact of external factors. The official reports have pictures that prove that the body of "K-219" had a large groove. The committee that investigated the incident concluded that the external impact was a foreign submarine. Soviet intelligence reported that not a single NATO submarine was repaired after the collision.

Those who thought of the unidentified objects as the reason of the accident were afraid to speak up not to be considered insane.    

Tushin was convinced that "К-219" was sunk by a mysterious force, but at the time could not admit it out loud. The unidentified floating objects remain a mystery of the ocean.  

Aleksander Mikhailov

Pravda.Ru 

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