Sunken Russian sub on its way to the surface
2:30 PM Fri, Jul 25, 2008 | Permalink
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PROVIDENCE -- The sunken Russian missile submarine resting on the bottom of Providence harbor is on track to finally rise out of the water this afternoon, but so far nothing but the top of the submarine's conning tower is visible. At noon today, military dive and salvage teams started pumping out some of the 575,000 gallons of water inside the submarine. Water plumed out of pumps at the bow and stern of the museum ship, which sank at its mooring at Collier Point Park in April 2007. They expect the process to take six to eight hours. By late afternoon, the hope is that enough water will be pumped out that the bow of the submarine will break the suction holding it in the mud, and will rise off the floor. With the aid of eight inflatable pontoons buried under the submarine, the rest of the boat should slowly rise thereafter. The military had hoped to raise the submarine last week, but the operation was delayed three times because of weather and concerns that the pontoons would not support the boat's weight. -- Journal staff writer Daniel Barbarisi The delays are little surprise, said Petty Officer First Class Eric Lippman -- this is the first time an operation like this has been tried, perhaps ever. "There's not a lot of people telling us how to do this," Lippmann said. There is still no word on what will happen to the submarine after it is raised, according to Russian Sub Museum President Frank Lennon. Once it is above water, it will take three or four days of airing out the submarine's overgrown innards before a true examination can be done, and the cost of restoration determined. "As of today, all of our options are still open. We're not being unrealistic -- this sub's been underwater. There's been corrosion, there's been deterioration, we just don't know how much," Lennon said. 
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