The Kursk submarine tragedy: Will a 17-year-old secret soon be revealed?

The force of the explosion from the Kursk submarine was equivalent to a 4.2 magnitude earthquake and resonated as far as Alaska in the United States.

This year marks the 17th anniversary of the tragedy involving the nuclear submarine "Kursk"—the pride of the Russian Navy. And as we draw closer to that tragic day, the pain becomes even more agonizing.

"Why couldn't the crew be saved?" - This question, posed in connection with the events of August 12, 2000, in the Barents Sea, remains unanswered for many years after the tragedy occurred. At that time, it was the third day of a Russian Navy exercise.

The "Kursk" submarine, designated K-141, is a nuclear submarine twice the size of a large aircraft – at first glance, it looks like an unmovable log.

Kursk submarine

Since then, much information and many theories have been discussed about this event. We would like to introduce an article by Olesya Kurdyukova published on eg.ru on July 13, 2017, for your further reference.

The explosion echoed all the way to Alaska.

The submarine "Kursk" was served by a crew of 118 people. On August 11, from the warship "Piotr the Great"—a surface vessel participating in the exercises—the work being done by the "Kursk" was observed.

"Kursk" had completed its missile firing exercise and moved on to another exercise: launching simulated torpedoes at surface targets. However, by August 12th, three other submarines had completed their tasks, while "Kursk" remained silent.

The explosion occurred at 11:28 (local time) - so powerful that its aftershocks could be felt as far away as Alaska (USA).

Experts say the explosion was as powerful as a 4.2 magnitude earthquake.

A second explosion occurred just over two minutes later. All communication with the submarine was completely cut off, and by the end of that day, the "Kursk" was declared "in an accident state".

On August 13th, underwater locators found the distressed "Kursk" ship at the bottom of the ocean. Rescuers aboard the "Piotr the Great" heard knocking sounds resembling SOS signals.

Two ships, "Altai" and "Rudnicki," were dispatched to provide electricity and oxygen to the sailors on the sunken submarine. Three attempts to rescue the sailors from the submarine with the help of life rafts were unsuccessful.

Two of the three emergency exits on the "Kursk" ship were inaccessible. The only possible escape route was the third door, located in compartment number nine, which was designed as a special emergency exit.

However, visibility was so limited that it was almost impossible to see anything, and the strong underwater currents hampered the rescue of the sailors from the sinking ship.

A section of the Kursk submarine wreck after being salvaged from the Barents Sea.

Distress signals continued to appear for another five days. The government still believed the sailors could survive for at least another five to six days, so there was still time for rescue efforts. However, all new attempts failed due to bad weather.

On August 20th, Norwegian experts began the rescue operation. They managed to unscrew the valve of the "Kursk" ship, but were unable to lift the cover.

The hatch to the ship was finally opened on August 21st, but no survivors were found.

Mysterious SOS sounds

Vladimir Ustinov, who served as the Prosecutor General of Russia from 2000 to 2006, wrote in his book "The Truth About the 'Kursk' Submarine" that the submarine's crew perished long before rescue operations could be carried out.

According to him, after the second explosion, the sailors from compartments 6, 7, and 8 moved to compartment 9, where they had a higher chance of survival, and they suffocated there because there was a lot of carbon monoxide gas.

After this book was published, lawyer Boris Kuznetsov also expressed his personal opinion: "The truth about the 'Kursk' ship has also sunk, once Prosecutor General Ustinov deliberately concealed it."

Kuznetsov said: No matter how many times Mr. Ustinov repeats his lie that the sailors of the submarine "Kursk" died very quickly, his claims can never be true.

According to lawyer Kuznetsov, those trapped inside the sunken ship panicked and used hammers or other heavy objects to bang on the ship's walls for at least two days and nights.

Their SOS signals were picked up and recorded by the ship "Piotr the Great".

What did the naval officer on the ship "Piotr the Great" say?

When speaking about the events of that day, Navy Warrant Officer Fyodor N. said that he heard the signals.

Those were very faint signals, like emergency signals. He even suggested they sounded like a hard object tapping on metal.

But he later learned that those signals were not coming from the "Kursk"—because the only survivors were in compartment number 9, and they died the following day, as evidenced.

And the investigation was unable to determine who had sent those signals.

Torpedo explosion hypothesis

In Vladimir Shigin's (Russian naval writer) book "Deserted Harbor," it is stated that on August 12th, the submarine "Kursk" was tasked with launching simulated torpedoes at a surface ship target.

The author explains that this type of torpedo has been used by the Russian Navy for more than two decades. However, the torpedoes on the "Kursk" differ from previous models in that they are equipped with a different battery system.

The hull of the Kursk submarine was torn apart.

On the day the accident was officially announced, representatives from the shipyard that built the vessel and the military's receiving department were also present at the scene.

Reports indicate that Gennady Lyachin, commander of the submarine "Kursk," requested permission to launch a malfunctioning torpedo.

However, the author of the book does not confirm this hypothesis. Shigin writes that, assuming Lyachin did indeed inform his superiors about the incident on the submarine, the torpedo launch could certainly have been canceled or postponed to another time.

We now all know that the nuclear submarine sank due to a torpedo explosion in compartment number 1. However, the root cause remains unclear.

Torpedoes cannot explode on their own because engineers have installed a multi-layered protection system. The only thing that could act as a catalyst would be a very strong external force.

It could have been an underwater collision. Theoretically, this is entirely possible when the Russian submarine is surfaced and the foreign vessel is submerged, if that were the case.

3 hypotheses, 3 riddles

According to the first hypothesis—the most obvious one, and officially recognized by the Russian government—the K-141 sank to the bottom of the sea due to explosions from torpedoes carried on board.

The 65-76A "Kit" (whale-ND) torpedo exploded inside torpedo tube №4 after a fuel leak, thus triggering the detonation of the second torpedo.

A second hypothesis, put forward by the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet Mikhail Motsak and the Fleet Commander Vyacheslav Popov, suggests that the "Kursk" experienced a collision with another submarine – possibly an American or British submarine.

Vice Admiral Motsak said that near the location of the submarine "Kursk" there is "a wealth of indirect evidence of the presence of another object underwater, possibly also experiencing malfunctions."

According to him, the "foreign" object was detected by the underwater sonar equipment on the ship "Piotr the Great." In addition, sailors involved in unloading the life rafts from the water also noticed it.

Portraits of sailors and officers of the submarine Kursk

In the third hypothesis (which former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov leaned towards), it is suggested that the "Kursk" struck an anti-submarine mine dating back to World War II, thus triggering the torpedoes on board to explode.

But experts argue that even a small nuclear explosion wouldn't be enough to destroy this massive submarine, so this hypothesis seems unlikely to hold up.

When will the veil of secrecy be lifted?

Approximately 15 years after the tragedy, reports emerged that the government was preparing to convene a commission to determine the possibility of revealing the true cause of the Kursk shipwreck.

The period on the sealed documents is 30 years, but according to Igor Permyakov, head of the Archives Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the documents concerning the "Kursk" tragedy may be opened sooner – if the government decides to do so.

According to Baodatviet