[GreenKeys] The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming...

[Don Robert House]

Off subject...  Soviet sub towed originally from Germany...

TACOMA, WA -- The sight of a Soviet submarine in Puget Sound doesn't 
scare many people these days.

Towed behind a tugboat, an aging 300-foot former Soviet sub rounded 
Browns Point on Sunday on its way to be cleaned up in Tacoma before 
becoming a tourist attraction on Seattle's waterfront.

"I wondered what in the heck was going on," said Jean Gillmer, who 
gazed through a telescope in her Tacoma high-rise to check out the 
black boat, complete with hammer-and-sickle logo on the side. She 
didn't panic, however.

The submarine, once part of the Soviet military arsenal, has now 
become a capitalist tool.

Owned by Seattle-based Submarine Attractions Inc., the sub has been 
on display for 18 months in Victoria, British Columbia. Company 
spokesman Stan Sherman says the unfavorable U.S.-Canada exchange rate 
helped the company decide to move it to Seattle.

The sub will be cleaned for about a week at Tacoma's Petrich Marine 
Dock, then moved to Pier 48 in Seattle, where it will be open to 
visitors in about a month.  Admission will cost $10 a person.

The sub, designated by NATO as Foxtrot-class, was commissioned in 
1974 and remained in service for 20 years, carrying a crew of 80 
including 12 officers.   Sherman said it was capable of firing 
nuclear weapons and was powered by diesel and electricity.

A small crowd gathered along Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway to watch a 
pair of tugboats move it into position Sunday.

"I just think it's interesting that something that years ago was 
totally cloaked in mystery is sitting here at this dock," said Nick 
Krehnke. "Hopefully, it means our relations have improved."

"Or," his friend Harald Hohendorf said, "the Russians have no money 
and we can buy their stuff."