Russian Nuclear Submarine Fire Extinguished

A fire on a Russian Oscar II-class nuclear-powered submarine has finally been extinguished.

The boat, which was undergoing a dry dock refit at an Arctic shipyard in the northern province of Arkhangelsk, was eventually submerged to put out the blaze.

The dock was flooded after firefighters failed to put out the flames using foam. 

It's understood there were no casualties, with the vessel's nuclear reactor already shut down and weapons removed.

The fire started as a result of wielding work which caused the rubber insulation between the submarine's hulls to burn.

На судоремонтном заводе «Звёздочка» в Северодвинске загорелась подлодка http://t.co/RcHV1uZ09Qpic.twitter.com/eUwFguLYrx

— #говоритмосква (@govoritmsk) April 7, 2015

The K-266 Oryol attack boat is from Russia's Northern Fleet - entering service in 1992 and currently undergoing an overhaul which should extend its life until at least 2016.

Fires are among the biggest threats to submarines with their crews extensively drilled in handling such incidents.

On this day in 1989 a developmental Russian nuclear submarine, the K-278 Komsomolets, sank after a fire broke out during its first operational patrol.

K-278 now rests a mile deep in the Barents Sea, its nuclear reactor and two nuclear warheads still on board. 

The Kursk, which sank in 2000 with all 118 hands, was also an Oscar-II class nuclear submarine. It was lost when one of its torpedoes failed during a practice launch - causing a massive explosion which sent the vessel to the bottom.