Although the Cold War officially came to an end with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, decades of competition and suspicion between the former rivals did not disappear overnight. The United States continued to keep a close watch on the military capabilities and operations of Russia’s naval forces, particularly its submarine fleet.
As part of these intelligence and surveillance efforts, U.S. Navy submarines remained engaged in monitoring activities beneath the world’s oceans. One such mission led to an unforeseen and potentially dangerous encounter when an American nuclear submarine collided with a Russian nuclear submarine underwater. The incident created an awkward situation for both governments and underscored the lingering tensions that persisted even after the Cold War had formally concluded.
The Cold War had ended, but the spying had not
Russia was in political and financial chaos after the Soviet Union fell, but that did not make their military, especially their powerful Navy, any less deadly. The US Navy began studying the movement and communications of the Russian Navy in their ports, by listening for vessels and tapping into Russian communication cables on the seabed. These operations were known as “Operation Holy Stone.”
In February of 1992, a US Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine, the USS Baton Rouge, was near the Russian port of Severomorsk as part of these intelligence-gathering missions. Officially, the US submarine was in this location collecting or placing listening apparatus on the seabed.
The crew continued with their mission in the belief they were completely alone and undetected.
11 February 1992
Roughly 12 miles offshore, in waters the United States regarded as international, the USS Baton Rouge unexpectedly collided with the Russian submarine B-276 Kostroma, a 9,000-ton, nuclear-powered Sierra-class vessel, sending a powerful jolt through both crews.
The accident happened as the Kostroma was surfacing and struck the Baton Rouge at an estimated 8 mph. Although the relative speed was low, the enormous weight of the submarines made the collision dangerous. Both vessels suffered substantial damage but were still able to return to their home ports under their own power.
As it surfaced, the Kostroma damaged its conning tower, while the Baton Rouge was left with deep scrapes and a ruptured ballast tank. No sailors were injured in the incident. The American submarine, however, faced an added danger because its single-hull design meant that any breach could have allowed seawater to enter the vessel, potentially leading to a catastrophic outcome.
Political reaction
The collision soon became a diplomatic headache for the United States because it revealed that American forces were continuing to monitor Russian naval operations after the Cold War. U.S. officials insisted that the incident occurred in international waters, whereas Russian authorities contended that the American submarine had crossed into Russian territorial waters without authorization.
According to the U.S. government, the USS Baton Rouge was conducting a mission involving the deployment and monitoring of underwater listening devices. Russian officials disputed that account, arguing instead that the two submarines had detected one another and were actively engaged in a prolonged contest of tracking and counter-tracking beneath the surface. Several analysts have found this explanation plausible, noting that it would have been difficult for the Baton Rouge to operate so close to Russian waters without attracting the attention of anti-submarine forces.
Despite the controversy surrounding the circumstances, most observers agree that the collision itself was accidental. In a gesture viewed as professionally responsible, the Baton Rouge reportedly returned to the vicinity after the incident to evaluate the condition of the Russian submarine and verify that it had not sustained critical damage.
The event attracted enough international attention to trigger discussions between U.S. Secretary of State James Baker and Boris Yeltsin. Those talks were intended to reduce tensions and provide greater clarity regarding the actions and intentions of both nations.
What happened to the submarines?
#270546 / Darryl Baker)
Once Baton Rouge was back in home waters, the full extent of the damage was assessed, and the decision was made to scrap the vessel. The submarine was due to be refueled, which is an expensive and long process for nuclear-powered vessels. This, combined with the costs of repairing her damaged hull meant it was uneconomic to keep the submarine in service. She was struck from service in early 1993 and scrapped later in the year at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
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The Russian submarine did not suffer from the same fate and enjoyed a long career after the event. She was repaired at the Nerpa shipyards in Snezhnogorsk by June 29, 1992. Kostroma received a major refit in 2005, before again returning to service.
One of the most recent upgrades to the Russian submarine was the addition of an updated Kizhuch sonar complex.
Today, she is in reserve and bears a number “1” kill marker on her conning tower, for her part in Baton Rouge‘s accidental defeat.