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A tiurìa giniralmenti accittata eni ca na peddita di pirossidu d'idrogginu nta a camira di li silura puttai a la ditonazzioni di siei autri tistati di verra duoppu cicca dui minuta. Sta sicunna esplusioni fu simili a 3-7 tunnillati di TNT.<br>
NunustatniNunustanti nu tintativu di savvataggiu di parti di squadri britannichi e nuvvigisi, tutti li 118 marinai e ufficiali suupra lu Kursk morsiru.<br>
Na squadra landisi duoppu na puoca di ionna truvau tutti li cadaviri ca fuorru traspurtati nta Russia.
Nu ncidneti simili fu a peddita di lu HMS Sidon (P259) nta lu 1955.<br>
A potta ca siparava lu siluru di lu restu di lu suttumarinu The watertight door separating the torpedo room from the rest of the submarine was left open prior to firing. This was apparently common practice, due to the amount of [[compressed air]] released into the torpedo room when a torpedo was launched. The open door allowed the blast to rip back through the first two of nine compartments on the huge submarine, probably killing the seven men in the first compartment, and at least injuring or disorienting the thirty-six men in the second compartment.
After the first explosion, due to the fact the air conditioning duct was quite light, the blast wave traveled to more compartments, including the command post, filling them with smoke and flames. After the explosion, the captain was believed to be trying to order an 'emergency blow' which causes the sub to rapidly rise to the surface, but he was quickly overcome with smoke. An emergency buoy, designed to release from a submarine automatically when emergency conditions such as rapidly changing pressure or fire are detected and intended to help rescuers locate the stricken vessel, also failed to deploy. The previous summer, in a [[Mediterranean]] mission, fears of the buoy accidentally deploying, and thereby revealing the sub's position to the U.S. fleet, had led to the buoy being disabled.
Two minutes and fifteen seconds after the initial eruption, a much larger explosion ripped through the submarine. [[Seismograph|Seismic]] data from stations across Northern [[Europe]] show that the explosion occurred at the same depth as the sea bed, suggesting that the submarine had collided with the sea floor which, combined with rising temperatures due to the initial explosion, had caused other torpedoes to explode. The second explosion was equivalent to 3–7 tons of TNT, or about a half-dozen torpedo warheads and measured 3.5 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter scale]]. After the second explosion, the nuclear reactors were shut down to prevent a nuclear disaster, although the blast was almost enough to destroy the reactors.
The second explosion ripped a two-metre-square hole in the hull of the craft, which was designed to withstand depths of 1000 meters. The explosion also ripped open the third and fourth compartments. Water poured into these compartments at 90,000 litres per second – killing all those in the compartments, including five officers from 7th [[SSGN]] Division Headquarters. The fifth compartment contained the ship's [[nuclear reactor]]s, encased in a further five inches of steel. The [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] of the fifth compartment withstood the explosion, causing the nuclear [[control rods]] to stay in place and prevent nuclear disaster.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}
Twenty-three men working in the sixth through to ninth compartments survived the two blasts. They gathered in the ninth compartment, which contained the secondary escape tunnel (the primary tunnel was in the destroyed second compartment). Captain-lieutenant Dmitri Kolesnikov (one of three officers of that rank surviving) appears to have taken charge, writing down the names of those who were in the ninth compartment. The air pressure in the compartment following the second explosion was still normal surface pressure. Thus it would be possible from a physiological point of view to use the escape hatch to leave the submarine one man at a time, swimming up through 100 metres of Arctic water in a survival suit, to await help floating at the surface. It is not known if the escape hatch was workable from the inside – opinions still differ about how badly the hatch was damaged. However it is likely that the men rejected using the perilous escape hatch even if it was operable. They may have preferred instead to take their chances waiting for a rescue vessel to clamp itself onto the escape hatch.
It is not known with certainty how long the remaining men survived in the compartment. As the nuclear reactors had automatically shut down, emergency power soon ran out, plunging the crew into complete blackness and falling temperatures. Kolesnikov wrote two further messages, much less tidily than before. In the last, he wrote:
:''"It's dark here to write, but I'll try by feel. It seems like there are no chances, 10-20%. Let's hope that at least someone will read this. Here's the list of personnel from the other sections, who are now in the ninth and will attempt to get out. Regards to everybody, no need to be desperate. Kolesnikov."''
There has been much debate over how long the sailors might have survived. Some, particularly on the Russian side, say that they would have died very quickly; water is known to leak into a stationary Oscar-II craft through the propeller shafts and at 100m depth it would have been impossible to plug these. Others point out that the many [[superoxide]] [[chemical oxygen generator|chemical cartridges]], used to absorb [[carbon dioxide]] and chemically release [[oxygen]] to enable survival, were found used when the craft was recovered, suggesting that they had survived for several days. Ironically, the cartridges appear to have been the cause of death; a sailor appears to have accidentally brought a cartridge in contact with oily sea water, causing a chemical reaction and a [[flash fire]]. The official investigation into the disaster showed that some men appeared to have survived the fire by plunging under the water (the fire marks on the walls indicate the water was at waist level in the lower area at this time). However the fire rapidly used up the remaining oxygen in the air, causing death by [[asphyxiation]].
According to ''Raising Kursk'' broadcast by the [[Science Channel]]:
"In June of 2002, the Russian Navy recovered Kursk's bow section.
Shortly afterwards, the Russian government investigation into the accident
officially concluded that a faulty torpedo sank Kursk in the Summer of 2000."
==Rescue attempts==
[[Image:Rudnitsky-normand-pioneer.jpg|thumb|Russian and Norwegian ships heading towards the ''Kursk'' site]]
Initially the other ships in the exercise, all of which had detected an explosion, did not report it. Each only knew about its own part in the exercise, and ostensibly assumed that the explosion was that of a [[depth charge]], and part of the exercise. It was not until the evening that commanders stated that they became concerned that they had heard nothing from ''Kursk''. Later in the evening, and after repeated attempts to contact ''Kursk'' had failed, a search and rescue operation was launched. The rescue ship ''Rudnitsky'' carrying two submersible rescue vessels, ''AS-32'' and the ''Priz'' ([[Russian submarine AS-34|AS-34]]) reached the disaster area at around 8:40 AM the following morning.
The rescue vessels' batteries were in poor condition — draining quickly{{Facts|date=December 2007}} and difficult to re-charge.{{Facts|date=December 2007}} The ''AS-32'' proved virtually useless.{{Facts|date=December 2007}} ''Priz'' was somewhat successful — reaching ''Kursk's'' ninth compartment on Monday afternoon, but failed to dock with it. Bad weather prevented further attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday. A further attempt on Thursday again made contact but failed to create a vacuum seal required to dock.
The [[United States]] offered the use of one of its two [[Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle]]s, as did the [[United Kingdom|British]] government. On [[August 16]], [[2000]], the Russian government accepted the British and Norwegian governments' assistance. A rescue ship was dispatched from Norway on [[August 17]] and reached the site on [[August 19]]. British and Norwegian deep-sea divers reached the ninth compartment escape hatch on Sunday [[20 August]]. They were able to determine that the compartment was flooded, and all hope of finding survivors was lost.
==Russian government response==
The first [[fax]] sent from the Russian Navy to the various Press offices said the submarine had ''"minor technical difficulties"''. The government downplayed the incident and then claimed bad weather was making it impossible to rescue the people on board.
On [[August 18]], [[Nadezhda Tylik]], mother of Kursk submariner Lt. Sergei Tylik, produced an intense emotional outburst in the middle of an in-progress news briefing about Kursk's fate. After attempts to quiet her failed, a nurse injected her with a sedative by force from the back, and she was removed from the room, incapacitated. The event, caught on film, caused further criticism of the government's response to both the disaster, and how the government handled public criticism of said response.
As noted in an excerpt from ''[[The Guardian]]'':
<blockquote>
For President [[Vladimir Putin]], the Kursk crisis was not merely a human tragedy, it was a personal [[public relations|PR]] catastrophe. Twenty-four hours after the submarine's disappearance, as Russian naval officials made bleak calculations about the chances of the 118 men on board, Putin was filmed enjoying himself, shirtsleeves rolled up, hosting a barbecue at his holiday villa on the [[Black Sea]].<ref name="0,7369,791741,00.html">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/submarine/story/0,7369,791741,00.html Review: Kursk and A Time to Die | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
</blockquote>
==Salvage==
Most of the submarine's hull, except the bow, was raised from the ocean floor by the [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] [[salvage]] companies [[Smit International]] and [[Mammoet]] in the fall of 2001 and towed back to the Russian Navy's Roslyakovo Shipyard. The bodies of its dead crew were removed from the wreck and buried in Russia – three of them were unidentifiable because they were so badly burned. Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] signed a decree awarding the [[Order of Courage]] to all the [[List of the Kursk submarine dead|crew]] and title [[Hero of the Russian Federation]] to the submarine's captain, [[Gennady Lyachin]].<ref>[http://www.cdi.org/russia/117.html/ ''CDI Russia Weekly'' – Center for Defense Information, Washington, 1 September 2000].Retrieved on [[2007-08-07]].</ref>
==Alternative theories and claims about the cause of the explosion==
===Test torpedo===
An official 2000 page report, published in 2002, concluded that the sinking of ''Kursk'' was caused by a test torpedo that exploded in the torpedo room. Some conspiracy theorists claim that the report was a coverup to further strengthen the relations between Russia and the USA.
===Command failure===
Other alternative claims regarding the loss of ''Kursk'' have been broadly discredited by notable and credible investigative reports. In its 2002 review of two books on this topic, "''Kursk'', Russia's Lost Pride" and "A Time to Die: The ''Kursk'' Disaster" The Guardian says: ''"The hopelessly flawed rescue attempt, hampered by badly designed and decrepit equipment, illustrated the fatal decline of Russia's military power. The navy's callous approach to the families of the missing men was reminiscent of an earlier Soviet insensitivity to individual misery. The lies and incompetent cover-up attempts launched by both the navy and the government were resurrected from a pre-[[Glasnost]] era. The wildly contradictory conspiracy theories about what caused the catastrophe said more about a naval high command in turmoil, fumbling for a scapegoat, than about the accident itself."''<ref name="0,7369,791741,00.html"/>
===Collision theories===
Several collision theories have emerged, suggestion that a possible collision occurred between Kursk and another submarine or surface vessel. Given that Kursk sank during large-scale Russian naval war games, many navies and governments would be interested in monitoring the activities through the use of reconnaissance and surveillance platforms, including the United States and the United Kingdom. While surface naval exercises can be monitored safely through the use of [[spy satellite|reconnaissance satellites]], they can not detect missile signals and other transmissions from an exercise area, and are unable to track submarines for a variety of reasons. As a result it is common practice among nations interested in gathering such information to dispatch ships and/or submarines to the area(s) that naval exercise occur in order to obtain intelligence-worthy information.
====USS Memphis and USS Toledo====
After ''Kursk'' sank, the wargames were canceled, and two American [[Los Angeles class submarine|''Los Angeles''-class]] submarines — [[USS Memphis (SSN-691)|''Memphis'']] and [[USS Toledo (SSN-769)|''Toledo'']] — put in at European ports. These two vessels, plus the Royal Naval submarine [[HMS Splendid (S106)|HMS Splendid]], were monitoring the activities of the war games.<ref>{{cite news |first= |last= |title=Russia Identifies U.S. Sub |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7D61530F932A3575AC0A9669C8B63 |work= |publisher=The New York Times |date=August 31, 2007 |accessdate=2007-08-31}}</ref> Some have speculated that a collision with the ''Toledo'', which was closely shadowing the ''Kursk'', may have led to the disaster (see below).
====Emergency batteries====
Another theory for the first explosion was that one of the emergency batteries exploded. At the time it wasn't uncommon for batteries to explode due to battery leakage. The batteries, which act as a back-up power source if the reactors are shut off, are similar to a car battery in that they charge up during use, produce hydrogen, and if they leak they could possibly cause an explosion. Most people reject this theory because the torpedo tube showed signs of being blown off first.
====Film: ''Kursk: a Submarine in Troubled Waters''====
[[France|French]] filmmaker Jean-Michel Carré, in ''Kursk: a Submarine in Troubled Waters'',<ref>''[http://contrecourant.france2.fr/article.php3?id_article=219 Koursk: un sous-marin en eaux troublés]''</ref><ref>For current screenings see [http://www.sundancechannel.com/film/?ixFilmID=6429 Sundance Channel]</ref> which aired on [[7 January]] [[2005]] on French TV channel ''[[France 2]]'', alleged that ''Kursk'' sank because of a sequence of events triggered by a collision with the [[United States|US]] submarine [[USS Toledo (SSN-769)|USS ''Toledo'']]. According to Carré, ''Kursk'' was performing tests of a new torpedo called [[VA-111 Shkval torpedo|''Shkval'']] and the tests were being observed by two US submarines on duty in the region, USS ''Toledo'' and USS ''Memphis''.
[[Image:Kurskvstoledo.png|thumb|300px|Size and mass comparison of ''Kursk'' (top) and ''Toledo'' (bottom)]]
At some point, the film portrays ''Kursk'' and the ''Toledo'' as having collided, damaging the former (video footage shows long gashes carved in the side of ''Kursk'') and, in order to prevent ''Kursk'' firing upon ''Toledo'' (allegedly presaged by the audible opening of ''Kursk's'' torpedo tubes), ''Memphis'' fired a [[Mark 48 torpedo]] at the Russian submarine. It is claimed that ''Kursk'' was opening its torpedo tubes in order to launch the [[VA-111 Shkval torpedo|''Shkval'']] in accordance with the exercise, however if the torpedo had been launched at the ''Toledo'' the US Submarine would not have been able to avoid the attack. According to this story, the US torpedo would have hit an old type Russian torpedo on ''Kursk'' which did not explode until later, but when the explosion did occur it seriously damaged ''Kursk''. Carré claims that Russian president Vladimir Putin deliberately concealed the truth about what happened and let the crew members die in order to not strain relations with the US Government.<ref>[http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=266435 article in French newspaper ''Libération'']</ref> The ''[[New York Times]]'' later revealed that ''Memphis'' had in fact been observing ''Kursk'' during the torpedo tests.
Another incident purportedly supporting the veracity of this story is that ''Toledo'' arrived at the Håkonsvern Naval Station in [[Bergen, Norway|Bergen]], Norway, where -- per standard practice -- no non-Americans were allowed to inspect the submarine in its dock.<ref>For more information on the "Toledo"/"Memphis" in Bergen, see this source [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/KURSK/SMALL_kazouille_1105145210_torpille3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/KURSK/&h=150&w=200&sz=29&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=VOgZ2Wqx9lvS2M:&tbnh=74&tbnw=99&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkursk%2Btorpedo%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D] and reference the section marked "From a Russian magazine report"</ref> Another circumstance purporting to confirm the story and its [[coverup]] is that the USA freed Russia from payment responsibility for a substantial monetary loan and even gave Russia permission to take out another loan. In addition, although the submarine was later raised by a Dutch salvage company, the damaged front section was cut off and left on the seabed. Despite this apparent secrecy, video footage of the raised submarine showed what appeared to be concave impact damage.<ref>Seen here [http://www.forum-auto.com/uploads/200501/kazouille_1105145222_torpille4.jpg] and here [http://www.forum-auto.com/uploads/200501/kazouille_1105145210_torpille3.jpg]</ref> The documentary claims this to be typical indication of [[United States|U.S.]] [[MK-48]] torpedoes. Today, the salvaged portions of ''Kursk'' have been melted down and recycled.
Some Western submarine experts point out that there are a number of flaws with the theory regarding a collision scenario{{Fact|date=April 2008}}:
# A Russian [[Oscar class submarine|Oscar II class]] submarine has more than twice the submerged displacement (physical mass) of a [[Los Angeles class submarine|''Los Angeles''-class submarine]], and a considerably thicker hull; it is therefore not credible from a fundamental physics perspective that ''Kursk'' would have sustained far worse damage in such a collision.
# U.S. peacetime [[rules of engagement]] (ROE) would not in any way have permitted a U.S. submarine to fire upon ''Kursk'' without first being fired upon, and no credible argument has been made by anyone for that scenario.
# If the alleged collision had actually taken place, the proximity of the colliding U.S. submarine to ''Kursk'' would have prevented the other U.S. submarine captain—even a hypothetical "renegade" one—from firing a MK-48 (which uses [[acoustic homing]] for target acquisition) torpedo at ''Kursk'', as this would have equally endangered the ''Toledo''.
# The idea that a U.S. torpedo would be capable of 'hitting' an on-board Russian torpedo — which only later detonated—is extremely improbable; torpedoes function by getting very close to their target and then detonating their massive warheads, crushing the target with the force of the explosion. No weapon in any nation's submarine force makes a small hole like the claimed entry hole.
== See also ==
* [[Russian submarine K-141 Kursk]]
* [[List of the Kursk submarine dead]]
* [[Major submarine incidents since 2000]]
* [[Nadezhda Tylik]]
* [[Soviet submarine K-129 (Golf II)]]
* [[List of sunken nuclear submarines]]
* [[Travel is Dangerous]], a song by Scottish post-rock band [[Mogwai (band)|Mogwai]]
* [[Seconds_From_Disaster#Episodes|National Geographic ''Seconds From Disaster'' episodes]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.largeassociates.com/kurskpaper.pdf The Recovery of the Russian Federation Nuclear Powered Submarine Kursk], Peter Davidson, Huw Jones, [[John H. Large]], [[Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers]] - World Maritime Technology Conference, October 2003
*[http://www.largeassociates.com/KurskRINA.pdf Risks and Hazards in Recovering the Nuclear Powered Submarine Kursk], [[John H. Large]], [[Royal Institution of Naval Architects]], 23-24 June 2005
*[http://kursk.strana.ru/ Site in Russian]
*[http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws002/kursk001.htm The Kursk Tragedy]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/europe/2000/russian_sub/default.stm In depth coverage by the BBC]
*[http://www.bigglook.com/kursk/info.html Flash Animation of the explosion and the rescue attempts (Turkish)]
*[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.livejournal.com%2Fwarhistory%2F844960.html%3Fthread%3D11503776%23t11503776&langpair=ru%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools Pictures of Kursk] in dry dock after explosion
*[http://www.koursk.com/ '''The Kursk Odyssey''', a symphony to the 118 submariners of the Kursk, composed by Didier Euzet]
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|author=Robert Moore|year=2002|title=A Time To Die: The Kursk Disaster|publisher=Bantam Books|id=ISBN 0-553-81385-4}}
*Barany, Zoltan (2004). [http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1477-7053.2004.00131.x The Tragedy of the Kursk: Crisis Management in Putin's Russia]. ''Government and Opposition'' 39.3, 476-503.
*Truscott, Peter (2004): ''The'' Kursk ''Goes Down'' – pp. 154-182 of ''Putin's Progress'', Pocket Books, London, ISBN 0-7434-9607-8
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:K-141 Kursk accident]]
[[Category:Military scandals]]
{{Link FA|el}}
[[el:Βύθιση του Κουρσκ]]
[[he:טביעת הצוללת הרוסית קורסק]]
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