The disaster of K-141 Kursk submarine it was one of the worst tragedies in the history of the Russian Navy, and caused a real shock at the international level. It happened on August 12, 2000, when two explosions during a naval exercise resulted in the death of its 118 crew members.
The incident not only generated despair among the relatives of those who were traveling in the submarine; also finished with a propaganda fallacy that Russia’s own military authorities had installed: that the K-141 Kursk was unsinkable. A supposed Titanic-like condition that lay in her colossal size and weapon capacity.
The Soviet Union was said to have planned the development of the K-141 Kursk submarine so that it would be capable of single-handedly destroying an entire group of US Navy aircraft carriers. Its manufacture began in 1990, and its launching took place on December 30, 1994, already as part of the fleet of the Navy of the Russian Federation.
The K-141 Kursk submarine was a shocking beast. Its 154-meter length, 18.2-meter beam and 9-meter draft endorsed it. In fact, a common comparison made to illustrate its size was that it was longer than two Boeing 747s.
Of course, moving such a mass was not an easy task. For this, a propulsion system powered by two OK-650b nuclear reactors, two steam turbines and two 7-blade propellers. Thus, she was capable of reaching a speed of 32 knots —about 59 kilometers per hour— while submerged.
The disaster in the Barents Sea
On August 12, 2000, the K-141 Kursk submarine was one of the participants in the first large-scale naval exercise organized by the Russian Navy since the fall of the Soviet Union. In total there were three submarines and 30 boats that were part of it, which took place in the Barents Sea.
Despite being an exercise, the K-141 Kursk carried a full load of weapons; after all, it was one of the few submarines that was authorized to do so at all times. The activities seemed to develop normally, but the story changed in a couple of minutes, literally.
At 11:29 local time, the personnel of the K-141 Kursk loaded a practice Type 65 Torpedo, but a hydrogen peroxide leak, due to a welding defect in the armament casing, generated an explosion that destroyed the torpedo room and spread to other compartments of the submarine through the air conditioning system. At 11:31 a.m., a second, even more powerful explosion sealed the final fate of the machine and a large part of its crew.
an underwater hell
According to the investigation after the incident, the first explosion caused a fire that reached temperatures of up to 2,700 degrees Celsius. The fire caused the second outbreak, due to the rapid detonation of another 7 torpedoes armed with warheads of 450 kilograms each. This not only caused the hull of the submarine to rupture, allowing water to enter at a rate of 90,000 liters per second, but also a seismic event measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale that was felt as far as Alaska.
Most of the crew of the K-141 Kursk submarine died in the first two explosions. However, some 23 survivors they managed to move up to the ninth—and last—compartment. As the escape pods were in the first and third compartments, both destroyed in the blasts, it was impossible for them to access them. But it was another tragic event that ended their lives: a new fire generated by potassium superoxide cartridges.
These elements were used to recharge the oxygen generation system. However, one of them fell into the oily water that was seeping into the section where the crew had found refuge. This triggered a new fire source that ended the last hopes of rescuing anyone alive.
The failed rescue of the K-141 Kursk submarine
Despite the seriousness of the incident on the K-141 Kursk submarine, the response of the Navy and the Russian government were very poor. Although other vessels that were part of the naval exercise detected the explosions, they were not correctly reported. And when notice was given, the authorities ignored it.
Although communication problems with the U-boat fleet were frequent, it took more than six hours after the original explosion for Northern Fleet command to begin to worry about the situation. Although search and rescue efforts began, it was not until 10:30 p.m. local time, 11 hours after the incidentthat the emergency was declared and the naval exercise stopped.
The remains of the submarine were located during the course of August 13, the day after the accident. But it was not until Monday the 14th that another submarine tried to connect to the escape trunk in the ninth compartment of the K-141 Kursk, although without success. In the days that followed, efforts to reach the submarine also proved unsuccessful, both with diving bells and other submersible vehicles, due to poor weather conditions.
Added to all this was the initial refusal of the Russian Navy to receive foreign aid. Norway and the United Kingdom were among the first to offer their collaboration in the rescue efforts, but their participation was only approved 5 days later, after the approval of Vladimir Putin.
In fact, the Russian president himself was harshly criticized internationally for his attitude during the incident. Putin was on vacation in Sochi during the K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and chose not to return to Moscow immediately.. Some time later, he assured in an interview that his return to the capital city would not have changed anything, since he would have had the same level of communication as in his vacation home. However, he acknowledged that a quick return to the Kremlin would have helped him in public opinion.
The collision that was not, the rescue and the final secret report
The K-141 Kursk submarine disaster was surrounded by endless conspiracy theories. Some even fed by senior Russian officials. It was even said that the cause of the incident had been a collision with a NATO submarine who spied on the naval exercise. There was also speculation that the tragedy had been caused by friendly fire. However, both possibilities were ruled out.
Putin’s government announced the contracting of two Dutch companies, Mammoet and Smit International, to recover the remains of the K-141 Kursk submarine and the bodies of the deceased crew members. The salvage work was complex, not only because of the magnitude of the structure that had to be refloated. Also because it was ordered to detach the bow of the submarine fearing that more torpedoes housed there might explode.
In August 2002, two years after the incident, authorities received a 133-volume secret report signed by Russian Attorney General Vladimir Ustinov. He confirmed that the K-141 Kursk submarine disaster was started by a hydrogen peroxide leak from a torpedo. However, it also included harsh criticism of the “poor organization” of the naval exercise. And he cited breaches of discipline, as well as incompetence, negligence and deficiencies in management.. But that was not all, since he also charged against the use of obsolete equipment and that did not receive the corresponding maintenance.
Despite this, Ustinov made no criminal charges against any member of the Russian Navy or government. While it is true that Putin later removed officials from both spheres, he relocated them to other public or military sectors.
K-141 Kursk submarine: the sad end
After the tragedy, it was learned that the K-141 Kursk submarine had participated in a single mission in the six years prior to its destruction. It was in 1999, when she sailed through the Mediterranean Sea to spy on the United States Navy during the Kosovo War.
Experts say that the Russian crew did not have the necessary experience, due to the short time they had spent at sea. In part, because of the budget cuts that had impacted on the Navy.
But worst of all, that one official foray into the Mediterranean played a key role in the subsequent tragedy. The K-141 Kursk submarine had a rescue buoy which was to be deployed automatically in an emergency. However, it was purposely disabled for fear that it would be activated by mistake while monitoring Americans and reveal their location. After the mission ended, it was not activated again. So the instrument was not operational when the fatal explosions occurred on August 12, 2000.