Submarine’s torpedo compartment was on fire

Revealing photos of the nuclear powered submarine “Yekaterinburg” from before and during last week’s fire clearly indicate that the flames come from inside the torpedo-compartment.

A photo taken of “Yekaterinburg” in the floating dock in Roslyakova before the fire started on December 29th shows a large cut in the hull on the port side of the submarine. The hull is near the front bow, the part where the torpedo compartment is located.

A large cut in the hull in the torpedo compartment of the submarine before the fire started.

A second photo, , shows that the massive flames are coming out from the same cut in the hull. Blogger51 is a portal in Murmansk well known for posting information you normally don’t find in other Russian media.

Massive flames coming out of the cut in the hull on the port side of the submarine. 

A third photo, taken after the fire was finally extinguished after 20 hours, shows that not much of the acoustic rubber coating on the surface of the submarine hull is damaged by the fire. The images contradict earlier statements that the fire stroked the outer hull.

Northern fleet spokesman Capt. 1st rank Vadim Serga told RIA Novosti that the wooden scaffolding around the submarine caught fire, which spread to the submarine’s outer hull.

Unable to say who provided images he says  …this was shocking, I earlier incorrectly suggested that the markings on the front end came from an external fire, but here it is clear that the fairing was damaged from inside. Concerning the rubber coating, on the junction on the right side are not as many burned fragments of rubber coating, as dismantled ones.

The fire and the reasons for the fire are a hot topic in social media like Facebook, Vkontakte and Twitter in the Murmansk region.

The question many ask is; why was there a large cut in the hull of the submarine’s torpedo compartment? What combustible material inside the hull made such large flames over such long period and why was it so difficult to extinguish the fire?

Submarine experts say the investigators appointed to look into the cause of the fire have many good questions to answers. As BarentsObserver reported on Monday, President Dmitri Medvedev has instructed Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to conduct a thorough investigation to find good answers to what happened with “Yekaterinburg” last Thursday.