K-19 Hotel Class Soviet Sub

	totalnavy.com Online Resource for all things Navy 132 Prospect Ave - Woodmere, NY 11598 Phone: 718-471-5464 Email click here Fax 718-337-7115
	Main Website	Ship Catalogue	Paints & Displays	How to Build a Ship!	Navy Ball Caps
	How to Books	Decals	Photo- Etching	Ship Art Prints	Main Website
Our Customer Service is open weekdays from 9:00 am to 8:30 pm EST time call us if you need help. 718-471-5464

Toll free 800 - 845-1140

Shipping will be added to all orders, we always endeavor to give you the best rate >>> Click for Rates.

The K-19 was the first Soviet nuclear submarine carrying ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads launched in 1961. The movie "K-19 The widowmaker" is based on this first voyage.

More about the K-19: Construction of K-19 began 17 October 1958. The boat was christened 8 April 1959. Traditionally Russian vessels are christened by women but K-19 was christened by a man. The bottle of champagne bounced off the boat without breaking, which the crew took as a bad omen. The boat was completed 12 November 1960, and commissioned 30 April 1961.

Various accidents: - On 4 July 1961, under the command of Captain First Rank Nikolai Vladimirovich Zateyev, K-19 was conducting exercises in the North Atlantic close to Southern Greenland when she developed a major leak in her reactor coolant system. - On 15 November 1969 K-19 collided with USS Gato (SSN-615) in the Barents Sea at a depth of 60 m (200 ft). - On 24 February 1972 a fire broke out onboard K-19 while the submarine was at a depth of 120 m (380 ft) some 1300 km (800 miles) from Newfoundland. A total of 28 sailors died in the fire. The boat surfaced, and surface warships evacuated the crew except for 12 men trapped in the aft torpedo room.

The submarine was decommissioned in 1991 and in 1994 transferred to the naval repair yard at Polyarny. In March 2002 she was towed to the Nerpa Shipyard, Snezhnogorsk, Murmansk to be scrapped. It was announced in October 2003 that scrapping would start soon.

About the "Hotel" class: The Hotel class is the general NATO classification for a type of nuclear-powered submarine that was originally put into service by the Soviet Union around 1959. In the USSR, they were produced under Project 658. These vessels were the first Soviet subs to carry ballistic missiles, and were based off the November-class submarine design. In order to fit the missiles on-board, the hump of the conning tower was extended toward the rear of the vessel.