Heroic officers killed in Russian sub fire laid to rest in St. Petersburg (PHOTO, VIDEO)

Their coffins were draped with Russian flags and a guard of honor made a gun salute as the 14 heroic naval officers who died in a fire aboard a deep-sea research submersible in the Barents Sea were laid to rest in St. Petersburg.

The funeral ceremony with full military honors was held at the Serafimovskoye cemetery on Saturday. It was closed to the public, with only family members and top officials, including Russia’s Navy chief Nikolay Yevmenov and Deputy Defense Minister Andrey Kartapolov, attending.

“We were about to celebrate 25 years of our marriage,” the wife of one of the deceased officers, Capt. First Rank Andrey Voskresensky, said after the funeral. “He didn’t come home very often due to the nature of his service, but his every visit was a big holiday for us. His sense of humor was great. He was the life and soul of his crew, always supporting his subordinates.”

The tragedy occurred on Monday when a previously unknown nuclear-powered deep-sea research vessel was mapping the seabed of the Barents Sea off Russia’s northern coast. The military said that the fire broke out in the sub’s battery compartment and spread quickly.

A crew of high-ranking officers, who were described as being “unique” naval specialists, fought to save the vessel and other personnel on board when the tragedy struck this week, sealing the hatch behind themselves to contain the blaze.

The men were buried next to the crew of the Slavny destroyer, who perished in a battle against the Nazis in 1943, and the monument to the navy men from the Kursk nuclear submarine, which sank in 2000, killing 118 people aboard.

All the navy men received posthumous honors for their actions during the blaze, with four becoming Heroes of Russia and ten others being decorated with the Order of Courage. The Russian authorities have promised to pay compensation and take care of their families.

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