Soviet submarine S - 178 С - 178 ( S - 178 ) was a Project 613B ( NATO : ) diesel submarine of the Soviet Navy . Collision and loss . On 21 October 1981 , " S - 178 " , under the command of Captain Third Rank V . A . Marango , was transiting on the surface at , returning to base after two days of sound trials . The sea state was 2 ( less than one - metre waves ) and night time visibility was unlimited . The starboard diesel was under repair , so the propulsion plant was aligned port diesel , starboard electric motor . For convenience , the diesel mechanics and electricians had opened the watertight doors between compartments . In addition , the cooks had opened other watertight doors so that they could serve dinner . At 19 : 30 local time , " S - 178 " received permission to save time by entering Golden Horn Bay , in downtown Vladivostok , through a combat training range . The port officer who granted that permission had just assumed the watch , and was unaware that the off - going watch officer had granted similar permission to the refrigerated stores vessel RFS " Refrizherator - 13 " to leave Golden Horn Bay through the combat training range . Watchmen on " RFS - 13 " noticed navigation lights which they took to be a fishing trawler . At about the same time , the pilot of " RFS - 13 " noted a contact on radar which was showing decreasing range and zero bearing rate , indicating a collision course . On " S - 178 " , sonar reported detection of another vessel , but that report was lost in the relaxed atmosphere prevailing on the submarine after dinner . Nautical " rules of the road " and the rules of navigation in Vladivostok port agree that the ship should yield the right - of - way to the submarine ; however , master V . F . Kurdyukov of RFS - 13 chose not to alter course . The lookouts on " S - 178 " did not spot " RFS - 13 " ’ s running lights against the background of the lights of Vladivostok until the ship was upon them . The captain gave the orders " hard right rudder " and " Signalman , illuminate that vessel " , but too late to have any effect . At 19 : 45 " Refrizherator - 13 " struck " S - 178 " at an angle of 20 – 30 degrees on the port side of the sixth compartment at a speed of , tearing a hole about two square metres in area . The sixth compartment flooded completely in 15 to 20 seconds . The boat rolled sharply , throwing the 11 men on the bridge into the water . The inrushing water made it impossible to close the watertight doors between the sixth , fifth , and fourth compartments . Approximately 40 seconds after the collision , " S - 178 " had taken on about 130 tons of water , and sank . She hit bottom , rolled 28 degrees to starboard , in 31 meters of water . Eighteen men died immediately . The 26 survivors in the forward compartments were unable to stop the flooding of the third compartment , so retreated into the first and second compartments about half an hour after the wreck . Four men were trapped in the seventh compartment , including the Chief of Staff of the submarine brigade Captain Second Rank V . Y . Karavekov . When leakage into the seventh compartment reached 15 tons an hour , Karavekov made the decision to escape from that compartment and make a free ascent to the surface . However , they could not open the escape trunk ' s top hatch . It transpired later that they had not equalized the pressure across the hatch . Four hours later , communications with the seventh compartment ended . On the surface , " RFS - 13 " rescued seven of the 11 men thrown from the bridge and at 19 : 57 informed the port authorities of the accident . At 20 : 15 search and rescue forces were alerted , and steam ships " Zhigulis " and " Mashuk " , and the Project 940 " Lenok " rescue submarine BS - 480 " Komsomolets Uzbekistan " had arrived at the scene of the accident . At 21 : 00 the crew of " RFS - 13 " located the emergency buoy from " S - 178 " . At 21 : 50 salvage ships arrived at the scene . Vice - Admiral Golosov commanded salvage operations . Beginning at 08 : 45 on 22 October , " Komsomolets Uzbekistan " began attempting to rescue the trapped crew , but locating the sunken submarine took about 17 hours . The rescue submarine dived three times , without success . Divers finally reached " S - 178 " on 23 October at 03 : 03 . By this time , the trapped crew had despaired of rescue and had begun attempting free ascents . At 20 : 30 on 23 October , Captain Lieutenant Kubynin , the senior officer among the survivors , was the last of the crew to leave " S - 178 " . Three men who reached the surface later died , and three others who left the boat were never found on the surface ; it is possible they came up under maneuvering ships and were killed by their screws . Their loss brought the death toll to 31 men . On 24 October work began to raise the sunken boat . First , pontoons lifted her up to a depth of 15 meters and she was towed into shallow water . Divers then removed the bodies of the victims . On 15 November 1981 " S - 178 " was raised . After her torpedoes were removed , she was dry docked . Repair was deemed impractical , and she was stricken . Her commander , Captain Third Rank Marango , and Kurdyukov , the master of " RFS - 13 " , were both sentenced to ten years ' imprisonment . References . Книга памяти - С - 178