IN MEMORY OF THE CREW & RIDERS OF THE SUBMARINE KURSK

IN MEMORY OF THE LOST CREW & RIDERS
ON ETERNAL PATROL
OF THE RUSSIAN SUBMARINE KURSK

SUNK – 12 AUGUST 2000

DUE TO DETONATION OF ALL TORPEDOES
IN THE KURSK TORPEDO ROOM

23 AUGUST UPDATE

Russian government officials still can’t, or won’t, say what caused the weapons exploding but what is known is the bow of the submarine was destroyed from the torpedoes in the torpedo room detonating. The Russian Navy had to shift back to a volatile fuel system for the torpedoes, which could be the possible initial cause.

The Russian Navy with international contractors are working to raise the Kursk from the sea floor. Holes are being cut into the hull to permit attaching 26 large cable to the hull. The sub will then be winched up part way then the whole rig will be placed into a barge system then towed back to port. The bow, due to the extensive damage, will be cut off to prevent it from falling off during the lift & tow trip back to port. The bow is reported to be recovered next year when the winter storms end. If there are any delays, and there seems to be some, the recovery this year could be delayed till next year due to the winter storms.

One problem noted is all of the assistance to the families from the government & other non-profit groups doesn’t seem to be getting to the right people. All of the money promised added up should of made all of the families very wealthy, and I have not seen one report of this happening.

Below are some of the recent headlines I’ve reviewed for the museums history files. Some new Russian web page links I’ve recently found are included below.

2001-08-01-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports Russia to develop nuclear submarine fleet despite the catastrophe that sank the Kursk says Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.

2001-08-02-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports Divers to disassemble auxiliary systems near 5^th compartment of Kursk submarine. Weather conditions are still getting worse, 12m/s wind & sea swell 3 to 4 points.

2001-08-06-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports divers to cut seven holes in the Kursk submarine hull. Weather still a concern.

2001-08-07-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports divers operating in 4th, 7th & 8th compartments of Kursk submarine.

2001-08-07-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (dpa) reports Kursk bow section to be cut off.

2001-08-08-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (BBC Monitoring) reports Dutch equipment delivered to help in work to raise Kursk submarine.

2001-08-08-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports divers cut seven out of 26 technological openings in Kursk submarine.

2001-08-08-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports salvage teams to detach front section of doomed Kursk. Special barge to arrive and start operations. 17 August is expected completion date. A new web page has been generated as evidence of the Russian government’s commitment to finding the truth. http://www.strana.ru (this page is totally Russian except for two links in English. Lot’s of information on Kursk & Russian news. Several more links were found. If interested in Russian news or Kursk it’s worth the visit.) http://kursk.strana.ru/english http://russianobserver.com

http://therussianissues.com http://www.kursk141.org http://kursksalvage.com

2001-08-09-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports Kursk: The living nightmare that laid bare Russia’s disarray. A review of the Kursk disaster, including that generated by the Navy & government.

2001-08-09-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports one year on, Kursk officer’s widow rebuilds her shattered life. Not happy with the governments $200 compensation for her husbands death. President Putin had promised much more. Admits the wives of the crew are closer.

2001-08-09-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports divers to mount equipment for 1st compartment separation from Kursk submarine.

2001-08-09-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports President Putin leadership lessons from Kursk tragedy. Another long list of things he & the government did wrong & possible still doing wrong today.

2001-08-09-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (BBC Monitoring) reports unique Russian salvage vessel languishes in port as foreigners work on Kursk. Story about a rescue surface vessel in overhaul for over five years.

2001-08-10-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (dpa) reports Kursk inquiry keeps three scenarios open. Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov believes the mine theory was very unlikely. Still hasn’t ruled out a collision with a foreign submarine.

2001-08-13-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (dpa) reports Russia grieves one year after Kursk sinking. Moment of silence observed at 0732 GMT exactly one year after the 1st explosion.

2001-08-13-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports a year on, President Putin gives Kursk Captain’s widow posthumous medal, Hero of Russia Star.

2001-08-13-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports Russian tycoon to pay 10,000 dollars each to children of Kursk. Money is to be paid on the children reaching their 16th birthday. (another wait & see promise)

2001-08-13-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (RFE/RL) reports a year later, doubts and anger over Kursk remain. Long list of problems and questions still unanswered. Another offer by the government to pay the families $20,000 each.

2001-08-15-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports crew in stern of Kursk died a quick death, investigator says. Russian forensic scientists still haven’t been able to determine time of death, of the bodies recovered, but General Viktor Sheyen told newspaper that sailors in the ninth compartment died very quickly. (evidence for his conclusion was not included)

2001-08-15-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Military News Agency) reports divers to make ten technological openings in Kursk submarine’s 4th section.

2001-08-17-2400 EDT – RUSSIA TODAY (Agence France Presse) reports Kremlin denies report of delay in Kursk salvage effort. Russian & Norwegian media’s had reported the international team to put off salvage operations until next year, due to problems with equipment cutting off the bow.

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IN MEMORY OF FELLOW SUBMARINE SAILORS
WHO HAVE GONE ON
‘ETERNAL PATROL’.

CREW OF THE KURSK. Published list shows 111 crew, 2 torpedo weapons contractors (presently-was under investigation, depending who is speaking) and 5 squadron staff riders. Several un-official news reports indicated 130 were riding the boat when it went down, but refuted by navy officials. One rumor was that some Chinese weapons personnel were on board. Numbers indicate the compartment where they stand their watch. 1 - torpedo room (forward), 5 & 5 BIS - reactor compartment & 9 - engineering space (aft). (I have seen two published lists, which had a difference in the spelling of the names, possibly one more Russian spelling and one more English. List below was corrected to the Ministry of Defence official list.)

STAFF RIDERS

2 – CONTROL ROOM – Bagriantsev V (Chief 7TH DIV), Baygarin M, Belogun V, Isayenko V & Shepetnov Y. (5)

THE KURSK CREW

1 – TORPEDO ROOM – Borzhov M, Il’darov A, Nefedkov I, Shul’gin A & Zubov A. (5)

2 – CONTROL ROOM – Bubniv V, Driuchenko A, Dudko S, Fesak V, Geletin B, Griaznyh S, Ivanov-Pavlov A, Kislinskiy S, Khivuk V, Kokurin S, Kozyrev K, Leonov D, Liachin G (CO), Miliutin A, Mirtov D, Panarin A, Paramonenko V, Polianskiy A, Rodionov M, Ruzliov A, Rvanin M, Sablin Y, Sadkov A, Safonov M, Samovarov Y, Shevchuk A, Shubin A, Silogava A, Tylik S, Uzkiy S & Yerahtin S. (31)

3 – COMBAT STATIONS & RADIO ROOM – Annenkov Y, Belov M, Bezsokirnyy V, Chernyshov S, Fedorichev I, Fiterer S, Gudkov A, Kalinin S, Korobkov A, Koroviakov A, Kotkov D, Loginov S, Nosikovskiy O, Pavlov N, Repnikov D, Rudakov A, Rychkov S, Solorev V, Svechkariov V, Tavolzhanskiy P, Trianichev R, Vishniakov M, Vlasov S & Yerasov I. (24)

4 – LIVING QUARTERS – Beliayev A, Halepo A, Kichkiruk V, Kirichenko D, Kolomeystev A, Loginov I, Romaniuk V, Stankeveich A, Starosel’tsev D, Vitchenko S, Yasapov S & Yevdokimov O. (12)

5 – REACTORS – Beloziorov N, Larionov A, Liubushkin S, Murachiov D, Neustroyev A, Pshenichnikov D, Shablatov V, Shchavinskiy I, Troyan O, Tsymbal I & Vasilyev A. (11)

5 BIS – REACTORS – Baybarin V, Gorbunov Y, Khafizov N & Kuznetsov V. (4)

6 – PROPULSION ENGINEERING – Ariapov R, Balanov A, Korkin A, Maynagashev V & Mitiayev A. (5)

7 – MAIN PROPULSION TURBINES – Anikiev R, Ishmuradov F, Kolesnikov D, Kozadiorov V, Kubikov R, Naliotov I, Nekrasov A, Sadovoy V & Zubaydullin R. (9)

8 – MAIN PROPULSION TURBINES - Borisov A, Borisov Y, Gessler R, Kuznetsov V, Martynov R, Sadilenko S & Sidiuhin V. (7)

9 – ELECTRIC MOTORS – Bochkov M, Brazhkin A & Ivanov V. (3)

RIDERS/CONTRACTORS

1 – TORPEDO ROOM – Gadzhiyev M & Borisov A. (2)

Recovered crewmembers: Names are underlined above. 12 bodies were recovered.

The Museum extends our condolences to the family members of the Kursk crew.

If you have comments or suggestions about our subvet chapter, email me at submus@eagnet.com

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