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It is impossible to escape or hide from a tsunami. And it is quite difficult to predict it. But this is if we are talking about a natural disaster. In this video you will learn which super-powerful submarine is capable of causing nuclear tsunamis. And could such a submarine become a safe haven during a global cataclysm? Throughout history, the power and size of submarines have only increased. One of the first submarines, built specifically for the English King James I over 400 years ago, could barely fit the ruler himself.
Here is the submarine U-31, created during the First World War, which was already designed for 35 people. But the Cold War gave birth to real monsters. Nowadays, submarines simply cannot be small, because at least a hundred people have to service the vessel Today, leading countries are building fourth-generation submarines, which must have at least two nuclear reactors on board. In addition, the submarine must accommodate several missile and torpedo compartments, a turbine chamber, a control center, and space for crew cabins. And this is no less than 150 m in length. But what about a colossus that is twice as big?
Meet the largest submarine, the Russian boat project Pilgrim. Its length is as much as 360 m. And in addition to the two standard ones, an additional nuclear reactor is installed on board the vessel. Together, they are capable of generating 110 MW of energy, which is enough to power over 11,000 homes in New York City. If the Pilgrim is equipped with as many as three reactors, then there should be enough space on board for hundreds of nuclear torpedoes to intimidate the entire world, right? Actually, there are zero missiles here. This submarine was designed solely to transport liquefied natural gas between continents.
Such a giant could transport significantly more gas at a time than a conventional tanker. Moreover, the Pilgrim, if built, could even break through Arctic ice with it. But let's hope that the Russians won't be up for this. In any case, in the sea, a pilgrim is like a huge whale or completely safe. However, true, fully motile sharks can also lurk underwater. Shark. This is the name of another Russian submarine, which in design closely resembles the lead submarine of the American fleet, the Ohio. But which one is more powerful and deadly? Both submarines were launched in 1981 at the height of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union and the United States were ready to use nuclear weapons at any moment. The shark is only slightly bigger
than Ohio. Its length is 173 m. However, it is as much as 11 m wider than its American counterpart. This increases the shark's underwater displacement by as much as 30,000 tons. Each of the 24 ballistic missiles of the American submarine Ohio is capable of completely wiping out a coastal city with an area of 300 km². But what is a more massive shark capable of? Actually, the same thing. In this case, the size of the Russian submarine is not an advantage, but a disadvantage. They simply had to make it so big. After all, Soviet torpedoes at that time, with the same power, were much larger than American weapons.
It turns out that the size of a submarine does not directly affect its destructive power and it is This Russian submarine is named after the brightest star in the northern hemisphere. Is she also the most outstanding in the world of submarines The length of the Arcturus is only 133 m. However, this plays into the ship's hands, because together with the new sloping hull and special coating, it becomes invisible to locators. According to most independent experts, this technology can be considered a breakthrough in global shipping. At a speed that is typical for submarines, the Arcturus can silently approach the enemy's shores. Moreover,
it is not afraid of patrols by other submarines, because the latest equipment is capable of finding traces of enemy submarines by the level of chemicals and radiation in the water and immediately destroying them. Surrogacy drones are capable of attacking enemy ships at a distance of up to 800 nautical miles. It's like the road from Washington to New Orleans. The crew of the Arcturus has the opportunity to play a real naval battle, but the stakes in such a game are too high. If the submarine successfully reaches the enemy's coast, it will simultaneously launch 12 nuclear ballistic missiles. The total
charge of these warheads is thousands of times greater than the power of the baby dropped on Hiroshima. Unlike the Shark and Ohio, Arcturus may not even be aimed at a specific city, because the explosion of nuclear weapons will cause water vibrations that will lead to a nuclear tsunami from a height of 500 m. In a few minutes, such a radioactive wave will wash away all coastal cities in America. That is, two Arcturus submarines, located in each hemisphere, can easily sink all island states and even cause irreparable damage to most mainland regions. If, in response to such aggression, the United States deploys the entire nuclear potential of its fleet, a real nuclear winter will come on earth.
However, there is one but. At the moment, no one has seen the Arcturus submarine yet. The Russian government has only provided a detailed plan for the new submarine, but nothing is known about its testing yet. Perhaps this is just another tale to intimidate the United States government, because in an arms race, all means will be used. Nevertheless, the Kremlin still has one very dangerous vessel. Submarine Belgorod. The Belgorod can accommodate six torpedoes. Poseidon with a nuclear warhead with a yield of up to 100 megatons. One such torpedo is about 20 m long, which is almost the size of a school bus. A kamikaze submarine bus with a nuclear
charge capable of delivering devastating radioactive contamination is no worse than a single bomb with a cobalt shell. Such an explosion would completely destroy all life in an area of about 25 square kilometers. And that's like three New Yorks. Belgorod is one of a kind and only one such submarine has been subordinate to the President of the Russian Federation since July 2022. Maybe he really would like to destroy half the world right now, but after the invasion of Ukraine, we all know that the Russian military's desires clearly differ from its capabilities.
Nevertheless, submarines can indeed be a serious threat, but can they also become a reliable refuge during a global catastrophe? In the past 10 years alone, giant waves have caused tragedy in Japan, Indonesia, Greenland, and other island nations. As a result, at least 30,000 people died and at least 20,000 more went missing. We now have a developed network of sensors that warn of an approaching tsunami. However, the population often simply does not have time to evacuate in time. But what if such a catastrophe becomes truly global? UNESCO's leading oceanographer Bernardo Aliaga claims that sea levels will rise significantly by 2030. The last time this happened on Earth was 6,000 years ago. On the ice sheets, melting ice blocks
will crash into the ocean, leading to a series of giant tsunamis. Huge waves will wash away most of Europe's coastal cities. And, oddly enough, submarines may be our only salvation. Usually, the so-called base of a tsunami wave begins to form at a depth of about 40 m. Therefore, in order to escape from the cataclysm, it is enough to simply descend below this mark in a submarine. However, members of the crew of military submarines note that even at such a depth, the effects of the tsunami are felt quite strongly. In such conditions, even experienced sailors can easily catch seasickness, not to mention unprepared civilians.
Moreover, the underwater shock waves from an earthquake can still throw a submarine onto a sandbar, where it will be completely helpless. And even if a collision with land is avoided, the unnatural position can disable most of the ship's equipment, including the batteries. But, as an option, we can go even lower. At a depth of about 120 m, we definitely won't be pulled into a whirlpool. But such an emergency dive would mean a series of various maneuvers and overloads. And this, in turn, can lead to overheating of the reactor and even its complete failure. This is exactly what happened with the K-27 submarine, created under the Soviet Project 645. In the nuclear reactors of this Soviet submarine, the coolant was an
unusual water mixture, liquid metal. Just like in the second terminator. In practice, such an innovative solution turned out to be, to put it mildly, not the most successful. Emergency situations with the reactor on board this vessel occurred so often that the submarine was even nicknamed Nagasaki. So the tragedy was bound to happen sooner or later. On May 24, 1968, while the K-27 was on routine tests in the Barents Sea, a severe storm struck, which the Soviets compared to a tsunami. It caused a failure in the core of a nuclear facility and the liquid metal simply melted everything around it. The entire submarine crew of 105 people received a
radiation dose of 600 to 1,000 microroentgen. This is hundreds of times higher than the permissible norm. Nine sailors died on the spot. The submarine's radiation contamination after the accident was so severe that it was decided to decommission it and then sink it in the Kara Sea. But even if such a fate can still be avoided, don't rush to rejoice. After all, rescue from a tsunami can be significantly more complicated if the tsunami is caused by the fall of an asteroid. Sooner or later, the Earth will collide with an asteroid. If it exceeds 400 m in diameter, only a few will be able to escape Apparently, a cataclysm of this scale could also be experienced in a submarine.
Indeed, if the asteroid doesn't fall in close proximity to the ship, we might actually be able to just swim away from the problems. Oddly enough, the most terrifying event for an armored submarine could be an underwater earthquake caused by an asteroid with subsequent ground subsidence. If our ship accidentally finds itself too close to the epicenter, severe damage to the hull is unlikely to be avoided. But every submarine has special equipment that helps prevent this. Sonars, capable of detecting the smallest water vibrations and sound pulses, can help us. At the first signs of an approaching cataclysm, they will use an audio signal to notify you of the need to urgently move to a calmer area.
However, the data from even such a highly sensitive device can be inaccurate. In 2018, a group of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania developed a so-called anti-sonar. A device capable of intercepting and refracting acoustic waves underwater. Thus, if a foreign submarine with such a device were to appear on our path, the enemies would easily knock us off course or direct us to the very epicenter of the earthquake. Then the underwater vehicle will simply sprinkle soil on the boat. Contrary to popular belief, a submarine cannot lie down on the bottom and wait out the disaster there.
Some models are capable of this. However, such a maneuver is always associated with enormous risk. After all, if any of the devices fails down there in the submarine, it is unlikely that they will ever find it. Stealth is one of the main advantages of submarines on the battlefield, but in this situation it works against us. A submarine covered in soil is unlikely to be detected even by anti-submarine aircraft. But we can go astray without the intervention of enemy technology, but through ordinary whales. Former sailor Roy Gilbert told how he and other crew members found themselves in a difficult situation while diving near the Bahamas. At first everything went well, but at some point the
submarine was surrounded by several whales. Each of them made specific sounds. Apparently, the sailors caught them during their mating season. But the whale songs made the submarine practically blind. Due to strong fluctuations in the water, the sonar on board gave an error. The instruments seemed to indicate that the submarine was approaching a dangerous seismic zone. But what happens after the boat is covered with earth, and why is it so scary? The problem isn't even that after a while we'll run out of supplies. Soon, softened soil will enter the heat exchanger shafts, which will lead to general overheating of the wiring. Yes, we will be able to wait out the earthquake, but then we will all
die in the fire. as well as the entire crew of the K8 submarine. On April 12, 1970, the USSR conducted one of its largest tactical military exercises in the Bay of Biscay. During a planned ascent from a depth of 150 m, a fire broke out on the K-8 submarine, caused by a short circuit in the equipment's electrical circuits. The fire began to spread rapidly throughout the boat, reaching, in particular, the reactor compartment. To prevent a nuclear disaster, the power plant personnel put out the fire, risking their own lives. The submarine successfully surfaced and the crew's evacuation began. However, a storm raged on the surface of the bay in those days, the strength of which reached eight points. Due to the rough seas, as well as damage caused to the submarine
by fire, it lost its stability. Despite all the sailors' attempts to carry out the order of the military command and save the submarine at all costs, four days after the fire, K8 sank. On board at that time were 52 of the 104 crew members, as well as the ship's captain, Savlot Bessonov. Currently, K8, along with two nuclear reactors, as well as four unused nuclear torpedoes, is at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean 500 km off the coast of Spain. But even if we manage to swim away from the land slides and avoid the fire, how long will people be able to stay on the ship? Recently, environmental expert Ian Johnson studied in detail all previous cases of meteorite falls and concluded that such an event most often leads to a chain reaction.
In the event of a collision, various disasters will rage on our planet for a year and a half. Without the necessary food, submarines can remain underwater for several years. However, people usually die faster. The limit for experienced sailors is 180 days, while an untrained person can only last three months. In addition, especially vulnerable people can go crazy. However, even such a slim chance of survival will not be available to everyone. To evacuate the entire population of, for example, America, you need to build a submarine with an area of about 500,000 sq. m. And that's like the entire area of Spain.
If we consider more realistic options, then individual enthusiasts can purchase a private submarine yacht, Migalu. The submarine, designed by Motion Code Blue, is 115 m long. On board it is located a swimming pool, a cinema, a helipad, and a library. a gym, laundry room and several relaxation areas. And it costs just over $2 billion.
