Global InformationSubmarine incident off Kildin Island information
| Submarine incident off Kildin Island | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Operation Holy Stone | |||||||
 USS Baton Rouge awaiting disposal at Mare Island (1995) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States |
 Russia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Captain Gordon Kremer |
 Cdr. Igor Lokot[3] | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 Los Angeles-class submarine | 1 Sierra-class submarine | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 nuclear submarine heavily damaged | 1 nuclear submarine damaged | ||||||
  class=notpageimage| Location within Russia | |||||||
The submarine incident off Kildin Island was a collision between the US Navy nuclear submarine USS Baton Rouge and the Russian Navy nuclear submarine B-276 Kostroma near the Russian naval base of Severomorsk on 11 February 1992. The incident occurred while the US unit was engaged in a covert mission, apparently aimed at intercepting Russian military communications. Although most sources claim that the American submarine was trailing her Russian counterpart, some authors believe that neither Kostroma nor Baton Rouge had been able to locate each other before the collision.
- ^ "In late 1993, it was announced that one of the oldest Los Angeles class boats, the USS Baton Rouge, would be decommissioned and placed in reserve. The official reason for this was that the boat was due for a very expensive refueling and the cost of this could not be justified in the current environment. However, confidential European sources have pointed out that the Baton Rouge was involved in a collision with a Russian Sierra class submarine and had not been to sea since. This, they suggested, pointed to serious pressure hull damage rather than refueling costs as being responsible for the decommissioning." Warships Forecast, February 1997.
- ^ "Baton Rouge was due to be re-fueled, a lengthy and expensive proposition. Military budget cutbacks apparently did not allow for the additional expense of the repairs needed, and Baton Rouge was placed "In Commission, In Reserve" on 01 November 1993. This status meant that the Navy effectively retired Baton Rouge from service. Most of the crew was reassigned to other duties, and preparations were begun to safely shut the nuclear reactor down so that the radioactive fuel rods could be removed later, during the scrapping process (known as "submarine recycling" and performed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington). She had been in service less than 16 years (from the time she was commissioned until she was placed in ICIR status). (...) The extent of the damage has not been publicly disclosed, but must be inferred from the fact that the Baton Rouge was decommissioned, rather than repaired." Stitz, Gregory: Peacetime Submarine losses. Texas Maritime Academy, Texas A & M University at Galveston, 1996.
- ^ "Sub wreck won't alter US policy". NewspaperArchive.com. Independent Examiner by Associated Press, Feb 19, 1992, p. 14. 19 February 1992. Retrieved 1 July 2023.