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Russian submarine Nerpa (K-152)

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For other ships with the same name, see INS Chakra.

INS Chakra
History
 Russia
NameK-152 Nerpa
NamesakeBaikal seal
BuilderAmur Shipbuilding Plant, Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Laid down1993
LaunchedOctober 2008
Commissioned2009
FateTransferred on lease to the Indian Navy, 4 April 2012
 India
NameChakra
Commissioned4 April 2012
HomeportVisakhapatnam
Statusin active service
BadgeINS Chakra Crest
General characteristics
TypeNuclear-powered attack submarine
Displacement8,140 tonnes (8,010 long tons) surfaced
Length108.0–111.7 m (354.3–366.5 ft) (sources vary)
Beam13.5 m (44 ft 3 in)
Draught9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)

INS Chakra is a 8,140-tonne (8,010-long-ton) Project 971[1][2] (or Project 518;[3] NATO: Template:Sclass-[1][2]) nuclear-powered attack submarine. The construction of the Nerpa submarine was started in 1993, but was then suspended due to lack of funding. The Indian Navy sponsored the building and sea trials of the submarine provided it was given to the Indian Navy on lease for 10 years. It was launched as K-152 Nerpa in October 2008 and entered service with the Russian Navy in late 2009. The submarine was leased to the Indian Navy in 2011 after extensive trials, and was formally commissioned into service as INS Chakra II at a ceremony in Visakhapatnam on 4 April 2012.[4] The INS Chakra joined the Eastern Naval Command at Visakhapatnam.[5]

While K-152 Nerpa was undergoing sea trials in the Sea of Japan on 8 November 2008, a fire suppression system was accidentally initiated. The accident killed 20 civilian specialists and navy crew members and injured 21 others.

Construction

Nerpa was laid down at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur shipyard in 1993, but its completion was delayed for nearly a decade due to a lack of funds caused by the economic crisis of the early 1990s.[6] The partly constructed vessel was mothballed until 2004, when Rosprom (the Federal Agency for Industry) signed an agreement with the Indian government to complete the submarine and lease it to the Indian Navy. The vessel was intended to be completed by 2007, but underwent further delays. In 2007, it was transferred to the Vostok shipyard in the closed city of Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Krai, for fitting-out. It was launched in October 2008 for sea trials, following which it was due to be handed over to the Russian Defence Ministry.[7] Reports in the Indian media suggest that the resumption of construction was underwritten with Indian funding.[8]

The standards of the vessel's construction were criticised by several commentators. Aleksandr Golts, defence editor of the Yezhednevny Zhurnal newspaper, said that in the 1980s, the Amur shipyard turned out submarines "one after another, like pancakes,"[9] but from 1993 to 2008 had produced just one. "The old specialists had left, and the new ones lacked professionalism."[9] An unnamed worker at the Amur shipyard told Komsomolskaya Pravda that there were "questions about the quality of the metal that was used in building the nuclear submarine", some of which had been bought from China, and alleged that "when the first trials of the submarine were carried out water was leaking in between the seams! So it is not surprising that the work dragged on."[7]

During May 2009, the repairs were reported to be almost complete and new sea trials were planned for 15–20 June.[10] By October 2009, the work had still not been completed due to the shipyard's electrical supply having been disconnected. Nikolay Povzyk, the head of the shipyard, complained they had not been paid the 1.9 billion roubles (63.8 million dollars) owed for the work carried out on Nerpa.[11]

Lease to India

INS Chakra of the Indian Navy
Chakra in the open sea, flying colours of the Indian Navy

As of 2008, Russia had an agreement pending with India worth US$2 billion for the lease of Nerpa and another Project 971 Shchuka-B-class submarine.[12] Of this, K-152 Nerpa will be leased for 10 years to India at an estimated cost of US$670 million. The submarine was handed over to India on 30 December 2011.[13] After being handed over to the Indian Navy, it was commissioned as INS Chakra.[14] Nerpa is the Russian word for the Baikal seal,[15][16] and Chakra is the mythical weapon of the Indian god Vishnu.

Indian naval crews earlier trained to operate the submarine near St Petersburg and another group of sailors was expected to arrive in Vladivostok in late 2008 for sea trials.[17] The training of the crew was viewed as crucial to India's own nuclear submarine programme, known as the Arihant class submarine.[18]

After the 2008 accident, there were conflicting reports over the status of the lease. A Russian defence industry official denied that talks had been held with India on the delivery of the nuclear submarine. "Russia did not launch talks on a contract to supply India with the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine."[19] General of the Army Nikolay Makarov stated that Russia would commission Nerpa and that it would join seven other Template:Sclass- with Russia's Pacific Fleet. "The sum of $650–780 million, which Rosoboronexport and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant had negotiated over a long period of time with the Indian Ministry of Defence, will now be found in Russia," he said.[20]

In May 2009, both Russian and Indian defence officials confirmed that Nerpa would be joining the Indian Navy by the end of 2009, after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the yard and announced an immediate release of 1.2 billion roubles for the submarine's construction.[21]

On 28 December 2009, Nerpa was commissioned and joined the Russian Navy. The submarine underwent further adjustments in February 2010.[22] By August 2010, Russia was training a crew from the Indian Navy to sail the boat to India in fulfilment of the lease agreement.[23] INS Chakra was expected to be commissioned into the Indian Navy before October 2011.[24] On 1 July 2011, Russian Navy chief Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky has been quoted as holding that "the Indian crew is now absolutely prepared for operating the submarine, which will be on a 10-year lease.[25]

On 23 January 2012, the ship was commissioned at Bolshoy Kamen under the command of Captain P Ashokan.[26] She commenced her home voyage under Indian control from the Russian port of Vladivostok to its Indian base Visakhapatnam.[27] Official Russian announcement of the transfer was still pending at that time. INS Chakra was inducted into the Indian Navy on 4 April 2012.[28][29]

The similarly named Chakra was a Charlie I-class submarine leased by India from Russia 1988–1992.

2008 accident

Main article: 2008 Russian submarine K-152 Nerpa accident
Russian submarine Nerpa
Date8 November 2008
LocationPacific Ocean, Sea of Japan, off the coast of Vladivostok[30]
Casualties
20 killed
21 injured
Accident occurred on board the Russian submarine K-152 Nerpa

An accident occurred aboard K-152 Nerpa at 8:30 PM local time on 8 November 2008,[31] during an underwater test run in the Pacific Ocean.[32] A total of 208 people – 81 military personnel and 127 civilians – were on board at the time of the accident.[6] At least 20 people were killed by asphyxiation[33] and at least 21 more were injured,[34] making it the worst Russian submarine disaster since Kursk sank in 2000.[35][36] Three of the dead were military personnel and the rest were civilians from the Vostok, Zvezda, Era and Amur shipbuilding yards who were members of the acceptance team.[37]

The incident involved the accidental triggering of a fire extinguishing system which sealed two forward compartments and released Halon 2402 (freon R-114B2), dibromotetrafluoroethane[38] gas into them.[6] According to survivors, those affected by the gas release were caught off guard and may not have been alerted in time due to warning sirens sounding only after the gas had already begun pouring in. Some of the victims were reported to have been unable to turn on breathing kits before they suffocated.[39]

On 10 November, a Russian Navy statement blamed the disaster on an "unsanctioned operation" of the fire suppression system aboard Nerpa.[6] Preliminary investigations concluded that the system had triggered automatically without human intervention. On 13 November, naval investigators announced that a crewman had turned on the system "without permission or any particular grounds".[40][41]

2017 accident

Public reports in early October 2017 [42] indicated that INS Chakra had suffered damage while entering Visakhapatnam harbor, including a large hole in the sonar dome in the front. A Russian team visited India for a joint investigation. The submarine had to be dry docked as a result of the accident. Russia had quoted ₹125 crore ($20 million) to fix the damage [43]

References

  1. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 January 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Russia Hands Over Nerpa Nuclear Sub to India
  2. ^ a b "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) K-152 Nerpa: Russian Akula II class nuclear attack submarine
  3. ^ Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has a working meeting with Roman Trotsenko, President of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC)
  4. ^ "Russian-built nuclear submarine joins Indian navy". BBC News. 4 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Indian Navy Inducts Nuclear-powered Attack Submarine". Defense Media Network. 16 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b c d "Twenty Persons Perished Aboard a Submarine Due to a Defective Fire-Extinguishing System". Komsomolskaya Pravda. 9 November 2008.
  7. ^ a b "In Its First Trials the Submarine Nerpa Leaked at the Seams". Komsomolskaya Pravda. 9 November 2008.
  8. ^ "Shipping, Shipbuilding And Offshore News". Marine Log. Archived from the original on 13 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b "Behind the Russian Sub Disaster". Newsweek. Archived from the original on 13 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ New sea trials of Nerpa submarine set for June – paper Archived 17 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine RIA Novosti 13 May 2009
  11. ^ "Repairs of India-bound Russian sub hit by lack of funds: report". AFP. 8 October 2009. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "More than 20 killed in Russian nuclear sub accident: spokesman". AFP. 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 18 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Russia hands over Nerpa attack submarine to India". NDTV.com. 30 December 2011. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Nuclear Submarine Accident Kills 20". Moscow Times. 10 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Baikal Seal". Seal Conservation Society. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 21 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ John Cross, Robert Charman (2006). Healing with the Chakra Energy System. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books. pp. 17–18. ISBN 1-55643-625-4.
  17. ^ "No Significant Damage to Russian Sub". Times of India. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2008.
  18. ^ "Accident on Russian submarine meant for India kills 20". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Russian defence official denies doomed sub meant for India". RIA Novosti. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Nerpa nuclear submarine to join Russian Navy – top brass". RIA Novosti. 18 November 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ India to acquire Russian nuclear submarine on lease by year end Archived 17 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "Russia's Nerpa nuclear sub to be 'fine-tuned' next month". Archived from the original on 25 April 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ Russian atomic sub leased to India — RT Archived 22 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ K-152 Nerpa for the Indian Navy | Russia & India Report Archived 21 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "Russia to hand over India nuclear sub by year-end". The Times of India. 2 July 2011.
  26. ^ "SpokespersonNavy on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ AFP (Agence France-Presse) (23 January 2012). "India sails new nuclear submarine home". Archived from the original on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Economic Times news article: INS Chakra: Govt inducts Russian-origin Akula II class Nerpa into Navy Archived 7 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ India Today news article: INS Chakra formally inducted into Indian Navy Archived 19 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Unnithan, Sandeep (9 November 2008). "Freak accident on Russian N-submarine kills 21". indiatoday.intoday.in. Mumbai. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  31. ^ Loiko, Sergei L. (8 November 2008). "False fire alarm blamed in Russian sub deaths". The Columbus Dispatch. Archived from the original on 13 April 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ "Russia: Sub returns to base after 20 killed". CNN. Moscow: Associated Press. 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  33. ^ Gutterman, Steve (8 November 2008). "Russian navy: sub accident kills more than 20". Moscow: Associated Press. Archived from the original on 25 December 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  34. ^ "Twenty die on Russian submarine". BBC. 9 November 2008. Archived from the original on 9 November 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ Syal, Rajeev (9 November 2008). "Twenty die in nuclear submarine accident". London: Guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 September 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ Faulconbridge, Guy (8 November 2008). "At least 20 die in accident on Russian nuclear sub". Reuters. Archived from the original on 13 November 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ Ren TV, Moscow, 2030 GMT 10 November 2008
  38. ^ "Fire on Board the Russian Navy Akula II Nuclear Submarine kills Twenty Russian Sailors". International Online Defence Magazine. 11 November 2008. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ "Russian sub survivors: Freon killed as crew slept". Associated Press. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.[dead link]
  40. ^ Матрос запустил смертельный газ на глазах у своего командира? (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. 15 November 2008. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  41. ^ Матрос включил систему пожаротушения на "Нерпе" от скуки (in Russian). Lenta.ru. 15 November 2008. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  42. ^ "Accident on board INS Chakra?". The Hindu. 4 October 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  43. ^ "Russia seeks ₹125 crore to carry out repairs on INS Chakra". The Hindu. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.

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