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Russian underwater robot to examine submarine that sank off Crimea in 1909

The Kambala sank during naval maneuvers in 1909
The Kambala submarine enters Sevastopol's Southern Bay, 1908-1909 Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University/Wikimedia Commons
The Kambala submarine enters Sevastopol's Southern Bay, 1908-1909
© Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University/Wikimedia Commons

SEVASTOPOL, September 22. /TASS/. Russian scientists will launch an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to study the rear part of Russia’s Kambala submarine that sank off the Crimean city of Sevastopol in 1909, Russian researcher Viktor Lebedinsky told TASS.

"We plan to use an autonomous underwater vehicle in waters off Sevastopol to study a number of objects found there. We have several sites that are yet to be examined. We plan to use an AUV to examine the Kambala," said Lebedinsky, who is a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In May, scientists located the rear part of the Kambala submarine of the Imperial Russian Navy. It was built in Germany in 1907 and delivered to the Black Sea fleet from St. Petersburg by train. On May 29, 1909, the 40-meter-long vessel took part in naval maneuvers and, after successfully performing the Russian fleet’s first-ever nighttime submarine attack, collided with the Rostislav battleship due to the captain’s error. The submarine broke in two and sank, killing 20 crew members.