Soviet submarine K-431

History
Soviet Union
NameK-431
BuilderLeninskiy Komsomol Shipyard, Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Laid down11 January 1964
Launched8 September 1964
Commissioned30 September 1965
Decommissioned16 September 1987
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Class and typeEcho-class submarine
Displacement
  • 4,415 long tons (4,486 t) surfaced
  • 5,760 long tons (5,852 t) submerged
Length115.4 m (378 ft 7 in)
Beam9.3 m (30 ft 6 in)
Draught7.4 m (24 ft 3 in)
Propulsion2 × pressurized water-cooled reactors 70,000 hp (52 MW) each, 2 steam turbines, 2 shafts
Speed
  • 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) surfaced
  • 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) submerged
Range18,000–30,000 nmi (33,000–56,000 km; 21,000–35,000 mi)
Endurance50 days
Test depth300 m (984 ft)
Complement104-109 men (including 29 officers)
Armament
  • 8 × P-6 cruise missiles
  • 4 × 533 mm (21 in) bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 400 mm (16 in) stern torpedo tubes

K-431 (Russian: К-431; originally the K-31) was a Soviet nuclear-powered submarine that had a reactor accident on 10 August 1985.[1] It was commissioned on 30 September 1965. The 1985 explosion occurred during refueling of the submarine at Chazhma Bay, Dunay, Vladivostok.[2] There were ten fatalities and 49 other people suffered radiation injuries. Time magazine has identified the accident as one of the world's "worst nuclear disasters".[1]

  1. ^ a b "The Worst Nuclear Disasters". TIME. 2012. Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Cold War: Broken Arrows (1980b)". CNN.com. 1998. Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.