B-260 Chita was a Project 877 Kilo-class submarine of the Russian Navy in service from 1981 to 2013, which sank in 2019 while being towed for dismantling.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russia | |
| Name | B-260 Chita |
| Laid down | 22 February 1981 |
| Launched | 23 August 1981 |
| Commissioned | 30 December 1981 |
| Decommissioned | 2013 |
| Fate | Sank while being towed for dismantling on 12 December 2019 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Kilo-class submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 73 m (239 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion | Diesel-electric propulsion |
| Speed |
|
| Endurance | 45 days |
| Complement | 52 |
| Armament |
|
Description
editChita was a diesel-electric submarine with a surfaced displacement of 2,300 tons and submerged displacement of 3,950 tons. It had a length of 73 metres (239 ft 6 in), a beam of 10 metres (32 ft 10 in), and a draft of 6.2 metres (20 ft 4 in). Its test depth was 350 metres (1,150 ft), it had a maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), and it could operate at sea for up to 45 days at a time. It had a crew of 52 and operated six 21.8-inch (550 mm) torpedo tubes.[1]
History
editConstruction began on the submarine on 22 February 1981, when it was laid down at Leninsky Komsomol Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur as B-260. It was launched on 23 August and was commissioned on 30 December. It did not receive the name Chita until 19 March 2006, when it was sponsored by the city administration of Chita.[1][2] While in service, Chita was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and the ship was decommissioned and laid up in 2013.
In November 2019, Chita was handed over to the company JSC MPZ Askona to be broken up and dismantled. On 11 December, the submarine was being towed by the tug Lazurit from Vladivostok to the dismantling yard in Nakhodka while in poor weather conditions. During the transit, while in the Sea of Japan, the stern of the submarine sank and rested on the seafloor. The tug disconnected and anchored nearby, and since Chita was unmanned and carried no fuel, there were no casualties in the incident. It was stated that the submarine was to be refloated in order to continue to the dismantling yard.[3][4]
References
edit- ^ a b "B-260 Chita". Rusnavy. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ "Администрация Читы взяла шефство над субмариной Тихоокеанского флота" [The administration of Chita took patronage over the submarine of the Pacific Fleet]. RIA Novosti (in Russian).[dead link]
- ^ Voytenko, Mikhail (13 December 2019). "Russian missile submarine sank in Japan sea". Fleetmon. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
- ^ Zubarev, Dmitry (12 December 2019). "Подлодка затонула в Приморье по пути на утилизацию" [The submarine sank in Primorye on the way to disposal]. Vzglyad (in Russian). Retrieved 30 June 2022.