Court Orders Famed 'K-19' Sub Removed From River

Navy and Army divers, along with federal, state and local authorities, raised the former Soviet submarine from the bottom of the Providence River in 2008 a year after it was sunk in a storm. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric Lippmann)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Rhode Island court has ordered a scrapyard to remove the remnants of a Russian submarine once used as a set for a Harrison Ford movie from the Providence River.

The hull of the submarine, known as Juliett 484, rests mere feet from shore in the city.

After the Cold War, the sub was sold and used as a restaurant and vodka bar and as a set for “K-19: The Widowmaker.” Then it became a floating museum. It sank during a nor’easter in 2007 and was sold for scrap.

State environmental officials sued to get it and several other vessels removed.

A Superior Court judge ordered Rhode Island Recycled Metals LLC in December to begin removing vessels from the river, adjacent to its scrapyard.

The permitting process is underway now.

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