Key Points and Summary – The 2000 sinking of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk was a national tragedy that claimed the lives of all 118 sailors aboard.
-The disaster began when a faulty practice torpedo exploded, triggering a catastrophic secondary detonation of the submarine’s main arsenal.
-This second, massive blast sent the vessel to the bottom of the Barents Sea. Russia’s subsequent rescue effort was fatally slow and marred by a stubborn refusal of international assistance.
-In the aftermath, the fleet’s commander baselessly tried to blame a collision with a NATO submarine, a claim contradicted by the official investigation.
The Kursk K-141 Submarine Disaster in 2000
There are too many maritime disasters to count. Each one of them is horrible. One of the more recent horrifying accidents involved a Russian submarine.
The Russian Navy suffered a significant loss on August 12, 2000, when the Russian nuclear-powered submarine K-141 Kursk sank in the Barents Sea during a naval exercise, killing all 118 crew members. The disaster was caused by a faulty torpedo that exploded, triggering a series of events that ultimately led to the submarine’s sinking.
Retired Adm. Vyacheslav Popov, the Russian commander of the Northern Fleet, whose slow and bungled rescue effort doomed the sailors, later claimed, without proof, that the sinking of the submarine with all hands was the result of a collision with a NATO submarine.
Background on the Submarine Kursk K-141 Disaster
On the morning of August 12, 2000, Kursk was in the Barents Sea, participating in the Russian Navy’s “Summer-X” exercise, the first large-scale naval exercise in more than a decade, and also its first since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
According to the Russian press, the exercise involved more than 50 ships and submarines, 40 support vessels, and around 80 airplanes and helicopters.
The Kursk, a member of the Oscar II-class submarines, had a stellar reputation and was equipped with a full complement of conventional combat weapons. It was one of the few submarines authorized to carry a combat load at all times.
The Oscar II Class submarines are equipped with 24 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 “Shipwreck”) cruise missiles. In addition, since the torpedo tubes can fire both torpedoes and anti-ship missiles, the vessel also carries two dozen other weapons, including the RPK-6 Vodopad/RPK-7 Veter (SS-N-16 “Stallion”) missiles.
At 08:51 local time, the Kursk requested permission to conduct a torpedo training launch and received the response “Dobro” (“Good”).
After a delay of 2.5 hours, the submarine intended to fire two dummy torpedoes at the Kirov-class battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy.
At 11:29 local time, the torpedo room crew loaded the first practice Type 65 “Kit” torpedo (Russian: tolstushka, or “fat girl”, because of its size), without a warhead, into Kursk’s number-4 torpedo tube on the starboard side. It was 10.7 m (35 ft) long and weighed 5 tons (4.9 long tons; 5.5 short tons).
Just 29 seconds later, seismic detectors at the Norwegian seismic array (NORSAR) and in other locations around the world recorded a seismic event of magnitude 2.2 on the Richter scale.
The location was fixed at coordinates 69°38′N 37°19′E, north-east of Murmansk, approximately 160 miles from Norway, and 50 miles from the Kola Peninsula.
Two minutes and 14 seconds after the first seismic event, a second event, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale—250 times larger than the first—was registered on seismographs across northern Europe and detected as far away as Alaska. The second explosion was equivalent to 2–3 tons of TNT.
After the second massive explosion, which was felt by other Russian ships, including the intended target of the mock attack, nothing was done. The torpedo exercise was slated to end at 13:30 hours, but even then, with no contact from Kursk, this didn’t alarm Admiral Popov.
At 17:00 hours, the fleet dispatched a reconnaissance aircraft, which searched with no results. A search-and-rescue effort was begun, but the Summer X exercise wasn’t stopped until 22:30 hours. About 20 ships were involved in the search. Putin wasn’t alerted until 07:00 hours the next morning.
Popov that morning knew the Kursk was missing and presumed sunk, but he briefed reporters on the progress of the naval exercise. He said the exercise had been a resounding success and spoke highly of the entire operation. And yet he didn’t mention the situation regarding the Kursk.
Rescue Effort Bungled, Foreign Assistance Declined
The first explosion was caused by a faulty weld in the torpedo, which caused highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide to leak out when the torpedoes were loaded on the ship. Records indicated that it was noted during the loading process, but the officers took no action.
When the torpedo was fired, the initial explosion was set off. The initial blast set off a fire that was later estimated to have burned at 2,700 °C (4,890 °F). The government report concluded that the initial explosion and fire in the torpedo room compartment immediately killed all seven crew members inside.
The open valve in the ventilation system allowed the massive blast wave, as well as possibly fire and toxic smoke, to enter the second and possibly the third and fourth compartments.
Although the sub was at periscope depth with its radio antennas extended, no one in the command post sent a distress signal or pressed a single button that would initiate an emergency ballast-tank blow and bring the submarine to the surface.
It is believed that this was because all 36 men in the command post located in the second compartment were immediately incapacitated by the blast wave and likely killed. The second explosion collapsed all the decks and the first three compartments when nine torpedo warheads exploded.
Twenty-three men survived somehow and were alive inside an inner compartment, but the Russians were so slow on the entire rescue effort that the men had no chance of survival. The sub sank in just 354 feet of water.
Worse still, on the afternoon of the explosion, aware that the Kursk had sunk, the US and UK governments offered help in rescuing survivors, along with France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Norway, which provided help. The Russian government refused all offers, content with letting their sailors die rather than accept help.
They finally allowed Norway’s help four days after the sinking, and by then, it was too late.
The submarine was finally raised by a Dutch company in 2001. A total of 115 bodies of the 118-man crew were recovered and sent home to families for a proper burial.
Admiral Popov Tries to Blame The US
Popov, after being ridiculed by his inaction and poor rescue efforts, tried to paint the sinking as being caused by an American submarine. He claimed that a US submarine bumped the Russian sub, causing the submarine to explode.
He further claimed that the US submarine had sent a distress call and was heavily damaged, although he admitted that he had no proof of this. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to the official investigation that concluded that the disaster was triggered by an explosive propellant that leaked from a faulty torpedo.
The sea remembers her own.
About the Author:
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
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