Russian deep submergence rescue vehicle AS - 28 AS - 28 is a of the Russian Navy , which entered service in 1986 . It was designed for submarine rescue operations by the Lazurit design bureau in Nizhny Novgorod . It is long , high , and can operate up to a depth of . Training accident . On August 5 , 2005 " AS - 28 " , under the command of Lieutenant Vyacheslav Milashevskiy , became entangled with the aerial of a hydrophone array off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula , in Berezovaya Bay , 70 km southeast of Petropavlovsk - Kamchatskiy , Kamchatka Oblast . The aerial , anchored by 60 - tonne concrete blocks , snared the propeller of the submarine , and the submarine then sank to the seafloor at a depth of 190 m ( 600 ft ) . This was too deep for the ship ' s complement of seven to leave the submarine and swim to the surface . The British rescuers and Russian officials stated that fishing net s also had entangled the vessel . On August 6 , Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Ivanov to fly to Petropavlovsk - Kamchatsky to oversee the rescue operation , which was under the command of the Commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet , Admiral Viktor Fedorov . On August 7 , all seven sailors were rescued after the cables snaring their submarine were cut by a British remotely operated vehicle ( ROV ) . The submarine surfaced at 4 : 26 p . m . local time on Sunday and all seven crewmen exited the vessel without assistance . International appeal . The Russian Navy requested assistance after at least 24 hours , much faster than their response when the " Kursk " sank on August 12 , 2000 . It was suggested that the Russians may have called for help so quickly this time as they were on a recent exercise with NATO forces for just such an eventuality . Immediate support was offered by the Royal Navy , Japan Maritime Self - Defense Force and the United States Navy . The United Kingdom sent a Scorpio 45 ROV via C - 17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft and a team to operate it . Japan sent four ships with rescue equipment . The United States sent two unmanned Super Scorpio ROVs from San Diego and a Deep Drone ROV from Landover , Maryland , both airlifted via C - 5 Galaxy and C - 17 transports , respectively . Each unmanned vehicle was also accompanied by a team to operate it . It was intended that these unmanned rescue vessels , with their robotic arms , would be able to cut the nets or cables that anchored the submarine . A pair of Canadian divers and their deep sea diving suits accompanied the U . S . mission via the C - 5 transporting the USN Scorpios , to directly assess the situation on the seabed if necessary . The American ROVs never left the dock , although their C - 5 cargo plane arrived only two hours after the British crew . The British did not have the necessary heavy lifting equipment , nor were they provided by the Russians . When the American rescue team arrived one and a half hours after the British , they used their own heavy lifting equipment which they brought with them to help unload the British command cabin for the ROV . The British mission was a success . Rescue . Russian admiral Fedorov ( Fyodorov ) first discussed using explosives to cut the antenna but those tactics were never employed . The Russian oceangoing tugs " MB - 105 " and " KIL - 168 " instead attempted to lift the stricken craft to the surface using underslung cables . This attempt proved futile . Meanwhile , to conserve energy and oxygen , the crew of the AS - 28 shut down the submarine ' s non - essential systems ( including the heater ) , donned thermal suits , and rested . The British Scorpio was the only foreign remotely operated vehicle to arrive and be deployed . It successfully cut away the antenna and fishing nets which had snagged the submarine while surface ships had retreated a safe distance . On August 7 , 2005 at 16 : 26 local time ( 03 : 26 UTC ) , the saga came to a close when the vessel successfully surfaced . All seven crewmen were alive and able to climb out of the vessel within moments of its surfacing . They had been trapped in the vessel for over 76 hours and rescuers found that they had only enough oxygen to last at most 12 more hours . They also were desperately short of water , of which they had had only three or four handfuls a day . The story of the submarine ' s rescue was featured on the BBC One documentary " Submarine Rescue " . The documentary was subsequently awarded the accolade of " best documentary " by the British Maritime Society . and also Repercussions . " The Guardian " reports questions have been raised over how long Russian officials waited to request help . The first exposure of the accident came when the wife of a crewman called a radio station 24 hours later , and the wife of commander Milashevsky claims they were actually stranded Wednesday . " Kommersant " reports that the head of the Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov , may be relieved over this , the Kursk , and other accidents . Another nuclear submarine , the , being towed to the junkyard , sank in 2003 when the pontoon broke loose , with the loss of nine lives . BBC also reports that in July , an ICBM test firing witnessed by Putin failed to launch twice ; then exploded soon after launch the next day . Although officials claimed the " AS - 28 " crew had food and water for five days , they were actually desperately short of water . There were also alternating stories about whether the submarine was caught on an aerial or fishing nets ; nets and cables were visible on TV footage of the ROV in action . Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the affair , and their Navy plans to buy two of the £700 , 000 to £3 million Scorpio ROVs .