Kirsk Sank Ten Years Ago

The tenth aniversary of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster is being commemorated in Russia this week. One of Russia’s most advanced vessels sank o 12th August 2000 in the Barents Sea with the loss of all the 118 people on board.

Commemoration ceremonies are being held across Russia and on board naval ships. Relatives and naval personel will be casting wreaths into the sea.

After many suggestions as to the cause of the sinking it was finally established that an explosion of fuel from an old torpedo caused the disaster.

Following the disaster, Moscow’s response was widely criticized and even described as shambolic. After the Kursk was lost there was an unexplained delay before a search and rescue mission was started. Attempts to locate the ‘pride’ of the Russian Northern Fleet failed and relatives were  not informed of the situation for several days.

The submarine was lying in just 100m of water but eventually the Russian authorities called for outside assistance and it was Norwegian divers who opened the Kursk’s hatch after ten days to find the boat flooded and all on board dead. Some of the crew members remained alive after the explosion long enough to write letters to loved ones it was later revealed.

There were suggestions of the involvement of American and British submarines who were in the area monitoring the naval exercises but it finally emerged that an explosion was triggered by fuel that had leaked from a torpedo. This started a fire, which subsequently caused all ammunition on board to detonate.

The submarine was recovered by a Dutch salvage company and the bodies recovered in 2001.