Raising Providence's Russian sub

Never did get to visit the submarine before it sank. Now it looks like it's museum days are over:

Juliett 484, a Soviet-era ballistic-missile submarine, is still stuck in the mud on the bottom of Providence harbor, flooded and rusting inside, and home to plants, crabs, and the few fish hardy enough to live in Providence's murky waters. The sub sank in April 2007 in a severe storm, and now rests on its side in 35 feet of water just off Collier Point Park.

With the museum that operates the submarine lacking the cash to raise it, the sub might have stayed there forever had the military not taken an interest in refloating the submarine as a training exercise. . .

While it's a great training exercise for the military's salvage divers, they may be among the last people who will ever set foot inside the Russian sub; its days as a museum boat are likely over, thanks to the rust and growth inside. They won't know for sure until the submarine is refloated.

"If it's in really bad shape, we have to be realistic, it's been underwater for a year," said Frank Lennon, president of the USS Saratoga Foundation, which operates the museum.

Posted by David on June 22, 2008 10:09 PM