Russian submarine Vepr

K-157 Vepr in 2008
History
NameVepr
BuilderSevmash
Laid down16 June 1990
Launched10 December 1994
Christened6 April 1993
Completed29 June 1995
Commissioned25 November 1995
HomeportGadzhievo
Statusin active service
General characteristics
Class and typenuclear-powered attack submarine
TypeProject 971U Shchuka-B (Akula-II)
Displacement8,140 tonnes surfaced, 12,770 tonnes submerged
Length114.3 meters
Beam13.6 meters
Draught9.7 meters
Propulsionone 190MWt OK-650V reactor
Speed24 knots
Complement62 sailors
Armament4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes (28 torpedoes), naval mines and 4 × 650 mm torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes), also torpedo tube launched missiles

Vepr (K-157) (Russian: Вепрь, literally means "wild boar") is a Project 971 Shchuka-B (also known by the NATO reporting name Akula-II) class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Russian Navy. Her keel was laid down on 16 June 1990 by Sevmash. She was launched on 10 December 1994, commissioned on 25 November 1995, and homeported in Gadzhievo. Vepr is armed with four 533 mm torpedo tubes which can use Type 53 torpedoes, RPK-6 or the RPK-2 missiles - older type and Kalibr type armament, naval mines, and four 650 mm torpedo tubes which can use Type 65 torpedoes, or the RPK-7 missile.

1998 incident

Shortly before midnight, 10 September 1998, Vepr was in port at Severomorsk with crew of its sistership K-461 Volk aboard. Alexander Kuzminykh (Russian: Александр Кузьминых), a 19-year-old seaman who was being detained on punishment charges, broke out from his quarters, killed his guard by stabbing him with a chisel, then seized his AKS-74U assault rifle and shot dead five more sailors. He then took two hostages, whom he later killed.[1][2][3][4]

He barricaded himself in the torpedo room, and for 20 hours repeatedly threatened to set a fire to detonate the torpedoes.[5][6] While Vepr had no nuclear weapons and her reactor was shut down, the detonation of her torpedoes while she was tied up at the dock would have ruptured her reactor, creating what the regional director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), Vladimir Prikhodko described as "a nuclear catastrophe ... a second Chernobyl."[7]

Attempts to persuade him to surrender failed.[2][8] Kuzminykh's mother was flown to the naval base but was unable to persuade her son to give himself up. The situation remained a standoff until early on the morning of 12 September, when a special anti-terrorist commando unit of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) stormed the torpedo room.[2][5] Early reports indicated that he had been killed by the FSB, but later reports indicated that he committed suicide.[2] FSB officers stated that "there was no way to preserve Alexander Kuzminykh's life."[9]

Kuzminykh was found fit when he was conscripted at a St. Petersburg enlistment office, even though he had suffered from a mental disorder and had been inhaling intoxicants. When Kuzminykh volunteered for the submarine service, he passed additional medical and psychiatric tests with high marks. It was later declared that he suffered from a mental illness that was not detected in the draft.[5][10][11]

In the aftermath of the incident Russia made efforts to improve recruitment and monitoring of military personnel deployed on nuclear-powered vessels. Only professional, not conscript sailors, could serve on them.[12][13]

Refurbishment

The submarine was the first of the Akula classes (Project 971 and 971U) to be refurbished. All of them will be equipped to carry the Kalibr type missiles. Vepr rejoined the Northern Fleet in March 2020. It is expected to remain in service for another 25–30 years.[14] In July 2022, the submarine was monitored on the surface by NATO naval forces as she transited from the Northern Fleet to the Baltic in company with the Yasen-class submarine Severodvinsk.[15]

References

  1. ^ "Russian Dies In Bid To Seize Submarine". The Washington Post. 12 September 1998. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d "Russian sailor dies in sub shoot-out". BBC News. 11 September 1998. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Происшествия на Северном флоте" [Incidents in the Northern Fleet]. Kommersant (in Russian). No. 140. 7 August 1999. p. 2. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. ^ ""Включите музыку и приготовьтесь к смерти"" ["Turn up the music and prepare to die"]. Kommersant (in Russian). No. 96. 5 June 1999. p. 1. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Матрос Расстрелял 8 Человек За То, Что Его Обзывали "тормозом"" [A Sailor Shot 8 People For Calling Him "Slow"]. Moskovskij Komsomolets (in Russian). 20 May 1999. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  6. ^ Дорфман, Александра (13 September 2017). "Последний поход «Вепря». Как матрос Кузьминых держал в заложниках страну" [The last voyage of the "Vepr". How Sailor Kuzminykh held the country hostage]. Аргументы и факты (in Russian). No. 37. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  7. ^ Hoffman, David (18 September 1998). "Russia's Nuclear Force Sinks With The Ruble". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Подводная лодка" [The submarine]. Kommersant (in Russian). No. 169. 12 September 1998. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  9. ^ Myre, Greg (12 September 1998). "Sailor shot dead after killing eight crew members on Russian submarine". Ludington Daily News. AP. p. 11. Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via Google News Archive.
  10. ^ "Мать требует 2 миллиона 166 тысяч рублей за убитого в армии сына" [Mother demands 2 million 166 thousand rubles for her son killed in the army]. Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian). 14 February 2001. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Матрос-террорист" [A terrorist sailor]. Kommersant (in Russian). No. 170. 15 September 1998. p. 5. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  12. ^ Saradzhyan, Simon (2009). "Dynamics of Maritime Terrorist Threats to Russia and the Government's Response". Connections. 8 (3): 53–84. ISSN 1812-1098. JSTOR 26326177.
  13. ^ Chapman, Geoffrey; Hobbs, Christopher; Homan, Zenobia; Mahlouly, Dounia; Salisbury, Daniel; Tzinieris, Sarah (September 2018). "Case Study 5: Incident at Gadzhiyevo Naval Base Incident, Russia". Radicalisation and Preventative Measures: An Educational Handbook of Insider Threat Case Studies (PDF). Centre For Science & Security Studies, King's College London. pp. 35–39.
  14. ^ Staalesen, Atle (24 March 2020). "First modernized Akula attack submarine returns to Northern Fleet". The Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. ^ "Royal Navy shadows Russian attack submarines from the Arctic into the North Sea". Navy Lookout. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.