25 years ago, on August 7, 1997, the Gold Star medal of the Hero of Russia was posthumously awarded to sailor of the Northern Fleet Sergei Preminin.

Back in 1986, on the infamous nuclear submarine (NPS) K-219, which was at that moment not far from the United States, there was a serious accident that threatened a large-scale nuclear disaster off the coast of the Atlantic.

With incredible efforts, the young sailor managed to shut down the nuclear reactor. 

With his feat, Preminin actually not only saved the crew of the submarine, but also prevented a nuclear explosion, which would lead to radiation contamination of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

As Alexander Makushin, a member of the Association of Historians of the Union State, stated in a RT commentary, the possible consequences of the detonation of nuclear missiles and reactors on nuclear submarines have never been publicly announced.

However, most researchers agree that the complete destruction of nuclear devices on K-219 would threaten the largest global environmental catastrophe in the history of mankind.

“By sacrificing his life, Preminin saved the world from a global catastrophe.

The consequences of radiation contamination of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean are difficult to imagine.

It’s even scary to talk about it, but I can say that the United States, and Latin America, and Europe, and part of the territory of our country would have suffered greatly, ”Alexander Makushin, a member of the Association of Historians of the Union State, said in a comment to RT.

The highest state award was awarded to Sergei Preminin only after the collapse of the USSR - 11 years after his death.

In the Soviet Union, the sailor was also considered a hero, but in 1987 he was posthumously awarded only the Order of the Red Star.

“In 1986, there was a whole series of tragedies that shook the Soviet Union.

Before the emergency at K-219, there was an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the accident of the passenger liner "Admiral Nakhimov" with a large number of victims.

The leadership of the USSR tried to draw as little attention as possible to these events, although, without a doubt, Preminin's feat was worthy of the Golden Star, ”says Makushin.

A similar point of view regarding the belated assignment of the highest state award to Preminin is shared by the historian of the fleet Dmitry Zhavoronkov.

“During the years of the Cold War, little was reported about the activities of the Navy, and even more so the campaigns of submarine missile cruisers, including for reasons of secrecy.

In the 1990s, many pages of the history of our fleet became open, the feat of Preminin became widely known and he deservedly became a hero, ”said Zhavoronkov.

13th campaign

Sergei Preminin was born on October 18, 1965 in the village of Skornyakovo, Vologda Oblast.

The future sailor studied at a school in the city of Krasavin, and then entered the school of the river fleet in Veliky Ustyug.

On K-219, Preminin did military service.

On the submarine, he served as a machinist of the hold movement of the electromechanical warhead.

The nuclear submarine itself became part of the Northern Fleet in February 1972.

It was built according to project 667A Navaga, but later modernized according to project 667АУ Burbot.

  • Victim after the explosion of nuclear submarine K-219

  • © Public Domain

The nuclear submarine was the carrier of 16 RSM-25 (R-27U) liquid-propellant ballistic missiles and was equipped with two VM-4 pressurized water nuclear reactors with a thermal power of 90 MW.

One reactor worked constantly, the second was a backup.

As the crew members told in the documentary "The Last Campaign", K-219 was the container of "300 Hiroshima".

In September 1986, the submarine left its home port of Gadzhievo in the Murmansk region and headed for the US coast to carry out combat duty there.

It was the 13th campaign of K-219 in a row.

It was assumed that the nuclear-powered ship would return home after 90 days and then be decommissioned.

Before leaving Gadzhiev, while inspecting the nuclear submarine, the operational officer of the special department, Captain 3rd Rank Valery Pshenichny, discovered a malfunction in the outboard water drain valve from the 6th missile silo.

He reported the defect to the command of the Northern Fleet, but it did not attach any importance to this information.

During the campaign, the sailors had to constantly pump out water from the 6th mine, but they did not report this situation to commander Igor Britanov.

Serious problems at K-219 began on October 3 in the Sargasso Sea, when the submarine was about 1 thousand km from the southwestern coast of the United States.

A crack has formed in the oxidizer (nitrogen tetroxide) tank.

This aggressive substance began to mix with fuel, which led to detonation.

As Igor Britanov himself recalled in an interview with RT, the explosion was so strong that it tore off the top cover of the mine and threw a ballistic missile warhead into the sea.

Part of the submarine was on fire, and water began to penetrate into the resulting hole.

The nuclear submarine plunged deeper into the sea.

There was a risk that the increasing external water pressure could simply crush the hull of the submarine.

For this reason, Britanov decided to make an emergency ascent.

The appearance of the K-219 on the surface automatically meant the failure of the combat mission.

However, in that situation, the commander was guided by the paramount need to save the crew and the struggle for the survivability of the nuclear-powered ship with two nuclear reactors and an arsenal of ballistic missiles.

After the submarine surfaced, the sailors of the fourth compartment found themselves in the most difficult situation.

However, according to the instructions then available, in order to save the entire ship, people in the affected compartment had to remain in isolation.

  • Igor Britanov on the deck of K-219

  • © Photo from personal archive

Nevertheless, Britanov violated this rule and ordered the evacuation of people to the adjacent fifth compartment.

At that time, three people had already become victims of the emergency, 14 crew members were injured.

The fire continued to capture new compartments of the K-219.

The air temperature on board reached 70 ° C, making the conditions of stay on the ship almost unbearable.

In addition, the further spread of the fire could lead to depressurization of nuclear reactors and subsequent detonation.

The situation was becoming critical, and Britanov ordered the sailors to manually lower four groups of so-called compensating grids onto the lower stops.

Thus, it would be possible to stop the nuclear reaction.

Senior Lieutenant Nikolai Belikov and sailor Sergei Preminin went to the seventh compartment to carry out this important task.

According to the commander of K-219, Belikov had great physical strength, and Preminin, on the contrary, was a wiry and hardy guy.

They worked in protective suits in a gassed space at a temperature of 80 ° C.

There was smoke all around, the breathing masks that were on Belikovo and Preminin instantly fogged up.

Sailors had to act literally by touch.

“Belikov and Preminin worked in such difficult conditions that it is even difficult to imagine them.

The temperature and pressure level in the seventh compartment were almost unbearable, there was smoke all around,” said Alexander Makushin.

Despite the monstrous physical exertion and poor visibility, Belikov and Preminin managed to lower three of the four bars.

Last grid

After returning to rest in the neighboring, eighth compartment, Belikov was completely exhausted and fainted.

But the work was not fully completed, so the sailor returned alone to the seventh compartment to lower the last grate.

“Preminin was asked: “What is left?”

He said that one grate remained to be lowered.

"Do you know where it is, put it down?"

- "I'll drop it."

And so he went.

And if two had gone, two would have remained there, ”Britanov recalled in an interview with RT.

  • K-219 after the explosion

  • © Public Domain

Preminin had the strength to report on the intercom on the completion of the task, but he could not return to his comrades.

Due to the large pressure drop, the bulkhead door jammed.

The sailor could not cope with this problem on his own.

Sailors on the other side of the bulkhead advised him not to move to save precious oxygen.

They made several desperate attempts to open the door, but were forced to stop their efforts when they themselves were threatened with death due to the inability to breathe.

In the film The Last Campaign, the commander of the K-219 movement division, Captain 3rd Rank Gennady Kapitulsky, said that Preminin was in touch for only a few minutes.

The officer assumes that the sailor quickly ran out of oxygen and before his death he took off his breathing mask that had become useless.

After the death of Preminin, the K-219 crew switched their efforts to saving the ship: the oxidizer corroded the hull and water continued to flow inside the submarine.

On October 4, Soviet ships came to the aid of the nuclear submarine, to which most of the crew was evacuated.

On October 5, the submarine was taken in tow by the motor ship Krasnogvardeysk, but after 12 hours of towing, the cable broke.

On October 6, 1986, the rest of the crew left the ship, and at about 11:00 Moscow time, K-219 sank.

The victims of that accident, including Preminin, were four sailors.

According to experts, in other accidents with domestic nuclear submarines, much more people died.

Despite the professional struggle for the survivability of the ship and the rescue of almost the entire crew, the state commission that investigated the incident placed the responsibility for the emergency on the personnel of the submarine, including its commander.

Nevertheless, none of the sailors ended up in the dock, and the criminal case against Britanov was dropped.

Feat as part of the service

The details of the K-219 accident became known to a wide audience only after the collapse of the USSR.

In the 1990s, the book "Hostile Waters" and the western film of the same name starring Rutger Hauer were devoted to the feat of Preminin and the actions of other crew members.

“One of the authors of the book, Peter Huchthausen (in 1986 he was the naval attaché of the US Embassy in Moscow. -

RT

), called Soviet sailors heroes.

And I think that there was no guile here.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Americans appreciated what our guys did to prevent a nuclear catastrophe off their coasts,” Alexander Makushin believes.

In Russia, one of the streets of Vologda and two schools where he studied were named after Preminin.

The name of the hero is also carried by the anti-sabotage boat P-429 of project 21980 "Rook", which is part of the Northern Fleet.

  • Bust of Sergei Preminin in the Vologda region

  • © vologda-oblast.ru

“The feat of Preminin is an example of the fulfillment of military duty.

When I studied the history of the K-219 accident, I was amazed at how bravely this sailor and other members of the nuclear submarine crew acted in those unbearable, completely inhuman conditions, ”said Makushkin.

According to Dmitry Zhavoronkov, Preminin was a sailor, brought up in the traditions of a special moral duty to people and conscientious execution of orders, even at the cost of his own life.

“Submariners are that category of servicemen for whom a feat is an integral part of the service.

Submariners are trained to make them.

When necessary, they are ready to die for the sake of saving other people and their ship, ”Zhavoronkov concluded.