Soviet submarine K - 77 K - 77 was a " Project 651 " ( also known by its NATO reporting name of ) cruise missile submarine of the Soviet Navy . Her keel was laid down in the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Gorky on 31 January 1963 . She was launched on 11 March 1965 , and commissioned on 31 October 1965 into the Northern Fleet . " K - 77 " was built later in the Juliett class , so her hull was conventional steel and her battery was of the conventional lead - acid type , rather than the austenitic steel and silver - zinc batteries used in the first Julietts . " K - 77 " was also used as the set for the motion picture " " , starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson . Career . The details of " K - 77 " ’ s career remain largely unknown . Juliett - class submarines were used to follow United States Navy aircraft carrier battle groups in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea . Circumstantial evidence indicates that " K - 77 " often patrolled the Mediterranean , off the coast of West Africa , and at least once in the Caribbean Sea near the United States Virgin Islands . Papers found aboard her during inspection in Helsinki suggest that she had shadowed Norwegian s . At some point in her career , " K - 77 " ( the K standing for крейсерская , " kreyserskaya " — " cruiser " ) was redesignated " Б - 77 " ( the Б standing for большая , " bolshaya " — " large " ) . In 1987 , " K - 77 " was withdrawn from the blue - water Northern Fleet and transferred to the Baltic Fleet . The redesignation and transfer could easily be related . The Soviet Navy began withdrawing the Julietts from active service in 1988 . " K - 77 " was decommissioned sometime after 1991 , and by the end of 1994 , all Julietts had been retired . Post - decommissioning . Finland . At the end of the Cold War , Finnish businessman Jari Komulainen , who was married to the only daughter of President of Finland Mauno Koivisto , used his influence as Finland ' s " first son - in - law " to convince the Russian government to lease him a Project 641 " Foxtrot " class submarine , probably the ex - . Komulainen opened it to the public in Helsinki in the spring of 1993 as a tourist attraction . He then purchased two s , one Juliett replacing the Foxtrot in 1994 , becoming a bar and restaurant as well as a tourist attraction . Komulainen believed that his restaurant had been " K - 81 " , based on a metal plate discovered inside the boat . However , it later transpired that that plate and others bearing different numbers were provided for the crew to display on the submarine ' s sail during surface running to confuse NATO reconnaissance aircraft . As a restaurant , " K - 77 " was modestly successful , but was not lucrative enough to satisfy Komulainen . In 1998 , he leased his submarine to a Canadian promoter , who towed it to Tampa Bay , Florida . However , the intended mooring location in the harbor was too shallow and the investors were forced to move the proposed tourist attraction to a more remote site . Soon , the promoter filed for bankruptcy , and " K - 77 " reverted to Komulainen . eBay . Komulainen did not want to repeat the nerve - wracking trans - Atlantic tow , and instead tried at least twice to auction the submarine on eBay — auctions # 222791130 , ending on 20 December 1999 , and # 270148521 , ending on 7 March 2000 . In each case , bidding was to start at US $ 1 million . No bids were received . " Widowmaker " . The eBay auction , however , caught the attention of Intermedia Film Equities Ltd . , who chartered " K - 77 " for US $ 200 , 000 and towed her to Halifax , Nova Scotia , in 2000 to become the set for the motion picture " " , starring Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson . Museum . In 2002 , after the film wrapped up , the submarine was purchased by the USS " Saratoga " Museum Foundation , towed to Collier Point Park in Providence , Rhode Island , and opened to the public in August 2002 . Prior to its sinking , the K - 77 offered public tours and a comprehensive educational program in accordance with New Standards and attuned to the advancement requirements of both Girl and Boy Scout programs . When the Saratoga Museum Foundation took possession of the submarine it was described as K - 81 , which is what was stated in the initial press releases from the Saratoga Museum Foundation . After spending months refurbishing the interior , which included removing several bulkheads , moving large pieces of equipment and going deep into the bilges , there were documents found that provided incontrovertible proof that the submarine was the K - 77 and not the K - 81 as earlier thought . The records confirming this information include maintenance reports , equipment exchanges , radio messages , duty rosters , log entries and torpedo firing exercises , which all identify the submarine as K - 77 . Sinking . The submarine sank on April 18 , 2007 after a storm , and plans were made to raise it off the river bottom . The Museum ' s theory on why the submarine sank is that a modified hatch was not properly watertight . Recovery efforts by U . S . Navy and Army divers began in June 2008 as part of a project to train military divers through real - world , community - based projects . On June 2 , 2008 , divers from Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two in Norfolk , Virginia arrived and began preparations to raise the submarine . On July 25 , 2008 , she was brought to the surface by US Navy and Army divers . The work of pumping out water was completed in August 2008 . The sub was badly deteriorated and in need of substantial repair . On August 11 , 2009 , RI Recycled Metals LLC towed the sub to a facility 1000 yards from the museum site so that it could be scrapped .