What's the core temperature?
Seven hundred and twenty-five degrees.
Entering airlock.
Come on. Easy.
How is it in there?
Doctor. Doctor. Take them to bow torpedo.
Keep them as far away from the radiation as possible.
- How do you feel? - It's all right.
Good. Good. Give me his dosimeter.
Thankyou.
His radiation level is low, Doctor. Yes?
Yes, of course.
Report to me on their condition, in an hour.
Good news, Anatoly. You got a mild dose.
- All right. All right. - Gently.
It's time. Comrades, it's time.
Put your mask on.
Hey, come on. Let's go.
Ten minutes. Look at me.
Come on! Wake up!
It's time to go.
Go, go.
It's all right.
Chief.
Medic.
Come on.
I have him.
Chief Gorelov's gone in his place.
Good boy. Good boy.
Captain. You sent for me?
Yes. We won't be firing any missiles.
So, do you know how to take radiation readings?
- Yes, Comrade Captain. - I want readings from all compartments.
Yes, Captain.
- Temperature? - Nine hundred twenty-five degrees.
How long?
Seven minutes, forty seconds.
Set him down.
Chief!
Yes. Konstantin is getting him.
He's getting him. You did good. You did good.
He's getting him. We'll get him.
Yes, yes, yes.
It's flowing. It's flowing. The coolant is flowing.
Tell the captain the coolant's flowing.
You did it. Oh, you did it.
Chief!
You did it, my boy.
You did it. Yeah, you showed them. You showed them.
Easy. Easy.
- Give him a hand here. - Gently. Gently.
Okay. Come on.
I have you, mate.
Captain. Nine hundred and fifty.
Nine hundred and thirty. It's dropping. Nine hundred and twenty.
Nine hundred and ten.
Nine hundred.
- Captain. - Chief.
Eight fifty.
Eight hundred and thirty.
Eight hundred.
This is the captain.
The reactor appears to be under control.
Ourthanks to ChiefEngineer Gorelov...
and the third watch reactor unit...
for a job well done.
Rest, boy.
- Ship's heading? - 2-2-0, Captain.
Turn the boat around. Come to a heading of 0-4-0.
Forward motor, slow ahead. Starboard, 30.
- Course, 0-4-0. - Forward motor, slow ahead.
Starboard, 30. Standard course, 0-4-0.
Back to base?
With a speed of five knots, it'll take days.
We shall be a ghost ship.
Captain.
- The men are hungry. - The food is contaminated.
Give them whateveryou have in tins or in foil.
And give them red wine to slow the rate of radiation absorption.
Very well, Captain.
Captain, in here, it's only five units.
But in the reactor room, it's ten times that.
Turn off the ventilation system.
All compartments, shut down main ventilation.
Captain, ifwe--
We'll run the boat with skeleton crews. Put the men on top...
as far away from the radiation as possible.
We're 1 60 kilometers from the NATO base in Jan Mayan.
We could go there, get help from the Americans.
Under no circumstances...
will I abandon my boat or my crew to the enemy.
What is your plan?
We're out of radio contact. Ifwe stay on our course...
fleet command will send the diesels to find us.
Radiation levels are rising too fast.
We're just running on electric motors. There's no time for that.
They will find us.
As usual, the captain leaves no room for doubt.
Good.
You're fine.
Good. You're fine, Yevgeny. Next.
Good. Yes. Next.
Icons...
are forbidden.
Contact bearing 0-1 -5. Range 2,000 meters, Captain.
Wait, wait. Wait, wait!
They're Americans.
Captain.
The jackals have found us. It's an American destroyer.
Captain.
The Americans are contacting us on the emergency band.
The helicopter's reported our men on deck.
The captain is offering assistance.
Tell them we don't require assistance.
We're just getting some air.
- What are they doing? - Taking pictures of us.
Hey!
Hey, spies!
Take a look at this!
- Hey, you take a look at this! - Everybody!
Look at this lovely, lovely boat.
- Hey! - Hey!
Offering assistance.
They want this boat. What a victory that would be.
The waters here are over a mile deep.
We could get the men off, scuttle the boat.
- They'd have to take us. - Captain Polenin is right.
We have the life rafts. We can save everyone.
Scuttle the flagship of the fleet?
Present my crew to the Americans for interrogation?
Your duty now is clear, Captain. You must save their lives.
My duty is to defend the state...
and I will do that to my last dying breath.
You're defending nothing but your own ambition.
Tell that to the men who are dying down there. Tell them.
There will be no more talk of surrendering to the Americans.
It is treason. You mention it one more time...
I will have you confined to your quarters.
And you, you are the commissar...
representative of the party, responsible for crew morale.
- Yes, Captain. - Then act like it.
The crew need you to show courage, not fear.
- Fear is contagious. - Yes, Captain.
- Yes, Captain? - Stop monitoring the Americans.
- They are the enemy. - Yes, Captain.
Help me.
Please.
- How are the men? - How would I know?
I don't know the first thing about radiation sickness.
Please.
I'm giving them aspirin.
And I'm trying to prevent those that are dying...
from irradiating those of us that still have some hope.
Pull yourself together.
You are an officer in the Soviet Navy.
Go back and tell them that they're improving.
As you say, you know nothing about radiation sickness.
Perhaps they are.
- Captain. - Yes?
Readings are rising in every compartment now.
- Comrade Suslov. - What is it?
The radiation is going to kill us all.
The political branch gives you the authority...
to approve any change of command.
Only in extreme cases of dereliction of duty.
Which this is.
He's suffering from radiation poisoning himself.
His judgment's impaired, or he would get the men off the boat.
When the moment comes, we will know it.
The weld is giving way!
The core temperature is 450 degrees and rising.
Captain.
- The reactor repair has failed. - Captain.
Core temperature is 450 degrees and rising.
This is the captain. All hands below decks.
Prepare for emergency descent.
All hands below! All hands below! Diving stations! Diving stations!
Get the bulkhead door shut!
I am not going back down! I am not going down!
All hands to diving stations! Move! Move! Come on!
We have to go now!
Andrei, no!
No, Andrei! What are you doing!
Diving now! Diving now!
Move! Go! Get in!
Get in the hatch! That's an order!
- Move it! - We can't just leave him here!
Are the Americans still offering assistance?
- The captain said not to-- - Check.
- They're still there. - Why is he diving? He'll cook us.
- No! I won't go! - Hey!
- Yevgeny! We're diving! - No!
Prepare the tank! Quickly!
Give it to me!
This is bullshit! Put me down!
Fire in aft torpedo! Let's go!
- Aft torpedo? - Come on.
Report!
Fire in aft torpedo. We have no communication.
- Our fire team is suiting up. - Activate the fire system.
- That will kill everybody in there. - The torpedos will kill everyone.
- They have breathing kits. - They don't.
We took their oxygen for the reactor team.
- Give the fire team some time. - Activate the system.
The primary was never connected. It has to be activated locally.
Go to nine and turn on the system.
You refuse my order?
I'll do it myself.
You leave the command center, I will get help from the Americans...
and you will be in no position to stop me.
Ifwe can't handle it, I'll switch on the system myself.
Get the fire out. And quickly!
Why aren't we diving?
Under the authority given to me by the party...
you are hereby removed from your post for dereliction of duty.
Isolate electrical!
You're wasting time. Get a team to repair the reactor.
Torpedo number eight!
Kornilov, tell the Americans we are evacuating the submarine...
and will require assistance.
Send the message.
US destroyer. US destroyer. This is Soviet submarine. Over.
Comrade Admiral.
General Vershinin, KGB.
I want to know ifyour man Vostrikov is a traitor.
All we know is that K-1 9 has broken off radio contact.
Broken radio contact with us.
A reconnaissance plane has spotted a destroyer...
shadowing K-1 9.
An American destroyer.
Captain Polenin to central command.
Repeat. Captain Polenin to central command.
Captain Polenin to central command.
Repeat. Captain Polenin to central command.
- 575 degrees and rising. - Shut up!
You have no idea what you're doing.
Easy, easy.
- Who is it? - It's Dmitri.
Captain Polenin to central command.
- Repeat. Captain Polenin! - Do what you can, Vanya.
- It's all right. - Central command. Immediately!
Five men.
Captain Polenin, I have exercised my authority...
to transfer the boat to your command.
You're our captain and always have been.
We've contacted the Americans.
All that is needed is your order to abandon ship.
Good.
Weapons don't belong here. Give them to me.
Give me the gun.
Give me the gun and the key for the handcuffs. Come on.
Give it to me. This boat's a family.
- Of course, Captain. - And the key for the handcuffs.
Captain.
You betray your family.
You betray me.
- You're under arrest. - What?
The both ofyou! Get out of my sight!
Take their guns. Lock them in their quarters. Move.
Captain Polenin, it's treason!
The fire in compartment ten has been extinguished.
The suppression system was not required.
Unfortunately, there was only one survivor.
Thankyou.
- Captain. - Captain.
We have to dive.
This is the captain.
Don't order them, Captain.
Ask them.
This is the captain.
Our situation is desperate.
The reactor repair has failed.
At any moment, we could have an explosion...
which could set off the warheads.
This would destroy the American ship...
only a few kilometers...
from the NATO base.
Given the current level oftensions...
between our countries...
this could result in horrifying retaliatory attacks...
on the motherland.
We could dive...
and attempt to repair the reactor.
There are no guarantees.
I am standing by.
Secure both bulkhead doors.
Compartment ten isolated.
Compartment nine clear ofsmoke...
manned and ready.
Compartment eight serving the Soviet Union, Comrade Captain.
Compartment seven standing by to do our duty, Comrade Captain.
Compartment five manned and ready..
Compartment four. We await your orders, Captain.
Compartment one. We are with you, Comrade Captain.
Ready to dive, Captain.
- Dive the boat. - Dive the boat.
Make her depth 300 meters. Keep five degrees.
- Flood all main ballast. - Flood all main ballast.
- Electric motors full ahead together. - Full ahead together.
Keep five degrees, bow down.
Radtchenko. Lieutenant Radtchenko.
Lieutenant Radtchenko, report.
Captain, reactor temperature's 760 degrees and rising.
Lieutenant Radtchenko.
- Where is he? - He's inside.
How long has he been in there?
- Eighteen minutes. - Eighteen minutes?
Wait. Captain.
- You can't go in without your-- - Secure the hatch.
I can't see. I can't see.
- Let me help you. - Captain.
- I have you. - I'm sorry.
Open the hatch!
- 280 meters. - Level off.
Coming through.
970 degrees and holding, Captain.
Open the bulkhead door.
He got a terrible dose.
Who's going in next?
Captain, the temperature's falling.
He did it. He turned himself into a hero.
Surface the boat.
- Blow the main ballast. - Keep rising the planes.
- Keep 1 5 degrees by the bow. - Motors at full ahead together.
- You have the conn. - Full rise, 1 5 degrees by the bow.
I have the conn.
Signal the American captain as soon as we surface.
Tell him we require his assistance.
Yes, Captain.
- Up periscope. - Periscope going up.
Men...
you have done your duty for the motherland.
The party is proud ofyou.
I am-- I am proud ofyou.
Captain. Captain.
Yes, Vadim. I'm here.
The weld, is it holding?
Yes, Vadim, the weld is holding.
You're a hero, Vadim.
Do you hear?
You are a hero.
You are all...
all ofyou...
heroes.
I had hoped one of our own boats would find us.
The radiation levels are rising too quickly.
I have asked the American captain...
for his help.
Prepare to abandon the boat.
American destroyer, bearing 0-4-5. Range, 2,000 meters.
Captain, I have a contact!
- What the-- - Captain!
- The boat could be in trouble. - What sort of trouble?
I've known Captain Vostrikov personally for half his life.
There isn't a submariner in the navy whose loyalty I trust more.
More than his father's loyalty?
I never knew his father.
Captain.
When my father went to sea...
he used to carry these...
great handfuls of dirt in his pockets.
"A bit of the motherland," he said.
He would rather die than betray his country.
Contact me from the bridge when the last lifeboat is loaded.
I'll sink the boat. The Americans won't get her.
That won't be necessary, Captain.
Our submarine, S270, has found us.
Yes.
Confirm and out.
Reply from Moscow, Captain, sent through S270.
Your request to remove the men from the boat...
is denied, Comrade Captain.
They're sending a freighter to tow us back to base.
Anything else?
They said--
They said to give the men plenty of fresh fruit.
I want my men off this boat. I am countermanding Moscow.
You know that it will be the end ofyour career.
They'll send you to the gulag, like your father.
Well, it's a family tradition, isn't it?
Let's go! Let's go!
- Come on! - We've got you.
Easy. Easy.
Good. Good man. Good.
You must be decontaminated. Do you understand?
We must make you clean. Scrub him.
It's cold. You'll be warmer inside. You must take your clothes off.
We will decontaminate you and destroy the clothes.
- Then you can go down below. - Take offyour pants.
Easy.
- Back this way. - Watch the rope.
- Pass it over. - Come on, pull it.
Be careful there.
This is your boat, Misha.
I lost my position, Yuri, but not my self-respect.
You lost both.
- Where am I going? - Bring a blanket here.
They're taking you across, Vadim.
I need my picture of Kataya.
- Where is it? - In my pocket.
Here you are.
There it is.
I can't see.
I can't see her.
All men accounted for, Captain.
Come on, come on. Give them here.
Why didn't you take command when you had the chance?
Because what they did was wrong.
Prepare the tow, Captain.
Captain.
- Move all these men out. Move. - Move back.
Lev, you're a welcome sight.
Moscow thought you were defecting with your boat.
They want me to make a list of the men who are fit enough to testify.
Testify? About what?
About you.
Make sure all the lines are secure.
- Come on. You're going home. - Thankyou, Doctor.
We did it. We're going home.
Let's keep moving. Keep moving.
- Yes, come on now. - Let's go home.
At every stage ofthis disaster, which came within moments...
of being a far greater disaster...
the officers and crew did what had to be done.
Seven are now dead...
and nobody knows how many more are dying...
or how fast.
These are the men who returned home to be interrogated...
as if a crime had been committed...
questioned even when undergoing treatment for radiation poisoning...
Iocked up and denied access to wives and families.
But they and their comrades saved K- 19.
And maybe... just maybe, they saved all ofyou as well.
Thank you, Captain Polenin.
- One thing more, please. - Thankyou.
No captain in the Soviet Navy has ever been faced with such decisions--
the fate of the boat, the crew...
the fate of the world...
all in the balance.
The navy is my life.
And one thing I know, there can be only one captain of a ship.
The burden of command is on his shoulders...
and his alone.
None ofyou--
None ofyou has the right to judge Captain Vostrikov.
You weren't there. I was.
He was our captain.
He was my captain.
And it would be an honor...
to sail under his command again.
East Germany has agreed to do...
what the West has been demanding it should do for more than a generation.
After opening up the Berlin Wall, the government has now announced...
it will hold democratic elections.
You're not so tall as I remember.
It's good to see you.
And you.
Please.
I'm glad you found me...
but today was, in fact, not very convenient.
No, no. It had to be today.
Your crew.
It was 28 years ago today.
Captain, a toast.
To the men still on patrol.
For their courage, I nominated these men...
for the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
But the committee ruled...
that because it was not wartime...
because it was merely an accident...
they were not worthy of the title Hero.
What good are honors from such people?
These men sacrificed...
not for a medal...
but because, when the time came...
it was their duty...
not to the navy... or to the state...
but to us...
their comrades.
And so...
to comrades.
To comrades!