USSR/SUNKEN SUB

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820009-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2008
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: August 10, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2008/06/27: CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820009-9
CBS EVENING NEWS
10 August 1983
L'SSR/ RAT?~.:F,: For nearly two months, "Soviet navy rescue ships were at
SUNKEN SUE work in a spot of north Pacific Ocean. Penatgon correspondent
David hartin, tonight, tells us what they were looking for and
what they found.
h TIT': CBS News has learned of a major Soviet naval disaster.
It occurred in June when a nuclear-powered submarine sank in the
north Pacific. The fate of the submarine's 90-man crew is not
known,'but one intelligence source said there had almost
certainly been substantial loss of life. The cause of the
accident is not yet clear, but speculation centers on mechanical
failure unrelated to the nuclear power plant. There is no
evidence of radioactive contamination. The sub sank off the
Kamchatka peninsula south of the Soviet naval base at
Petrozavodsk. U.S. intelligence became aware of the sinking
when. it detected Soviet rescue vessels on the scene. Only in
recent days, sources say, were the Soviets finally able to raise
the sunken hull. It is the second known sinking of a Soviet
nuclear-powered submarine. Sources said one was lost off
Britain in 1970. More recently, one caught fire off Japan but
was towed safely to port. The U.S. has lost two nuclear
submarines, the Thresher; which went down off Cape Cod with 129
men aboard, and the Scorpion, which went down with 99 men in the
mid-Atlantic. The loss of one nuclear submarine represents only
a minor decrease in Soviet military power. But it is a
first-class calamity for the Russian naw. In addition to the
almost certain loss of some of their most highly trained
sailcrs, there is the recovery operation costing hundreds of
millions of dollars. host importantly, there is the sudden loss
of the confidente in one of the Soviet navy's front-line war
machines. David hartin. CBS. News, the Pentagon.
Approved For Release 2008/06/27: CIA-RDP88-01070R000200820009-9