Top Secret Only Copy Working record SESSION OF THE POLITBURO OF THE CC CPSU 6 October 1986 Chaired by cde GORBACHEV M S Present cdes Aliev G A Gromyko A A Zaikov L N Ligachev Ye K Ryzhkov N I Solomentsev M S Chebrikov V M Dolgikh V I Yeltsin B N Sokolov S L Talyzin N V Biryukova A P Dobrynin A F Zimyanin M V Razumovsky G P Yakovlev A N Kapitonov I V 1 About the loss of nuclear submarine of the USSR Navy GORBACHEV On October 6 at 11 03 a m a nuclear submarine of the USSR Navy which suffered an accident in the Sargasso Sea has sunk at a great depth The crew was evacuated by other vessels which reached the submarine There are no losses among the crew with the exception of those about which we were informed earlier The cause of the accident and of the loss of the submarine is not yet clear Could it have happened due to lack of competence of the crew or because of cowardice SOKOLOV The boat sunk notwithstanding the fact that the pressurized air reserve was not used up GORBACHEV The events developed the following way the boat was taken for towing but the tow cord broke Again—not clear why In short—one mystery after another Lev Nikolaevich says that at the depth of 700 meters the pressure of water will squash the boat Again—it is unclear what would happen in that event One would think that all these issues had to be thought through in advance We also do not know whether radioactivity would spread and to what degree The Americans were observing the process of emergency evacuation A question arises can they raise our boat to the surface and if yes then what kind of information can they obtain DOBRYNIN Several years ago the Americans raised a section of our submarine which sunk in the Pacific Ocean GORBACHEV Our quick reaction and information about the accident on the boat had its result Reagan thanked us for the information The Americans even offered their assistance and informed us that their planes will be present in the area of the accident In his conversation with Dobrynin Caul sic 1 especially noted the speed of our reaction and said that it has great 1 Raul Castro Misspelled in the document importance for informing the world public because previously they would learn about such things from American media reports So far we do not have information about whether the command and control equipment was destroyed after the crew left the boat SOKOLOV Not everything was destroyed GORBACHEV But there should be some documents which define precisely what could be left and what must be destroyed in case of an accident SOKOLOV We have such documents DOBRYNIN But a lot depends on the time factor It might be impossible to fulfill all these requirements GROMYKO Airplanes have “black boxes ” Were similar appliances removed from the submarine GORBACHEV Yes these appliances were removed They are on our ship which conducted the salvage operation SOKOLOV It is possible that some items had not been destroyed because they were confident that the boat would not sink and they would be able to tow it GORBACHEV As far as information about the loss of the boat it would be expedient to act in the same way as we acted last time i e to send information to the Americans the IAEA and the TASS Besides we should inform leaders of the socialist countries as well In our information we should reiterate that according to the conclusion of the experts a possibility of a nuclear explosion is ruled out after the boat has sunk At the same time we could say that the experts see a possibility of radioactive contamination at great depth after a certain period of time GROMYKO But we should add that it would not be dangerous in scale GORBACHEV Maybe we should put it in a more general form “Experts are studying the consequences of the loss of the boat ” RYZHKOV This is better GROMYKO And by all means we should issue a statement via TASS so that our own people know about the loss of the boat GORBACHEV Yes we should make this statement on the radio and television and urgently without waiting till the end of the day Now let us hear cde B N Chernavin’s report CHERNAVIN USSR Deputy Defense Minister I am reporting The USSR Chief of Navy Commission analyzed the situation with the submarine which suffered an accident around the clock it developed recommendations and passed them on to the commander of the submarine We did everything to try to save it But it proved impossible At 11 03 a m the submarine sunk at the depth of 5 5 thousand meters How did events develop after the last Politburo session Our emergency vessels reached the boat and evacuated the crew The boat stayed on the surface Brown smoke was coming out of the destroyed shaft It was decided to fight for saving the boat A reconnaissance team was dispatched on the boat which conducted inspection of the entire hull of the boat by hand to locate the exact place that was heated GORBACHEV Don’t they have sensors to do that CHERNAVIN No After the investigation they found that the hull was not heated Then it was decided to send the people inside the boat They inspected the first second and third compartments which turned out to be dry The accumulator battery was also in working order But the third compartment had some gas accumulation Apparently gas seeped in from the fourth compartment through the ventilation system which encircles the entire submarine GORBACHEV No leak was found CHERNAVIN A report came in stating that three compartments were dry GORBACHEV What did the control instruments show they were located in one of these compartments were they not CHERNAVIN The instruments showed that the air supply was at 45% GORBACHEV What about the reactor CHERNAVIN The reactor has been shut down Everything was at zero Trim was about one degree They decided to blow the tanks The trim decreased to 0 5% This is not dangerous because the accident trim is 7-8 percent GORBACHEV Who determined the cable length to tow the boat CHERNAVIN The calculations were done by specialists GORBACHEV What was the location of the towline break CHERNAVIN That hasn’t been established yet it’s night over there dark and high waves GORBACHEV Maybe the towing cable pulled the boat down CHERNAVIN No its weight is incommensurable with the weight of the submarine MASLYUKOV Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR The tow cable could have nothing to do with the loss of the boat CHERNAVIN The commission’s decision-making was further complicated by the absence of worrisome reports At this time we cannot make definitive judgments about the causes of the sinking We only have speculations It cannot be ruled out that water entered the nose section but it is unclear why Yesterday’s information was as follows they blew the tanks again manually probed the fourth emergency compartment and reported that it has two parts – heated and not heated Specialists concluded that there was water in the lower cold part What are the reasons for its penetration Possibly this happened because of leakage in the bulkheads and water coming in from the fourth compartment into others Leaking could occur because of water coming into the ventilators and also through the communication lines The seals could have been corroded by oxidants GORBACHEV This couldn’t be sabotage CHERNAVIN We do not have data to make such a conclusion GORBACHEV Why did the fire start after the submarine surfaced CHERNAVIN It is unclear However we do have a hint A representative from the Special department who was on the submarine suggested that there could have been a short circuit during the water pump’s activation in the fourth compartment It could have been that before turning it on they didn’t check the power supply GORBACHEV So they were incompetent CHERNAVIN For now we have no concrete information This is just a hunch However we know one thing for sure water did enter the fourth compartment GORBACHEV Have documents and codes been withdrawn CHERNAVIN Yes They are on the ship Allow me to continue the presentation on the course of events A towline was attached to the submarine and its towing began However today at 8 05 we received a report that the towline broke and the submarine submerged by another meter We gave a command to blow its main ballast tanks The captain responded that this was impossible because the front hatch was in the water and the central hatch was jammed GORBACHEV Why were there people on top of the submarine and not inside Were they being cautious Could the commission’s instructions have limited the people’s initiative CHERNAVIN No we have not limited the initiative During the period of time between 9 00 and 9 45 the events developed very quickly The submarine started to sink We gave permission to nine people who were on the submarine to disembark A command was given to the captain to disembark as well He refused Only when he received an order from the Commander in Chief did he get into a dinghy and left the submarine At 11 03 the submarine has sunk GORBACHEV Did you try to estimate what would happen with the submarine after it sinks before the sinking or were there preliminary estimates done beforehand CHERNAVIN Such estimates do exist in principle I know the relevant data by heart Specialists on the nosecone say that there won’t be a nuclear explosion Under certain circumstances 40 Kg of TNT may go off but again this will not bring about a nuclear explosion The plutonium will disperse and sink Regarding the charges they are contained in a metal ball After it sinks to the bottom a corrosion process will begin which will lead to the spread of radioactivity However it will be limited and will not reach the surface This is a long-term process GORBACHEV And what will happen to the reactor MASLYUKOV There will also be corrosion but it happens very slowly over decades GORBACHEV If the Americans raise our submarine to the surface what information can they get CHERNAVIN It’s possible that they’ll take an interest in the nosecone and the reactor’s construction However there are no new secrets there because this submarine is an older design Also the punch cards may interest the Americans GORBACHEV Why weren’t they withdrawn CHERNAVIN They are located in a special safe We do not have precise information about their fate GORBACHEV How is the submarine’s captain characterized CHERNAVIN His entire service was on submarines he’s been a captain since 1984 This was his third patrol AKHROMEYEV Regarding the punch cards they may give away information only in the case one knows the exactly planned location for a missile launch KOKSANOV First Deputy Minister of the Shipbuilding Industry The second part of the emergency situation is unclear One could imagine that they mistook the smoke that had proliferated across the entire submarine through the ventilation system as the fire DOBRYNIN Perhaps several ships should be left at the location of the accident so as to deny the Americans an opportunity to try to raise the submarine GORBACHEV We should look into this On the whole we should impartially objectively and thoroughly find out the reasons for the accident and the loss of the submarine Further as I already said it is important to get a message about what has happened to the socialist countries the Americans the IAEA and make a report via TASS Herewith it is necessary to specify that there is no threat of a nuclear explosion or nuclear contamination To prevent the Americans from raising the submarine we should say that we are developing organizational and technical measures connected with further steps related to what has occurred LIGACHEV In the TASS report it’s important to say that the personnel of the sunken submarine was evacuated to Soviet ships that arrived GROMYKO Reasons remain unclear We need to sort them out completely GORBACHEV Considering this exchange of ideas let’s adopt a resolution reflecting the following points First of all to take into account the information of comrade Chernyavin V N about the measures taken to rescue the submarine and the circumstances of its loss Second comrade L N Zaykov’s commission will continue studying the causes of the submarine accident and will report the results to the Central Committee Politburo Third the Ministry of Defense of the USSR Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Commanders of the various armed services must adopt additional measures of raising the organization and discipline and also implementing the operating rules of military technology excluding emergencies Fourth inform the Americans leadership of the socialist countries IAEA and Soviet public about the submarine’s loss Members of the Politburo Agreed The resolution is adopted X X X GORBACHEV I am working now on the materials for negotiations with Reagan I will send personally to you the proposals on the main positions for the talks on issues of nuclear disarmament as well as the draft of agreements as coordinated directives of the General Secretary of the CPSU and the U S President to Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the USA about preparation of the agreements on issues of nuclear disarmament I am asking you to read them carefully and prepare your comments and we will meet to exchange opinions on them on October 8 MEMBERS OF THE POLITBURO Agreed Signed A Lukyanov Source The Volkogonov Collection Reel 18 U S Library of Congress Translated for the National Security Archive by Svetlana Savranskaya and Tal Solovey