For those who are interested
K3 has now been put back into the sea and moved to a floating dry dock to start phase two of her restoration to become a museum.
Hopefully the restoration period wont take more than a year or two but who knows this is down to how much money is available and for those who follow this submarine its been well over a decade in the making to get her to this point.
Statistics:
352 feet long 25 feet wide 18 feet draft
Crusing depth 320 meters (1050ft) Test Depth 480 meters (1825ft)
Surfaced Displacement: 3,000 tons
Submerged displacement: 5,000 tons
Surfaced speed: 15 knots
Submerged speed: 31 knots
Brief history:
Laid down in 1954 the same year as Nautilus went under way on nuclear powered the K3 took some 3 years to complete being launched from Sevmash in 1957 being comissioned in 1958, her home port of Zapadnya Litsa was home port at one time to the ill fated Kursk K141.
In 1962 the submarine made the first transit of a Soviet submarine to the north pole upon her return she was formally named Leninsky Komsomol upon her return she lay idle for nearly 5 years barely going to sea.
In 1967 while in transit a fire broke out in the hydraulic systems sadly 39 crew died
The rest of her career was pretty uneventful she did track an american SSBN that had left Rota Spain only to be intercepted by another American SSN.
In 1988 she was decommissioned and laid up at Gremikha awaiting her fate and in 2006 she was slated for restoration something that remains on going
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Both reactors have been removed so she is a dead vessel
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Two harbour tugs are keeping a close eye on her after the events of her sister submarine K159 its no wonder.
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Barely seaworthy but 3 vessels crowding her from what im told during the transit only 2 men were permitted inside at any one time (after 9 out of 10 died on K159 when she sank)
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Lining her up for the floating dry dock
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
In she goes she has to be exact otherwise she could potentially break her back after all she has been cut in two already.
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
In position and the tugs are gone pump out begins
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Almost high and dry here you can see the torpedo tubes and also the section which was cut out and plugged (used to be reactor compartment)
K3 Moving by
Blair Shaw, on Flickr
Frontal view of the first Soviet nuclear submarine