- Soviet submarine S-80
"S-80" was a Project 644 (also known by the
NATO reporting name of "Whiskey Twin-Cylinder") attackdiesel submarine of theSoviet Navy .Her keel was laid down on
13 March 1950 atKrasnoye Sormovo ] as a Project 613 unit (also known by theNATO reporting name of "Whiskey"). She was launched on21 October , and delivered toBaku on theCaspian Sea on1 November for tests, then transferred north via inland waterways in December. She was commissioned into theNorthern Fleet on2 December 1952 , and operated there until mid-1957 .Beginning in July
1957 to , "S-80" was overhauled atSeverodvinsk and converted to Project 644("Whiskey Twin-Cylinder"). She returned to sea in April1959 .During the night of
26 January 1961 , "S-80" was operating in theBarents Sea at snorkel depth on her diesel engines. The ocean was atsea state 6 and seawater temperature was -5C (23°F). At 0127 on27 January , the boat dropped below snorkel depth, which should have caused the automatic snorkel valve to shut, preventing water from entering the snorkel system. However, the de-icing system that should have warmed the valve with hot water from the diesel engines had been switched off, and the valve had become jammed with ice.The diesel engines failed immediately as seawater flooded their air intakes. The machinist in the fifth compartment who discovered the flooding became confused by the complex array of valves, and did not shut the ventilation flapper valve quickly enough. By the time he located the correct handwheel, the valve spindle had been bent by the force of the flooding water. As the compartment filled, the boat's trim became uncontrollable.
As her up-angle passed 45 degrees, the boat slowed, coming to a halt and then falling backward, gathering sternway and sinking until it grounded. The second, third, and fourth compartments were crushed, though 24 crewmen survived in the after compartments. Their attempts to escape the wrecked submarine using
IDA-51 apparatus es failed, and all 68 officers and men of S-80 were lost. Their fate remained unknown for seven and a half years.On
23 June 1968 , salvage vessel "Altai" discovered the wreck of a submarine at 70°01′23″N 36°35′22″E, at a depth of 196 meters (643 feet). She inspected the wreck with herbathyscape and identified it as S-80.A government commission studied the report and ordered Operation "Depth," the salvage of the wreck. The
Nikolayevsk SSZ shipyard built "Carpathia", a special salvage vessel equipped to raise the sunken submarine.Operation "Depth" was carried out by a task force of the
Northern Fleet consisting of groups of trawlers and adestroyer under the command of Captain First Rank S. Minchenko. The wreck was lifted from the ocean floor on9 June 1969 and transported toMys Teriberskiy , suspended under "Carpathia" in slings. There, she was lowered to the bottom of Zavalishin Harbor at a depth of 51 meters (167 feet) on12 July .On
24 July 1969 , "S-80" was raised to the surface. During August, a government commission began studying the wreck under the management ofHero of the Soviet Union Vice Admiral G. I. Schedrin. The commission determined not only the immediate causes of the boat's loss, but also that two further errors had compounded the accident: the crew never attempted to shift propulsion to the electric motors, and they never performed an emergency ballast tank blow.References
* [http://submarine.id.ru/memory/S-80.htm Книга памяти - C-80]
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