I have a friend who has recently relayed to me his first hand account of working on the K-77 in preparation for the film starring Harrison Ford. Back in 2000 the sub was docked in St. Petersburg Florida near the Coast Guard station. Its owner was preparing to be fined by the city or move it as they considered it to be a liability. As preparations were being made to move it he( my friend Gary Routh) climbed all over the sub and had complete access. He tells me that the radar worked at the flip of a switch. The rotating storable radar dish rotated up and out of its cubicle, also at the touch of a button. With a gleam in his eye he said that its a good thing that no one was up top or it would have crushed and killed them. There were torpedos in the rear of the boat but none in the front. The design of the boat was such that upon firing the missle tubes in the rear of the boat that the force of the missles would almost capsize the boat. So for this reason lead counterweight was added to the keel causing much leeking into the bilges due to electrolicise between the inner hull and the lead. It was then towed to Rhode Island and then to Nova Scotia. In the actual film the K-77 was used for the drydock footage but then only the interior was used for some of the other shots. After all the k-77 Juliet was a different class than the Widowmaker.
K-77 juliet used in filming K-19 widowmaker
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Re: K-77 juliet used in filming K-19 widowmaker
It was then towed to Rhode Island and then to Nova Scotia.
I wrote about it a few issues back in the SCR....
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Re: K-77 juliet used in filming K-19 widowmaker
Which issue did you write about it in Tom? Somehow I missed it. As regards to the movie I rented it and watched it Friday night. I must say it was quite good. But after you watch the movie, go into extra features and watch the making of the movie and all the other stuff provided there. Its well worth it and rounds out the whole experience.
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Re: K-77 juliet used in filming K-19 widowmaker
Tom , I just found the issue of SCR. I recieved the issue in the mail but never took the time to look thru it until now. Oh Im going to hear about it!!! Anyway, Fantastic article! You actually got to go inside and your first hand pictures are awesome. If I had seen this I never would have started this thread, except to say that I had a friend who worked on her when she was in St. Petersburg. The Quality of the article that you put together is what I would expect to find in the SCR. Please keep up the good work!
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Re: K-77 juliet used in filming K-19 widowmaker
Apparently my friend was wrong about the K77 only being used in the drydock footage. According to info on the DVD and elsewhere it has been brought to my attention that the k-77 was used in many of the exterior shots after having metal and fiberglass sections added to it to change its shape to help it fit the part.
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