Legendary Russian Submarine to Become Museum in Moscow

A reconstruction of K-19, the first Russian nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, is scheduled to become a museum in Moscow.

K-19 was a Hotel-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the first in the Soviet Navy. She was involved in several serious accidents during her career. The most notible accident was on 04 July 1961, when her reactor suffered a serious accident. Eight officers and crewmen died of radiation poisoning while making repairs.

The accident was the basis for the movie, "K-19: The Widowmaker" in 2002. In the movie, the museum submarine K-77, a Juliett-class diesel-powered cruise missile submarine was used to portray K-19. A Canadian submarine was also used in the movie to play the role of a second Russian submarine.