Associated Press
TACOMA — The sight of a Soviet submarine in Puget Sound doesn’t scare many people these days.
Towed behind a tugboat, an aging 300-foot former Soviet sub rounded Browns Point on Sunday on its way to be cleaned up in Tacoma before becoming a tourist attraction on Seattle’s waterfront.
"I wondered what in the heck was going on," said Jean Gillmer, who gazed through a telescope in her Tacoma high-rise to check out the black boat, complete with hammer-and-sickle logo on the side. She didn’t panic, however.
The submarine, once part of the Soviet military arsenal, has now become a capitalist tool.
Owned by Seattle-based Submarine Attractions Inc., the sub has been on display for 18 months in Victoria, British Columbia. Company spokesman Stan Sherman says the unfavorable U.S.-Canada exchange rate helped the company decide to move it to Seattle.
The sub will be cleaned for about a week at Tacoma’s Petrich Marine Dock, then moved to Pier 48 in Seattle, where it will be open to visitors in about a month. Admission will cost $10 a person.
The sub, designated by NATO as Foxtrot-class, was commissioned in 1974 and remained in service for 20 years, carrying a crew of 80 including 12 officers. Sherman said it was capable of firing nuclear weapons and was powered by diesel and electricity.
A small crowd gathered along Tacoma’s Thea Foss Waterway to watch a pair of tugboats move it into position Sunday.
"I just think it’s interesting that something that years ago was totally cloaked in mystery is sitting here at this dock," said Nick Krehnke. "Hopefully, it means our relations have improved."
"Or," his friend Harald Hohendorf said, "the Russians have no money and we can buy their stuff."
Associated Press
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