On 12 August 2000, all 118 of the crew onboard the Russian submarine Kursk were killed in an accident during a naval exercise.
The catastrophe took place in the Barents Sea while a crew was loading a dummy torpedo while a faulty weld leaked peroxide; which then mixed with the torpedo’s kerosene fuel and exploded. Two minutes later, the fire from the first explosion triggered 5-7 more warheads.
The acoustic operator of Petr Veliky, a Kirov class battlecruiser, detected the blast but the skipper did not consider it to be anything significant. Other nearby ships also reportedly felt the initial, and much larger second explosion, which was equivalent to around six tons of TNT.
Kursk sank to a depth of 107m with a large gash in her forward bow near the torpedo compartment.
A note was found in the wreckage revealing that 23 people remained alive after the explosions for about 6 hours but recovery efforts took significantly longer since Russian officials refused international help.
Kursk declared an emergency 11 hours after the explosions, and the emergency buoy was never deployed.
The wreck of the submarine was found 16 hours after the explosions. Officials finally agreed to assistance from only Britain and Norway 5 days after the disaster and Kursk was then raised months later.
President Putin awarded the posthumous Medal of Courage to the 118 crewmembers and a memorial was created in 2009.
A horrible way to die..
It was a Dutch company that got that submarine out of the ocean, respect.
Didn’t multiple navies offer help but Russia declined and allowed their men to die, Russias navy is a death trap seriously underfunded but a status symbol, Russia should just be a land army it doesn’t have a blue water navy give up.
Knock knock
I remember this well in the Norwegian news. Felt really bad for the crew to be stuck in a tiny can like that.
Might be worth mentioning that massive hole upfront is Not from the explosion.
To raise the ship the front end was sawed off, hence it is completly missing.
I remember it very well. What a terrible tragedy.
There’s this video out there of a flooded museum submarine. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck on the bottom of the ocean in one
This hull is now scrapped, but there was a video of starboard side of this sub with distinct hole from [torpedo entering](https://imgur.com/a/zqvDcZQ) it.
It’s amazing to see how massive and heavily armored a submarine like this is.
Dang. 118 people, nuclear powered. This thing is fucking massive. What is it used for, nuclear missile launches?
While morbid, its interesting that you can see the distinct layers of the sub.
You’ve got the interior pressure vessel, the exterior hull, then the ballast tanks between them.
An example of Russian safety standards, government corruption and refutation.
First bad welding and standards by corruption and lack of sade building codes and enforcing(also typical for many things in Russia), then refusal to get help from neighbors and refuting/lying to government controlled media.
Then lying even more
My first job was an internship with the Dutch company that was responsible for retrieving this wreckage from the seafloor.
21 comments
On 12 August 2000, all 118 of the crew onboard the Russian submarine Kursk were killed in an accident during a naval exercise.
The catastrophe took place in the Barents Sea while a crew was loading a dummy torpedo while a faulty weld leaked peroxide; which then mixed with the torpedo’s kerosene fuel and exploded. Two minutes later, the fire from the first explosion triggered 5-7 more warheads.
The acoustic operator of Petr Veliky, a Kirov class battlecruiser, detected the blast but the skipper did not consider it to be anything significant. Other nearby ships also reportedly felt the initial, and much larger second explosion, which was equivalent to around six tons of TNT.
Kursk sank to a depth of 107m with a large gash in her forward bow near the torpedo compartment.
A note was found in the wreckage revealing that 23 people remained alive after the explosions for about 6 hours but recovery efforts took significantly longer since Russian officials refused international help.
Kursk declared an emergency 11 hours after the explosions, and the emergency buoy was never deployed.
The wreck of the submarine was found 16 hours after the explosions. Officials finally agreed to assistance from only Britain and Norway 5 days after the disaster and Kursk was then raised months later.
President Putin awarded the posthumous Medal of Courage to the 118 crewmembers and a memorial was created in 2009.
A horrible way to die..
It was a Dutch company that got that submarine out of the ocean, respect.
Didn’t multiple navies offer help but Russia declined and allowed their men to die, Russias navy is a death trap seriously underfunded but a status symbol, Russia should just be a land army it doesn’t have a blue water navy give up.
Knock knock
I remember this well in the Norwegian news. Felt really bad for the crew to be stuck in a tiny can like that.
Might be worth mentioning that massive hole upfront is Not from the explosion.
To raise the ship the front end was sawed off, hence it is completly missing.
I remember it very well. What a terrible tragedy.
There’s this video out there of a flooded museum submarine. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be stuck on the bottom of the ocean in one
This hull is now scrapped, but there was a video of starboard side of this sub with distinct hole from [torpedo entering](https://imgur.com/a/zqvDcZQ) it.
Kapitan!
Not to worry, we are still steering half a sub
Why did they not raise the front section?
What a terrible way to die…
So many poor souls.
Matt Elliott a haunting song about them.
​
https://youtu.be/_y6hwrfPehs
eternal memory to the fallen heroes, Russians remember what the United States did and their ransom does not mean anything.
“она утонула” – Putin
Fuck this guy, really
Obligatory posting the video of the Kursk mother being sedated in Parliament
https://youtu.be/jFBOfIiqW0o
It’s amazing to see how massive and heavily armored a submarine like this is.
Dang. 118 people, nuclear powered. This thing is fucking massive. What is it used for, nuclear missile launches?
While morbid, its interesting that you can see the distinct layers of the sub.
You’ve got the interior pressure vessel, the exterior hull, then the ballast tanks between them.
An example of Russian safety standards, government corruption and refutation.
First bad welding and standards by corruption and lack of sade building codes and enforcing(also typical for many things in Russia), then refusal to get help from neighbors and refuting/lying to government controlled media.
Then lying even more
My first job was an internship with the Dutch company that was responsible for retrieving this wreckage from the seafloor.