Major Russian Submarine Accidents Since 2000

All 118 sailors died when the Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000.

A fire aboard a Russian submersible on July 1 killed 14 crew members, the Defense Ministry reported. It is the nation’s deadliest submarine-related incident since 2008.

Russia has suffered several deadly submarine incidents over the past two decades, as well as a rash of fires during decommissioning at ports.

Below is a list of major accidents and fires involving Russian submarines.​

August 12, 2000

The nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sinks in the Barents Sea due to an explosion in its torpedo room, killing all the 118 submariners on board.

The K-159

August 30, 2003

Nine crew members die when the K-159 nuclear submarine sinks in the Barents Sea during a storm. The K-159 was being towed to a harbor to have its nuclear reactors stripped when a storm broke.

August 7, 2005

Britain's Royal Navy with assistance from the United States and Japan helps rescue seven Russian sailors from a submarine off the coast of Kamchatka. The Russian submarine had been trapped for three days in fishing nets and cables and was running low on oxygen.

September 7, 2006

A fire aboard the nuclear-powered submarine Daniil Moskovskiy in the Barents Sea kills two sailors. The fire erupted in a mechanics rooms.

Relatives mourn the submariners who died on the K-152 Nerpa in 2008.

November 8, 2008

In the deadliest submarine incident since the Kursk, 20 Russian sailors and shipyard workers die aboard the submarine K-152 Nerpa when the fire extinguishing system is accidentally activated, causing suffocation. More than 20 are injured. ​

December 29, 2011

At least seven people are injured when a fire breaks out aboard the nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg while at a shipyard north of Murmansk. The blaze burns for nine hours, with flames reportedly reaching 10 meters high. ​

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Russian Nuclear Submarine Catches Fire In Vladivostok


September 16, 2013

Russia says 15 sailors were injured when a fire breaks out on the Tomsk nuclear submarine while at a shipyard near Russia’s Far Eastern city of Vladivostok.

The Oryol on fire in Severodvinsk on April 7, 2015

April 7, 2015

Nuclear submarine Oryol catches fire during repairs in a dry dock in the Severodvinsk shipyard in northern Russia. No casualties are reported.

April 29, 2016

Krasnoyarsk, a Soviet-era nuclear submarine, catches fire during disassembly in Russia’s Far East. There are no reports of injuries.