History's worst submarine disasters

Those aboard the Titan submersible were declared dead on June 22 after frantic search operations showed that the vessel had suffered a 'catastrophic implosion'. The submersible went missing during a dive to the Titanic's wreck on June 18.

But this is not the first time that such an incident has taken place. DH dives into some of the worst submarine disasters of the past decades.

Russia, Nerpa (K-152)

Russia, Nerpa (K-152). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

On November 8, 2008, at least 20 persons died of asphyxiation from a gas leak on board the Russian nuclear submarine K-152 Nerpa, during trials in the Sea of Japan.

The K-152 Nerpa accident further resulted in injuries to 41 more persons aboard. The accident was blamed on a crew member who was allegedly playing with a fire suppressant system that he thought was not operative.

Argentina, ARA San Juan (S-42)

Argentina, ARA San Juan (S-42). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

On November 15, 2017, the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan holding a crew of 44 was reported missing off the coast of Argentina while on a training exercise.

Ships and long-range patrol aircraft from several nations were dispatched in a search and rescue mission. However, by November 30, hopes of rescuing the crew alive were abandoned.

A year later, on November 16, 2018, the submarine was located 460 kilometres southeast of Comodoro Rivadavia at a depth of 907 metres. The submarine's imploded wreckage was strewn up to 70 metres from the hull.

Indonesia, KRI Nanggala-402

Indonesia, KRI Nanggala-402. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

On April 24, 2021, KRI Nanggala (402), a missing Indonesian Navy submarine, was found on the sea floor and all 53 crew and passengers aboard were confirmed dead.

The submarine had failed to report for a post-manoeuvre brief following a torpedo live fire exercise in the Bali Sea, in an area where the water is 700 metres deep days earlier and was declared missing.

The cause of the sinking is presumed to be a power outage. Nanggala had experienced outages before but recovered successfully.

China, Ming-class submarine 361

In May 2003, China announced that the entire ship's crew of 70 people had been killed aboard the Ming-class submarine 361 due to a mechanical malfunction.

The accident took place off the coast of Liaoning Province in northeast China.

Read | Search intensifies for Titanic submersible with only hours of oxygen left

Experts who identified the cause of the accident reported that when the battery was running low, the submarine surfaced with a vent opening for oxygen which was consumed by the charging diesel engines.

At the same time, a sea wave surged and seawater started to flow into the vent. The vent subsequently automatically shut to prevent flooding.

There was no device on the submarine to detect low oxygen levels and the crew suffocated due to the diesel engines consuming all the oxygen present within the submarine.

Russia, Kursk (K-141)

Russia, Kursk (K-141). Credit: Pixabay Photo

In August 2000, the Russian Oscar II-class submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea when a leak of high-test peroxide set off a chain reaction with the live warheads in the bow of the Russian submarine.

This triggered a massive explosion that sent the Kursk to the bottom of the sea.

The explosion and the flooding by high-pressure seawater killed the majority of the submarine's 118 sailors. Twenty three sailors took refuge in the small ninth compartment and survived for more than six hours. However, they died several days later from a flash fire or suffocation.