''Vepr'' (K-157) (russian: Вепрь literally means "

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

") is a Project 971 ''Shchuka-B'' (also known by the

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

Akula-II) class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Russian Navy. Her keel was laid down on 16 June 1990 by

Sevmash JSC PO Sevmash ( rus, ОАО «ПО „Севмаш“», Севмаш, СМПСМП, "Severodvinsk Machine Building Plant") is a Russian joint-stock company (JSC) under the vertically-integrated United Shipbuilding Corporation. The shipbuildin ...

. She was launched on 10 December 1994, commissioned on 25 November 1995, and homeported in

Gadzhievo Gadzhiyevo (russian: Гаджи́ево) is a town under the administrative jurisdiction of the closed administrative-territorial formation of Alexandrovsk in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Yagelnaya Guba'' ( ...

. Vepr is armed with four 533 mm

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s which can use

Type 53 torpedo Type 53 is the common name for a family of 53 cm (21 inch) torpedoes manufactured in Russia, starting with the 53-27 torpedo and continuing to the modern UGST (Fizik-1), which is being replaced by the Futlyar. With the exception of the UGST ...

es, RPK-6 or the RPK-2 missiles - older type and

Kalibr The 3M-54 Kalibr, (Калибр, caliber), also referred to it as 3M54-1 Kalibr, 3M14 Biryuza (Бирюза, turquoise), (NATO reporting name SS-N-27 Sizzler and SS-N-30A) is a family of Russian cruise missiles developed by the Novator Design Bur ...

type armament,

naval mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

, and four 650 mm torpedo tubes which can use

Type 65 torpedo The Type 65 is a torpedo manufactured in the Soviet Union/Russia. It was developed for use against US Navy aircraft carrier battle groups, as well as large merchant targets such as supertankers and advanced enemy submarines. It is now typically fi ...

es, or the RPK-7 missile.

1998 incident

Shortly before midnight, 10 September 1998, ''Vepr'' was in port at

Severomorsk Severomorsk (russian: Северомо́рск), known as Vayenga () until April 18, 1951, is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Severomorsk is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. The town is located on the coast ...

with crew of its sistership K-461 Volk aboard. Alexander Kuzminykh, a 19-year-old seaman who was being detained on punishment charges, broke out from his quarters, killed his guard by stabbing him with a chisel, then seized his

AKS-74U The AK-74 (Russian: , tr. ''Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda'', lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974) is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974. While primarily associated with the Soviet U ...

assault rifle and shot dead five more sailors. He then took two hostages, whom he later killed. He barricaded himself in the torpedo room, and for 20 hours repeatedly threatened to set a fire to detonate the torpedoes. While ''Vepr'' had no nuclear weapons and her reactor was shut down, the detonation of her torpedoes while she was tied up at the dock would have ruptured her reactor, creating what the regional director of the

Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...

(FSB),

Vladimir Prikhodko Vladimir Prikhodko (1 March 1944 – 27 November 2011) was a French athlete. He competed in the men's hammer throw at the 1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly ...

described as "a nuclear catastrophe ... a second

Chernobyl Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...

." Attempts to persuade him to surrender failed. Kuzminykh's mother was flown to the naval base but was unable to persuade her son to give himself up. The situation remained a standoff until early on the morning of 12 September, when a special

anti-terrorist Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

commando unit of the Russian

(FSB) stormed the torpedo room. Early reports indicated that he had been killed by the FSB, but later reports indicated that he committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. FSB officers regretted that "there was no way to preserve Alexander Kuzminykh's life." Kuzminykh was found fit when he was conscripted at a

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 ...

enlistment office, even though he had suffered from a mental disorder and had been inhaling intoxicants. When Kuzminykh volunteered for the submarine service, he passed additional medical and psychiatric tests with high marks.

Refurbishment

The submarine was the first of the Akula classes (Project 971 and 971U) to be refurbished. All of them will be equipped to carry the Kalibr type missiles. ''Vepr'' rejoined the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

in March 2020. It is expected to remain in service for another 25–30 years. In July 2022, the submarine was monitored on the surface by NATO naval forces as she transitted from the Northern Fleet to the Baltic in company with the

Yasen-class submarine The Yasen class, Russian designations Project 885 Yasen and Project 885M Yasen-M (russian: Ясень, , ash tree, NATO reporting name: Severodvinsk), also referred to as the ''Graney'' class, are a series of nuclear-powered cruise missile subma ...

Severodvinsk Severodvinsk ( rus, Северодвинск, p=sʲɪvʲɪrɐdˈvʲinsk) is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, west of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2 ...

References

External links

deepstorm.ru// K-157
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vepr (K-157) Akula-class submarines Ships built in the Soviet Union Ships built by Sevmash 1994 ships Ships of the Russian Northern Fleet Submarines of Russia