The Fate of K-19 submarine

In the same year the movie was released about this submarine, the real K-19 was slated to be 'scrapped' by a shipyard in Russia.

'Scrapped' don't seem to apply here, since 2006 the sub was then sold to Alexander Romanov, a Russian-Lithuanian banker who happens to own the Edinburgh 'Hearts' soccer club. Romanov as it turns out, served as a cook for several years on board the sub after the nuclear accident.

In the same year, the Gorbachev foundation nominated the late first captain of the K-19, Zatayev to the Nobel prize.

As of June 2007, the conning tower of the sub is being renovated to be shipped to Moscow as a museum.

Some trivia about the movie.

The sub was never called "Widowmaker". The nickname is 'Hiroshima'.

Unlike the age portrayed by Harrison Ford, Zatayev was only 35 years old at the time of the first accident.

The submarine used in the movie is actually K-77, a Juliette class sub. This is a diesel powered sub that can launch cruise missiles.

K-77 has a bizarre post service history by itself. It was one of two subs bought to become a floating restaurant and bar in Finland. When that venture failed, it was towed to Florida on lease to a promoter as a tourist site, and subsequently offered for sale in ebay, where it caught the eyes of a movie making company. After K-77 finished its mission as a movie set for K-19, it was sold to a museum in Rhode Island, and in April of 2007, got sunk after a storm.

During the years when K-77 was in Helsinki, we often went to Estonia in the summer and the port where the ferry set of to the gulf of finland was right next to the K-77. We often stayed the night in the harbour in caravan as the ferry left early in the mornig so I remember spending hours and hours just watching the submarine. It was a museum ship but was almoust always closed exept in one occasion when I finally got change to visit inside the ship. It was quite an expereince, if you are claustrophobic I can't image how horrible it might have been becouse even I felt some sort of distress inside those narrow passageways. The general athomosphere was equally haunting as I was the sole person aside my brother inside the ship. So as keen I was to look and wonder all the interesting gizmoes inside, I couldn't stay too long inside, at age of around 10, I knew I wont beocme a submariner