A fire broke out today on the 23 year old Russian Oscar class K-266 Orel nuclear submarine in a drydock in the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk on the White Sea. Reportedly, a welding torch set insulation on fire. The shipyard has stated that the submarine’s reactor was shut down and the ship’s nuclear fuel had been removed prior to the accident. A spokesman for the shipyard said that there were no casualties and that firefighters had contained the blaze.

Coincidentally, the fire today occurred on the 26th anniversary of the a fire on the Mike-class Soviet nuclear submarine K-278 Komsomolets. which claimed the lives of all 42 crew aboard on April 7, 1989.  The Komsomolets and her nuclear reactor and nuclear torpedoes still rest on the floor of the Norwegian Sea in 5,510 feet of water.

The Komsomolets tragedy was not the worst Russian submarine tragedy. In 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk suffered a torpedo explosion and sank with all 118 hands. The Kursk happened to be an Oscar class nuclear submarine, similar to the Orel which caught fire today. Thanks to Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.