page_title: Soviet submarine K-219
hierarchical_section_title: Soviet submarine K-219
context_page_description: K-219 was a Project 667A Navaga-class ballistic missile submarine of the Soviet Navy. It carried 16 R-27U liquid-fuel missiles powered by UDMH with nitrogen tetroxide, and equipped with either 32 or 48 nuclear warheads.
  K-219 was involved in what has become one of the most controversial submarine incidents during the Cold War on Friday 3 October 1986. The 15-year-old vessel, which was on an otherwise routine Cold War nuclear deterrence patrol in the North Atlantic 1,090 kilometres northeast of Bermuda, suffered an explosion and fire in a missile tube. When the seal in a missile hatch cover failed, saltwater entered the missile tube and reacted with residue from the missile's liquid fuel. Though there was no official announcement, the Soviet Union claimed the leak was caused by a collision with the submarine USS Augusta.
  Although the Augusta was operating within the area both the United States Navy and the commander of K-219, Captain Second Rank Igor Britanov, deny that a collision took place.
context_section_description: K-219 was a Project 667A Navaga-class ballistic missile submarine (NATO reporting name Yankee I) of the Soviet Navy. It carried 16 R-27U liquid-fuel missiles powered by UDMH with nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and equipped with either 32 or 48 nuclear warheads.
  K-219 was involved in what has become one of the most controversial submarine incidents during the Cold War on Friday 3 October 1986. The  15-year-old vessel, which was on an otherwise routine Cold War nuclear deterrence patrol in the North Atlantic 1,090 kilometres (680 mi) northeast of Bermuda, suffered an explosion and fire in a missile tube. When the seal in a missile hatch cover failed, saltwater entered the missile tube and reacted with residue from the missile's liquid fuel. Though there was no official announcement, the Soviet Union claimed the leak was caused by a collision with the submarine USS Augusta. 
  Although the Augusta was operating within the area both the United States Navy and the commander of K-219, Captain Second Rank Igor Britanov, deny that a collision took place. 
  The incident was novelized in the book Hostile Waters, which reconstructed the incident from descriptions by the survivors, ships' logs, the official investigations, and participants both ashore and afloat from the Soviet and the American sides.
caption: US Navy photo of K-219 on the surface after suffering a fire in a missile tube
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