The Scorpion, a Soviet-built diesel-electric attack submarine also known as B-427, sat beside the Queen Mary from 1998 until 2015, when it closed to the public, and has steadily deteriorated. Its outer skin is now pocked with holes and rust, held together in places by protective netting, and raccoons have reportedly moved into the hulking steel hull. Long Beach officials are now trying to answer a question that has lingered for years: how, exactly, do you get rid of a Cold War relic docked next to a historic ocean liner?
According to the Long Beach Post, the city is probing the local market for the cost and difficulty of towing the submarine to an accredited disposal facility. Long Beach has requested information from qualified ocean towing operators, asking for the scope of work, required permits and a likely price tag, with responses due Wednesday. The request is not a formal bid, but the city could issue one for the removal job if enough qualified vendors respond, per the same report.
A Cold War Warship Turned Tourist Trap Turned Eyesore
The Soviet Navy commissioned the B-427 in 1971 and decommissioned it in 1994, after 22 years patrolling the Pacific and searching for and tracking enemy forces, according to the Long Beach Post's reporting. Ed Skowron towed the sub to Long Beach in 1998 as a tourist attraction, and it drew about 8,000 visitors a month during its nearly two decades as a tourist attraction, standing beside the Queen Mary for 17 years before closing. The sub also spent three years at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney before ending up in Long Beach, per the outlet.
The Scorpion has stood empty and deteriorating since 2015, when its hull ruptured and a ballast tank flooded, forcing the closure that turned a 16-year attraction into a decade-long eyesore. The Long Beach Public Works Department has reported significant deterioration along the submarine's outer hull, topsides and waterline, the Long Beach Post notes.
Legal Limbo Left the City Holding the Bill
Newco Pty Ltd. was the submarine's most recent owner, and the company dissolved in 2020, according to the same Long Beach Post report — after previously dissolving its limited liability status in June 2020 and abandoning the sub on city property, as the Long Beach Post reported separately in 2021, prompting the city to send demand letters to Skowron and Newco officers. That collapse came against the backdrop of a broader unraveling: the City of Long Beach regained control in 2021 after Urban Commons surrendered its leases, according to a separate Long Beach Post report from that year.
Urban Commons' own troubles deepened afterward. In August 2024, federal regulators charged co-founders Taylor Woods and Howard Wu with securities fraud for allegedly bilking investors in real estate schemes involving the Queen Mary and other properties, as reported by the Signal Tribune. It wasn't the first time a sale of the submarine had fallen apart — a possible 2019 sale to a mystery buyer was reportedly underway, though it was unclear whether it went through.
Engineers Say Sub Is Watertight, But Removal Method Still Unclear
An engineering survey by Moffatt & Nichol found the vessel remains watertight and is unlikely to roll toward the Queen Mary, per the Long Beach Post's reporting — a more reassuring assessment than the findings of an earlier-2021 municipal inspection, which found flooding and no bilge pump. Long Beach says it still needs further analysis to determine the appropriate removal method based on safety, risk, impacts and cost, and the sub can handle either a landside or waterside removal, according to the outlet.
Curtin Maritime Corp., a marine construction and salvage company with an office at the Long Beach seaport, is among those weighing in on how the job might get done. Ralph Botticelli, the company's director of business development, told the Long Beach Post that the removal method depends on the submarine's batteries, asbestos piping, steel thickness and overall condition, and that Soviet-era diesel submarines like the Scorpion typically carry lead-acid battery banks, residual fuel and oil, asbestos insulation and sometimes PCBs.
Botticelli described the Scorpion as a museum piece and said the first question is simply whether it can be moved safely. If towed, the sub would likely travel at least four or five miles offshore before cutting begins, and it would probably be dismantled in sections along its watertight bulkheads, he said. Curtin Maritime may bring in a third-party environmental cleanup contractor if hazardous materials must be removed first, and Southern California does have pre-approved hazardous-waste facilities to handle that kind of work, per the same report. Botticelli said the appropriate dismantling method ultimately comes down to what is most cost-effective and safe.
Federal law adds another layer of complexity to any disposal plan. Dismantling end-of-life naval vessels in the U.S. requires compliance with environmental standards under the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which govern the containment of hazardous waste such as PCBs, asbestos, lead-based paint and residual oil, according to Okon Recycling.
A Deadline Tied to the Olympics
The city has already put money behind the effort. A City of Long Beach budget summary released in October 2025 lists $275,000 for removal-related studies. The removal is part of a larger waterfront restoration effort.
Southern California has faced this exact problem before. The Maritime Museum of San Diego retired its own deteriorating Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine, B-39, in October 2021 and had it towed to Ensenada, Mexico in February 2022 to be dismantled for scrap, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. That disposal offers Long Beach a regional template, though it remains to be seen whether the Scorpion's removal will follow a similar path.
Soviet Foxtrot-class submarines like the Scorpion were about 299 feet long. It remains unclear whether Long Beach will be able to recoup any removal costs from the submarine's former owners, or whether the city — and its taxpayers — will ultimately absorb the expense of towing and hazardous waste abatement, as Long Beach may pay for the submarine's removal itself, per the Long Beach Post.
