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September 4, 2007

Russian sub salvagers call mission a success

PROVIDENCE -- The military salvage teams that have been working to raise the sunken Russian missile submarine in Providence harbor have departed, declaring this stage of their mission a success and vowing to return in the spring to finally raise the submarine.

The Soviet missile submarine, known by its NATO designation of Juliett 484, has been resting on the harbor bottom, tilted on its side in 30 feet of water, after it sank in an April storm. The submarine had been a museum at Providence’s Collier Point Park since 2002, but the cash-strapped museum owners had no way to get the sub back above water.

The military decided to raise the submarine in order to provide training to its salvage dive teams, and 30 Army and Navy divers and an Army Reserve Landing Craft spent the past three weeks in Providence laying the groundwork to bring the submarine back above water.

Last week, divers attached cables to the submarine at four points, and then used large motors to pull the submarine slightly more upright and take pressure off the vessel’s hull.

The submarine didn’t move much, and is still resting at an angle underwater, but the cables are now bearing much of the load, and the submarine won’t be swept on down the bay if there is a bad winter storm.

“It came up maybe a foot. It did move a little bit,” said Navy Warrant Officer Peter Sharpe, who supervised the salvage divers on the operation.

The military crews will definitely return in the late spring to complete the project and bring the submarine above water, Sharpe said.

-- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 7:02 PM | Permalink

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