Baton Rouge in the Press

Renewed surveillance had its price.  On February 11, 1992, the USS Baton Rouge (SSN-689) collided with Russian Sierra-class boat, among the newest and quietest to come out of the soviet shipyards.  Baton Rouge was tracking the Sierra near the 12-mile limit off Murmansk when the American commander lost his contact, which then struck Baton Rouge from below.  Neither sub was damaged much, and nobody was hurt.  But the incident was embarrassing.

Source: Blind Man's Bluff; The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage; pg. 266

U.S.S. Baton Rouge (SSN-689)
Date of Incident: 11 February, 1992
Returned to Service: See Below
While on patrol in the Barent's Sea near the primary Soviet Submarine base at Severomorsk, the U.S.S. Baton Rouge collided with the Barracuda, a Soviet, Sierra-class, nuclear-powered attack submarine.
Details of the collision are not made public, but apparently occured when the Barracuda (who had been surfaced and was unaware of the Baton Rouge's presense) suddenly submerged and manuevered such that she was in the Baton Rouge's "baffles". This caused the Baton Rouge to loose track of where the Barracuda was. The Barracuda simply ran the Baton Rouge down, oblivious to the Baton Rouge's existance until the collision occured.
Both submarines are able to return to their respective bases under their own power. However, the Barracuda has remained in drydock ever since the accident.
The Baton Rouge was decommissioned less than a year later, on 1 January, 1993. She had only been in service for 16 years, and was the first Los Angeles-class submarine decommissioned. The extent of the damage has not been publically disclosed, but can be inferred from the fact that the Baton Rouge was decommissioned, rather than repaired.
No men lost.

Source: http://freeweb.pdq.net/gstitz/SSN-689.htm

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