''K-324'' was a Soviet Navy Victor III-class submarine in reserve since 1997. It was assigned to the Northern Fleet.

Service history

''K-324''s

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 29 February 1980 at Komsomolsk Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East. It was launched on 7 October 1980 and commissioned on 30 December 1980. It was the seventh submarine of the class built at Komsomolsk.

Collision

In 1981, ''K-324'' collided with an unidentified submarine of the , purportedly , in

Peter the Great Bay The Peter the Great Gulf (Russian: Залив Петра Великого) is a gulf on the southern coast of Primorsky Krai, Russia, and the largest gulf of the Sea of Japan. The gulf extends for from the Russian-North Korean border at the mout ...

, not far from

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 Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

. The submarine was heavily damaged, to all reports. The United States government denied any of their submarines were in the area, and no US submarine reported any damage during that time period, but the Soviets reported none of their submarines were in the Bay aside from ''K-324''.

Fleet transfer and operations

''K-324'' transited across the Arctic in November and was officially transferred to the Northern Fleet on 3 December 1982.

Disabled

USS Peterson (DD-969) with Victor class sub

On 31 October 1983, ''K-324'' snagged the US frigate 's towed sonar array cable west of

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, causing damage to the submarine's propeller. The submarine was towed to Cienfuegos,

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

for repairs by a Soviet

salvage ship A salvage tug, known also historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...

beginning on 5 November. Soviet technicians recovered some parts of ''McCloy''s array.

Later activities and decommissioning

''K-324'' was again involved in operations around US waters in 1985. She was reported to have detected American

SSBNs A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's Hull classification symbol#Submarine type, hull classification symbols for ballisti ...

on three occasions, tailing them for 28 hours. ''K-324'' took advantage of temperature variations in the Gulf Stream. ''K-324'' was in reserve by 1997.Project 671 Victor class
Federation of American Scientists ''K-324'' was written off in 2000 for

scrapping Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

References

External links

Mystery of the Black Prince (in Russian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:K-324 Victor-class submarines Ships built in the Soviet Union 1980 ships Cold War submarines of the Soviet Union Soviet submarine accidents Maritime incidents in 1981 Maritime incidents in 1983 1983 in military history