Time is a sworn enemy that inexorably carries into oblivion the names of people who died doing their job, turning tragedy into another date on the pages of history. Almost two decades have passed since the Kursk submarine sank, killing 118 people with it.
Submarine "Kursk"
The nuclear submarine of the Antey project, K-141 Kursk, was designed in 1990 in Severodvinsk at the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise. Two years later, the chief designers of the project I. L. Baranov and P. P. Pustyntsev made some changes to the development of the nuclear submarine, and already in May 1994 the submarine was launched. At the end of December of this year, the Kursk was put into operation.
From 1995 to 2000, the nuclear submarine was part of the Russian Northern Fleet and based in Vidyaevo. It is interesting to note the fact that the crew was formed back in 1991, the first commander of the Kursk was Captain Viktor Rozhkov.
The submarine was in the Navy service from August 1999 to October 15, 2000,then the nuclear submarine was scheduled to enter the Mediterranean Sea. But when the submarine "Kursk" sank, only entries in the protocols began to remind of this campaign.
Tragedy
So where did the Kursk submarine sink? She met her death 170 kilometers from Severomorsk in the Barents Sea, falling to the bottom at a depth of 108 meters. All crew members died, and the ship itself was raised from the ocean floor only in the second half of 2001. In world history, this accident was the second largest number of dead soldiers of the navy in peacetime.
But back on August 10, the Kursk was successfully carrying out combat training missions near the Kola Bay. Then the ship was commanded by Captain Lyachin, his task was to conduct combat exercises. The morning of August 12 began with an attack by a squadron led by the cruisers Admiral Kuznetsov and Peter the Great. According to the plan, preparatory work was to begin at 9.40 in the morning at the Kursk nuclear submarine, and exercises were held from 11.40 to 13.40. But the last entry in the logbook dates back to 11 hours and 16 minutes, and at the appointed time, the Kurs nuclear submarine did not get in touch. In 2000, the Kursk submarine sank during an exercise. How did such a tragedy happen? Why the submarine "Kursk" sank, claiming more than a hundred lives.
August 12, 2000 (Saturday)
On the day the submarine "Kursk" sank, the ship's crew did not get out of contact. The military, observing the course of the exercises, noticed that the planned attacks did not follow at the appointed time. There was also no information that the submarine surfaced onsurface. At 2:50 pm, Navy ships and helicopters began sweeping the perimeter in an attempt to locate the submarine, but the attempts were in vain. At 17.30, the captain of the submarine "Kursk" was supposed to report on the exercise, but the crew of the nuclear submarine did not get in touch.
At 23.00, the military leadership already realized that the submarine had crashed when the second time the captain of the Kursk did not get in touch. Half an hour later, the nuclear submarine is declared emergency.
August 13, 2000 (Sunday)
The next morning began with the search for the Kursk. At 4.51 am, the echo sounder of the cruiser "Peter the Great" discovered an "anomaly" at the bottom of the sea. Subsequently, it turned out that this anomaly is the Kursk submarine. Already at 10 am, the first rescue ship was sent to the scene of the tragedy, but based on the depth at which the Kursk submarine sank, the first attempts to evacuate the crew did not bring the desired results.
August 14, 2000 (Monday)
Only on Monday at 11 o'clock in the morning the Navy for the first time reports the tragedy on the Kursk. But further on, the testimony of the military is confused: in the first official statement, it was indicated that radio contact was established with the crew. Later, this information was denied, saying that communication takes place through tapping.
Towards lunchtime, rescue ships rush to the scene of the tragedy, the news reports that the submarine has already lost power, and the bow is completely flooded. Probably, in order to avoid panic, the military begin to actively deny the possibility of floodingbow of the submarine. However, when talking about the time of the accident, they say Sunday, although the problems with communication began in the afternoon on Saturday. Obviously, it is not profitable for someone to disclose the whole truth about the death. Why did the Kursk submarine sink? Even today, almost two decades after the tragedy, many questions remain unanswered.
At six o'clock in the evening, the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Kuroyedov, confirmed that the submarine had received serious damage and the chances of saving the crew were very low. On the evening of that day, they begin to put forward assumptions about the causes of the sinking of the Kursk submarine. According to one version, she collided with a foreign submarine, but this information was refuted, as it later became known that an explosion occurred on board the submarine.
On the same day, Britain and the United States offered their help in the rescue operation.
August 15, 2000 (Tuesday)
A full-scale rescue operation was supposed to start on this day, but due to a storm, rescuers cannot start work. At 9 o'clock in the morning, a message came from the military that the sailors in the Kursk submarine were alive, and besides, the Russian fleet was able to independently conduct a rescue operation without intervening foreigners in it.
After three o'clock in the afternoon, when the storm subsided, a rescue operation began, the sailors reported that there was not much oxygen left on the Kursk. At 9 p.m., the first rescue capsule began to dive, but due to a new storm, it had tostop all manipulations. On the evening of this day, representatives of the Russian military forces meet with their counterparts from NATO.
August 16, 2000 (Wednesday)
At three o'clock in the afternoon, the President of Russia declares the situation on board the Kursk critical, shortly after that, Deputy Prime Minister I. Klebanov said that no signs of life were found on the submarine.
At 16.00 Admiral Kuroyedov said that Russia would ask for help from the UK and other friendly states. A few hours later, official requests for help were sent from Moscow to London and Oslo. The governments of Norway and the UK reacted quickly, as early as 7 pm a rescue ship with an LR-5 (mini-submarine) was delivered to Trondheim (Norway).
August 17, 2000 (Thursday)
When the submarine "Kursk" sank, several attempts were made to save it. According to official sources, there were 6 such attempts, but, in fact, there were 10 of them, and all failed. Weather conditions prevented the escape pod from being attached to the submarine's hatch.
August 17, a rescue ship leaves Trondheim. According to the plan, he will not be at the disaster site until Saturday. Another rescue crew was also dispatched from Norway and was scheduled to arrive Sunday evening.
Negotiations have begun with NATO, in particular with representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance. For a long 8 hours, the authorities discussed the rescue plan.
August 18, 2000 (Friday)
From the very morning the military beganto carry out rescue operations, but weather conditions prevented this, as well as last time.
In the afternoon, Colonel-General Yu. Baluevsky (deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces) said that the crash of the Kursk nuclear submarine, although it reduced the potential of the flotilla by a military unit, the tragedy had no effect on the reduction in combat power. Many residents were outraged by such a statement, because at that time it was necessary to think about saving the sailors that were on the ship. In addition, the public was more interested in the truth, why did the Kursk submarine sink?
Information that the submarine could have collided with other waterfowl has been completely denied. Alexander Ushakov said that at the time of the military exercises, there was not a single third-party object in the Barents Sea area.
The list of crew members is still not published, the leaders of the Navy motivate this by the fact that a rescue operation is underway. In the evening, the situation on the Kursk was already called "supercritical", but rescue operations were not canceled.
August 19, 2000 (Saturday)
The President of Russia returns from the Crimea with a statement that there is practically no hope left to save at least someone from the Kursk. At 5 pm, Admiral M. Motsak announced that there were no more living people on board the submarine.
Rescue operations continue. Already in the evening, a rescue crew from Norway arrives at the place where the submarine sank. The next morning we plan to dive LR-5. The military hypothesize that the submarine experienced an explosion of live shells when ithit the sea floor.
August 20, 2000 (Sunday)
Sunday morning, the rescue operation resumed. British and Norwegian military forces joined the Russian navy. Although in the morning the head of the government commission, Klebanov, said that the chances of saving at least one of the crew of the Kursk were “only theoretical.”
But, despite such a pessimistic statement, the Norwegian robotic arm reached the sunken submarine already at 12.30. The robot is followed by divers in a capsule. At 5 pm, the headquarters of the naval forces receives a message that the submariners managed to get to the hatch of the Kursk, but they cannot open it. Along with this, a message appears: divers are sure that someone was in the lock chamber and tried to get out.
August 21, 2000 (Monday)
After receiving information that someone was in the lock chamber, on the night of August 21, Klebanov claims that it is impossible to manually open the hatch. However, the Norwegian rescuers say that it is quite real, and that is what they will do in the early morning.
At 7.45, the Norwegians did open the hatch of the Kursk submarine, but found no one. Throughout the day, divers try to break into the sunken submarine to save at least someone. At the same time, Admiral Popov notes that the ninth compartment, to which the second hatch leads, is probably flooded, because there will be no survivors.
At one o'clock, the news agency reported that the divers managed to open the hatch to the ninth compartment, as well asit was assumed earlier - it is filled with water. Half an hour after the opening of the hatch, a camera is placed in the airlock, with its help, experts tried to understand the state of the 7th and 8th compartments. In the 9th compartment, a video camera recorded the body of one of the crew, and already at 17.00 M. Motsak made an official statement that the entire crew of the Kursk nuclear submarine had died.
It was August in the yard, already such a distant 2000, that's the year the submarine "Kursk" sank. For 118 people, that summer was the last of their lives.
Mourning
According to the decree of the President of Russia, issued on August 22: 23.08 - declared a day of national mourning. After that day, they began to prepare an operation to raise the dead sailors. It started on October 25th and ended on November 7th. The submarine itself was raised a year after the tragedy (photos of the sunken Kursk submarine are presented in the article). On October 10, 2001, the Kursk, which had sunk into the depths of the sea, was towed to the Roslyakov Shipyard. During all this time, 118 people were removed from the submarine, three of whom remained unidentified.
To find out what caused the tragedy, 8 investigation teams were formed, which began to inspect the submarine as soon as the water was pumped out of the compartments. On October 27, 2001, the Prosecutor General of Russia, V. Ustinov, stated that, according to the results of the inspection, it can be concluded that an explosion occurred on the submarine, and the fire that followed spread throughout the submarine. The experts found that at the epicenter of the explosion the temperature exceeded 8000degrees Celsius, as a result, the boat was completely flooded 7 hours after it settled to the bottom.
But even today the cause of the explosion is unknown, someone believes that the submarine was inadvertently “shot by their own” during the exercises, someone believes that the explosion happened by itself. But this does not change the fact that the boat sank, and more than a hundred people died with it.
Naturally, the families of the victims received compensation, and the crew members were awarded medals for Courage posthumously. In different cities of Russia, monuments and memorials have been erected in memory of the dead sailors who served on the Kursk. This event will forever remain in the memory of the relatives of the victims and will become another date in the history of Russia. The criminal case on the death of the Kursk was closed due to the lack of corpus delicti. Who is to blame for the tragedy remains a mystery: either the villain-fate gloated, or human negligence was well hidden by the authorities.
Distant and tragic 2000 - this is the year in which the Kursk submarine sank. 118 dead sailors and a new date on the pages of history. These are just numbers, but unfulfilled hopes, unlived lives, unreached heights - this is really a terrible grief. A tragedy for all mankind, because no one knows if there was a person on board the Kursk who could change the world for the better.
