) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} Soviet Union | |
| Laid down: | 31 October 1960[1] |
| Launched: | 1 September 1961[1] |
| Commissioned: | 30 December 1961[1] |
| Decommissioned: | 19 April 1990[1] |
| Status: | Laid up as of 2000[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | November-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: | 107.4 m (352 ft) |
| Beam: | 7.9 m (26 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.65 m (18.5 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 70 MW VM-A reactors |
| Speed: |
|
| Complement: | 104 officers and men |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | Northern Fleet: 3rd division of nuclear submarines of 1st submarine flotilla in 1962–1975 and 17th submarine division of 11th submarine flotilla since 1975.[1] |
K-11 was a Soviet November-class (Project 627A) nuclear-powered attack submarine that had two reactor accidents during loading of the nuclear reactor core in Severodvinsk on 7 and 12 February 1965.[1][2] Reasons for the accidents included nonobservance of operating instructions by those participating in the lift of the reactor cover and the mistaken decision to continue refueling after the first accident.[1] There were no fatalities but those accidents (ejection of radioactive steam and inappropriate fire extinguishing methods on 12 February[1]) caused an unsafe release of radiation into the environment and nearby shipyard area. Seven men were treated for exposure to radiation.[3] The reactor compartment holding the two damaged reactors was removed, partially decontaminated and sunk in Abrosimov Bay (east coast of Novaya Zemlya) in the Kara Sea in 1966.[2][3] A new reactor compartment was installed and the submarine continued to perform her duties from August 1968 (performed 5 long-range cruises in 1968–1970 including patrol missions in the Mediterranean Sea, 4 long-range cruises in 1975–1977, 5 long-range cruises in 1982–1985) until decommissioning on 19 April 1990. K-11 passed the milestone of 220,179 miles traveled in 1988. The submarine has been laid up in Gremikha Bay since of 2000.[1]