Trivia for
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)

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• The Russian submarine used for filming was sold to a group in Rhode Island to be used as an exhibit.
  
  
• Tom Stoppard, as script doctor, did a re-write uncredited on the script.
  
  
• The actual K-19 was a Hotel-class ballistic missile submarine. The sub used in the movie is a modified Juliet-class guided missile submarine. The rescue sub in the film appears to be the SSK 73 RCN Onondaga, which was a Royal Canadian Navy submarine of the Ojibwa class (Improved British Oberon Class, or Super O's) which was launched on September 25, 1965 (four years after the K-19 incident).
  
  

• The Juliette-class sub used for the filming had to be restored back to "sea-worthy" condition and then modified to make it resemble the original K-19, which was a Hotel-class sub. The modifications included a longer sail and lengthening of the sub by more than 100 feet.
  
  
• The Soviet sailors who survived the events depicted in this movie heartily approved of the director's take on it, but were amused by the "Hollywoodized" elements.
  
  
• The submarine that ties up along side K-19 and rescues the crew appears to be an Oberon Class (British Royal Navy class name, may differ elsewhere) diesel submarine with the sonar dome near the bow removed.
  
  
• Both the rescue sub and the American destroyer were former Canadian warships. The American destroyer was actually an 'Improved Restigouche' Class Canadian destroyer escort which was decommissioned in the mid-'90s. This class did not have a flight deck for a helicopter. Both ships used were stationed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, home of the Canadian Atlantic fleet. Halifax was used in shots of the K-19 departing for sea. In the background of that shot, Canadian warships can be seen.
  
  
• The blue glow inside the nuclear reactor is known as the Cherenkov effect. In order to simulate it, the crew poured 700 2-liter bottles of Canada Dry tonic water and illuminated the reactor with Ultraviolet light. The tonic water contains quinine, which emits a bluish glow in the presence of UV light.
  
  
• Upon reading the film's script, the surviving crew members were so incensed that they sent an open letter to star Harrison Ford, producer/director Kathryn Bigelow and producers Christine Whitaker and Steven-Charles Jaffe, expressing their dismay. Among the less-than-credible details they objected to were profane language, the animosity between the two highest-ranking commanding officers, insubordination among the crew, drunk crew members, the attempted mutiny, the guns (which are kept under seal in a secret location) and the handcuffs (which were only used by and available to cops).
  
  
• The boat's real Russian nickname was Hiroshima.
  
  
• K-19 suffered a fire in 1972 that killed 28 people.
  
  
• In real life the K-19 was under the command of Capt. 2nd rank Nikolaj Zateev. The position of executive office was held by Capt.-Lt. Vladimir Yenin.
  
  
• The rescue of K-19 was performed by the S-270 submarine under the command of Capt. 3rd rank Zhan Sebrilov.
  
  
• In November 1969, the K-19 collided with the USS Gato (the latest USN attack sub at the time) at a depth of 200 ft, in the Barents Sea near Edge Island.
  
  
• The submarine used in the film was once owned by Finnish businessman J. Komulainen and was open to the public. It also was used in the Finnish TV comedy "Vintiöt" (1994) in its opening sequence.
  
  
• Natalia Vintilova has the only female speaking role in the whole movie.
  
  
• The scene in which Captain Vostrikov receives the instructions for the K-19 mission was shot in a formerly top-secret Russian military command center.
  
  
• The movie set of the sub was identical in size to the actual K-19 sub, thanks to the K-19 blueprints that were available to the producers. Since the sub's corridors were very narrow, the filming camera rolled along a rail system implemented on the ceiling. The rails were painted so they would blend with the sub's interiors.
  
  
• The directors and producers of K-19 were the first Western civilians ever allowed inside the Russian naval base at the Kola Peninsula.
  
  

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