A rusty retired Soviet attack submarine that had been on display at San Diego’s Maritime Museum since 2005 was towed out of San Diego on Sunday, presumably on its way to be scrapped in Ensenada.

Video shared on social media showed the sub being towed from San Diego.

The tug towing the 300-foot-long sub, which was launched in 1967, was off the coast of Mexico near Rosarito by Sunday afternoon, according to the website MarineTraffic.com. Its destination was shown as Ensenada.

During its active duty years, the Foxtrot-class diesel-electric sub carried 78 crew members and served in the Soviet Pacific Fleet for 20 years.

After being sold to a Canadian consortium following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the sub eventually made its way to San Diego.

The Soviet submarine B-39 was part of the the Maritime Museum of San Diego exhibits located at the Embarcadero. It was towed out of San Diego Sunday.

(Photo by Charles Ryan)

It went on display in 2005.

The vessel, which included an exhibit on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, was popular with museum visitors. The museum’s website described this class of subs as larger and more powerful versions of World War II-era German U-boats: “Low-tech, but lethal.”

Although museum officials said the ship’s pressure hull remained stable last year, its outer-skin was deteriorating. It corroded over the years, with rust and gaping holes appearing near the waterline of the sub.

Cosmetically, the sub didn’t quite fit with the other vessels in the museum’s collection on the San Diego waterfront, Raymond Ashley, the museum’s CEO, told the Union-Tribune in October. He said the sub would be taken to Ensenada to be scrapped and recycled.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/story/2022-02-06/cold-war-era-soviet-sub-towed-from-san-diego-bound-for-mexico-scrap-yard

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