''Nerpa'' (renamed INS ''Chakra'' in
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...
service) is a Project 971
(or Project 518; NATO:
''Akula''-class)
nuclear-powered
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...
attack submarine
An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...
. The construction of the submarine was started in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
in 1993, but was suspended due to lack of funding.
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
then sponsored further construction
and sea trials of the submarine provided it was leased to the Indian Navy for 10 years. It was launched as ''K-152 Nerpa'' in October 2008 and entered service with the
Russian Navy in late 2009. The submarine was leased to the
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...
in 2011 after extensive trials, and was formally commissioned into service as INS ''
Chakra
Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...
'' with the
Eastern Naval Command
The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...
at a ceremony in
Visakhapatnam
, image_alt =
, image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura (S20), INS ...
on 4 April 2012. In June 2021 ''Chakra'' was spotted on the surface escorted by Indian and Russian warships in the
Singapore Strait
The Singapore Strait is a , strait between the Strait of Malacca in the west and the South China Sea in the east. Singapore is on the north of the channel, and the Indonesian Riau Islands are on the south. The two countries share a maritime ...
while presumably heading towards the Russian naval base in
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
; some media speculated that she was returning to Russia before the expiry of the lease term.
While ''Nerpa'' was undergoing sea trials in the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
on 8 November 2008, a
fire suppression system
Fire suppression systems are used to extinguish, control, or in some cases, entirely prevent fires from spreading or occurring. Fire suppression systems have an incredibly large variety of applications, and as such, there are many different types ...
was
accidentally activated, killing 20 civilian specialists and navy crew members and injuring 41 others.
Construction
''Nerpa'' was laid down at the
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur Rive ...
shipyard in 1993, but its completion was delayed for nearly a decade due to a lack of funds caused by the economic crisis of the early 1990s.
The partly constructed vessel was mothballed until 2004, when Rosprom (the Federal Agency for Industry) signed an agreement with the Indian government to complete the submarine and lease it to the Indian Navy. The vessel was intended to be completed by 2007, but underwent further delays. In 2007, it was transferred to the Vostok shipyard in the
closed city
A closed city or closed town is a settlement where travel or residency restrictions are applied so that specific authorization is required to visit or remain overnight. Such places may be sensitive military establishments or secret research ins ...
of
Bolshoy Kamen
Bolshoy Kamen ( rus, Большой Камень, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj ˈkamʲɪnʲ, lit. ''large stone'') is a town in the south of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the opposite side of the Ussuri Bay as seen from Lazurnaya Bay. The town was closed ...
,
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...
, for fitting-out. It was launched in October 2008 for sea trials, following which it was due to be handed over to the Russian Defence Ministry.
Reports in the Indian media suggest that the resumption of construction was underwritten with Indian funding.
The standard of the vessel's construction were criticised by several commentators. Aleksandr Golts, defence editor of the ''
Yezhednevny Zhurnal'' newspaper, said that in the 1980s, the Amur shipyard turned out submarines "one after another, like pancakes,"
but from 1993 to 2008 had produced just one. "The old specialists had left, and the new ones lacked professionalism."
An unnamed worker at the Amur shipyard told ''
Komsomolskaya Pravda
''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925.
History and profile
During the Soviet era, ...
'' that there were "questions about the quality of the metal that was used in building the nuclear submarine", some of which had been bought from China, and alleged that "when the first trials of the submarine were carried out water was leaking in between the seams! So it is not surprising that the work dragged on."
During May 2009, the repairs were reported to be almost complete and new sea trials were planned for 15–20 June. By October 2009, the work had still not been completed due to the shipyard's electrical supply having been disconnected. Nikolay Povzyk, the head of the shipyard, complained they had not been paid the 1.9 billion roubles (63.8 million dollars) owed for the work carried out on ''Nerpa''.
Lease to India
![INS Chakra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/INS_Chakra.jpg)
In 2008, Russia had an agreement pending with India worth US$2 billion for the lease of ''Nerpa'' and another
Project 971 Shchuka-B-class submarine.
Of this, ''K-152 Nerpa'' would be leased for 10 years to India at an estimated cost of US$670 million. The submarine was handed over to India on 30 December 2011. After being handed over to the Indian Navy, it was commissioned as INS ''Chakra''.
''Nerpa'' is the Russian word for the
Baikal seal
The Baikal seal, Lake Baikal seal or (''Pusa sibirica''), is a species of earless seal endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. Like the Caspian seal, it is related to the Arctic ringed seal. The Baikal seal is one of the smallest true seals a ...
, and ''
Chakra
Chakras (, ; sa , text=चक्र , translit=cakra , translit-std=IAST , lit=wheel, circle; pi, cakka) are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or ...
'' is the weapon of the Hindu god
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
.
Indian naval crews earlier trained to operate the submarine near
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and another group of sailors were expected to arrive in
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
in late 2008 for sea trials. The training of the crew was viewed as crucial to India's own nuclear submarine programme, known as the .
After the 2008 accident, there were conflicting reports over the status of the lease. A Russian defence industry official denied that talks had been held with India on the delivery of the nuclear submarine. "Russia did not launch talks on a contract to supply India with the Nerpa nuclear-powered submarine." General of the Army Nikolay Makarov stated that Russia would commission ''Nerpa'' and that it would join seven other s with Russia's
Pacific Fleet. "The sum of $650–780 million, which Rosoboronexport and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant had negotiated over a long period of time with the Indian Ministry of Defence, will now be found in Russia," he said.
In May 2009, both Russian and Indian defence officials confirmed that ''Nerpa'' would be joining the Indian Navy by the end of 2009, after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the yard and announced an immediate release of 1.2 billion roubles for the submarine's construction.
On 28 December 2009, ''Nerpa'' was commissioned and joined the Russian Navy. The submarine underwent further adjustments in February 2010. By August 2010, Russia was training a crew from the Indian Navy to sail the boat to India in fulfilment of the lease agreement.
INS ''Chakra'' was expected to be commissioned into the Indian Navy before October 2011. On 1 July 2011, Russian Navy chief Admiral
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky ( rus, links=no, Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲɵnəvʲɪtɕ vɨˈsotskʲɪj; 25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980), was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor ...
was quoted as holding that ''the Indian crew is now absolutely prepared for operating the submarine'', which will be on a 10-year lease.
On 23 January 2012, the ship was commissioned at
Bolshoy Kamen
Bolshoy Kamen ( rus, Большой Камень, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj ˈkamʲɪnʲ, lit. ''large stone'') is a town in the south of Primorsky Krai, Russia, located on the opposite side of the Ussuri Bay as seen from Lazurnaya Bay. The town was closed ...
under the command of Captain P. Ashokan. She commenced her home voyage under Indian control from the Russian port of Vladivostok to its Indian base at Visakhapatnam. An official Russian announcement of the transfer was still pending at that time. INS ''Chakra'' was inducted into the Indian Navy on 4 April 2012.
The ''Nerpa'' was returned to Russia in June 2021, ahead of the expiry of the 10 year lease, due to "increasingly unreliable powerplant and maintenance issues" besides the overall condition of the vessel which was extensively used by the Indian Navy to train crews on advanced nuclear submarines.
According to other sources, the main reason for the early return was an explosion of a high-pressure air cylinder in the spring of 2020. The cylinder was located between the two hulls and its explosion killed a crew member and damaged electronic weapons, hydro-acoustic equipment and the hulls.
The
similarly named ''Chakra'' was a
Charlie I-class submarine leased by India from Russia from 1988 to 1992.
2008 accident
An accident occurred aboard ''K-152 Nerpa'' at 8:30 PM local time on 8 November 2008, during an underwater test run in the Pacific Ocean.
A total of 208 people – 81 military personnel and 127 civilians – were on board at the time of the accident.
At least 20 people were killed by
asphyxiation
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...
and at least 21 more were injured,
making it the worst Russian
submarine disaster since ''
Kursk
Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...
'' sank in 2000.
Three of the dead were military personnel and the rest were civilians from the Vostok,
Zvezda, Era and Amur shipbuilding yards who were members of the acceptance team.
REN TV
REN TV (russian: РЕН ТВ) is a Russian free-to-air television network, was founded on 1 January 1997 by Irena Lesnevskaya and her son, Dmitry Lesnevsky, who had been running REN TV as a production house for other national Russian television ...
, Moscow, 2030 GMT 10 November 2008
The incident involved the accidental triggering of a fire extinguishing system which sealed two forward compartments and released Halon 2402 (
freon
Freon ( ) is a registered trademark of the Chemours Company and generic descriptor for a number of halocarbon products. They are stable, nonflammable, low toxicity gases or liquids which have generally been used as refrigerants and as aerosol prop ...
R-114B2),
dibromotetrafluoroethane
1,2-Dibromotetrafluoroethane (C2Br2F4) is a haloalkane. It is also known under codenames R-114B2 and Halon 2402. It is a colorless liquid with a boiling point of 47.2 °C. R-114B2 is occasionally used in fire suppression systems. It is highly vol ...
gas into them.
According to survivors, those affected by the gas release were caught off guard and may not have been alerted in time due to warning sirens sounding only after the gas had already begun pouring in. Some of the victims were reported to have been unable to turn on breathing kits before they suffocated.
On 10 November, a Russian Navy statement blamed the disaster on an "unsanctioned operation" of the fire suppression system aboard ''Nerpa''.
Preliminary investigations concluded that the system had triggered automatically without human intervention. On 13 November, naval investigators announced that a crewman had turned on the system "without permission or any particular grounds".
2017 accident
Indian media aired public reports in early October 2017 that indicated that INS ''Chakra'' had suffered damage while entering Visakhapatnam harbor, including a large hole in the sonar dome in the bow. A Russian team visited India for a joint investigation, which led to the submarine being dry docked for repairs at a cost of ₹125 crore ($20 million) to fix the damage.
2019
After the
2019 Balakot airstrike
The 2019 Balakot airstrike was a bombing raid conducted by Indian warplanes on February 26, 2019, in Balakot, Pakistan against an alleged terrorist training camp. Open source satellites imagery has revealed that no targets of consequence wer ...
that was conducted by the Indian Air Force, the Indian Navy sent INS ''Chakra'' along with to search for the Pakistani submarine which was believed to be deployed to sea.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nerpa K-152
Akula-class submarines
Ships built by Amur Shipbuilding Plant
2008 ships
Russian submarine accidents
Indian submarine accidents