Twentieth anniversary of the tragic death of the Kursk

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Twentieth anniversary of the tragic death of the Kursk

Part of the nuclear submarine "Kursk" as a monument to submariners who died in peacetime in Murmansk

20 years ago, one of the largest disasters occurred in stories Russian fleet... On August 12, 2000, the nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion on board. The entire crew, 118 people, died.

The tragedy of the nuclear-powered submarine rocked the entire country. Prior to that, there were other serious accidents on nuclear submarines, but they had obvious reasons. Here the ship died on its shores, literally in front of the whole of Russia. It was hoped that at least part of the heroic crew would be saved. The terrible death of all submariners was a powerful psychological blow to the Russian state. A national tragedy.



The collapse of the Soviet state


The death of the Kursk is the result of the death of the Soviet Union and the Soviet armed forces. It all started back in October 1986. A ballistic missile explosion occurred in the mine of the strategic missile cruiser K-219. The crew managed to evacuate, the ship sank. 4 people died on the submarine, later from the crew members who survived the disaster, four more people died. The reason is "negligence": there was a serious malfunction on the submarine, but it was still sent on a campaign. The next tragedy was the death of the nuclear-powered submarine K-278 Komsomolets in the Norwegian Sea in April 1989. Then 42 people died. The submarine sank in a fire. The causes of the accident were also associated with the negligence of the command responsible for the combat training of sailors. Its "simplification" reduced the quality of crew training and, as a result, increased the accident rate and injury rate. The submarine went on a campaign with faulty equipment (gas analyzers).

In August 2000, the K-141 Kursk nuclear submarine was destroyed. Personnel training has not improved since the "perestroika"; rather, on the contrary. A powerful and highly developed civilization in the field of science and technology perished. The economy that provided 20% of world GDP. A great power that was the first in space, which was among the leaders in heavy engineering, machine tool building and robotics. One of the main signs of military, industrial and technological might is the fleet, submarine and nuclear in the first place. Few powers can afford such a fleet. There is no scientific, educational, personnel, technological and industrial base - there is no such fleet either.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, we lost the status of a military, scientific and technological enlightened superpower. We were thrown back into the past, to the level of a raw semi-colonial appendage of the West and the East. Accordingly, the Russian Federation should not have had such an attribute of a great power as a nuclear submarine fleet. "Komsomolets" and "Kursk" are a kind of symbols of the destruction of a highly developed Soviet civilization.

Decay and window dressing


The degradation of the armed forces, collapse, chaos and material difficulties during the years of Gorbachev's perestroika and Yeltsin's reforms reached a catastrophic level by 2000. Funding for the army and navy was at its lowest, combat training dropped to zero. In particular, due to the lack of fuel and lubricants. The officers committed suicide out of complete hopelessness, despair and lack of money. Families collapsed. Someone went into businessmen and criminals.

When the government was headed by Vladimir Putin, officers began to receive their salaries on time. However, destructive inertia still prevailed. Army and navy were struck by the "show". Moscow decided to show that Russia is restoring the presence of its fleet in the oceans. In 1999, the K-141 took part in a cruise to the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. In 2000, a march to the Mediterranean was planned as part of the aircraft carrier group of the Northern Fleet.

According to the official version, the explosion in torpedo tube No. 4 of the 65-76A hydrogen peroxide torpedo became the cause of the submarine's death. The torpedo was produced in 1990, its term expired in 2000. It is a torpedo, extremely difficult to operate and relatively dangerous to store. The Kursk's naval crew never fired such a torpedo. Two BCH-3 torpedo sailors, including the squad leader, were included in the ship's crew on the eve of going to sea. They did not complete the full training course. That is, the chiefs did not prepare the crew for firing the most complex torpedo. The ship could not have been assigned such a task. In addition, the "Kursk" was to test the USET-80 guided homing electric torpedo of 533 mm caliber. Sheer window dressing: someone wanted to show off at the exercises, to complete two difficult tasks at once. In the conditions of personnel shortage in the fleet, shortcomings in combat training. Plus technical omissions. The result is a disaster.

The death of the Kursk is the result of shortcomings in combat training, mistakes and eyewash of the high command of the fleet. In fact, saving the admirals from prosecution was a political decision. “What a sin to conceal: we know what state the armed forces were in then. Frankly speaking, there is nothing surprising. But the tragedy is colossal, so many people have died, "said Russian President V. V. Putin in A. Kondrashov's film" Putin "many years after the death of K-141.

The criminal case on the death of the Kursk was closed in 2002. It was closed without finally determining what caused the torpedo explosion on board the nuclear submarine. Therefore, there are several unofficial versions of the catastrophe, which have many supporters and are based on facts that do not fit into the official version. In particular, this is a collision with an underwater object (probably a collision with a foreign submarine); torpedoing by an American submarine; torpedoing with a training torpedo, which was launched by the Kursk itself, etc. The truth could cause serious political complications, and it was hidden from the public.

It should be noted that the service of submariners is heavier and more dangerous than that of astronauts in orbit. And the lessons of the Kursk have not yet been fully learned. Russia still maintains a raw material model of the economy (in fact, colonial). Lives off the sale of resources for next to nothing. Advanced industries (machine tools, robotics, mechanical engineering, electronics, etc.) are in decline, there is a technological dependence on the West and East. True, much has been done to develop rescue marine technology. But the fleet has only one ocean-class rescue ship "Dolphin" - "Igor Belousov", and such ships should be in all fleets.
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  1. +10
    12 August 2020 05: 11
    Eternal memory to you guys ...
  2. +12
    12 August 2020 05: 11
    Blessed memory of submariners
  3. -14
    12 August 2020 06: 28
    The truth could cause serious political complications, and it was hidden from the public.

    Gossip should not replace the conclusions of the official investigation

    Russia still maintains a raw material model of the economy (in fact, colonial). Lives off the sale of resources for next to nothing.


    Then the USA is the MOST colonial economy in the world, because it is the owner of the FIRST place in oil and gas production in the world and is proud of it, increasing the export of hydrocarbons and fiercely fighting for their markets.
    1. +3
      12 August 2020 06: 47
      This does not give us an indulgence to do the same.
    2. -6
      12 August 2020 08: 47
      Quote: Olgovich
      Gossip should not replace the conclusions of the official investigation

      I agree ... But the conclusions of the official commission did not clarify anything. As fate willed, in May 1999 I was on a boat. After completing work on the ship, we (these are me and three of my comrades-in-arms) with the commander were left alone. We talked about difficulties, joys and much more. He then talked about the biggest problem that can lead to great misfortune. And I believe that it was she (this problem) that caused the tragedy, especially since the result completely coincides with the commander's foresight. I will not describe it, because this version completely contradicts the official version. By the way, at that time I had a video camera turned on, so I keep a video of this conversation.
      1. +14
        12 August 2020 09: 08
        you are strange ... on the one hand, you have data that will shed light on this tragedy and do not give them on the other, you boast of it ... sorry, but this is some kind of nonsense.
        1. -4
          12 August 2020 10: 23
          I have no data. I have the opinion of the commander. I am not proud of this. I respond to my opponent's opinion about gossip and official conclusions .. If you consider this to be nonsense, this is your right. As you know, every person thinks to the best of his education (in some interpretations - promiscuity)
          1. +8
            12 August 2020 10: 46
            I have the opinion of the commander. I am not proud of this. I answer my opponent's opinion about gossip and official conclusions ..

            Unfortunately, you are just spreading rumors about some other opinions. Because don't give any facts.
            1. -1
              12 August 2020 11: 05
              I'm the one who doesn't spread rumors. And I am not giving any facts. I'm talking to Olgovich. And what does the interfering person have to do with it
              1. +5
                13 August 2020 08: 37
                I'm the one who doesn't spread rumors. And I am not giving any facts.

                I am writing about this. That there are no facts, and these are rumors.
                I'm talking to Olgovich. And what does the interfering person have to do with it

                if you have a personal conversation, and communicate through a personal. And here is a field for free discussion.
      2. +6
        12 August 2020 09: 08
        So what does it contradict? If you voice your version, then the official one will be immediately rejected or you will be dragged through the courts.
        You are not the first, you are not the last!
        1. 0
          12 August 2020 10: 41
          If I voice my version or distribute the video material, nothing will happen: neither the official version will be changed, nor will they drag me through the courts (I certainly don't worry about that). I don't want to pour dirt on people and stir up this event. You can't return anything, you can't fix anything. The tragedy happened twenty years ago, a huge one ... The Motherland, as it could, smoothed this tragedy, preserved and preserves the memory of the submariners. And there is no need to stir up this story.
          At that time I was living aboard the destroyer Thundering. And when I learned that he, as part of a squadron of dissimilar forces, was going to the Mediterranean Sea together with the Kursk and others, I was horrified. In 1999, he stood at the wall for 10 years without stopping. There were only 40 people on board. Any reasonable person can imagine what could happen to a destroyer during this time with such a crew at the wall.
          After this tragedy, plans to ship to the Mediterranean were scrapped. And they could do a lot more.
          A request to all readers: do not write back to biliberd.
          1. +14
            12 August 2020 11: 24
            well, what 10 years at the wall ??? ... why are you here la-la plant ...
            Thundering only in 88th came to the Northern Fleet ... there was a fresh drink ... in 95-96 I personally watched him more than once in the seas ... until 97 he ran like a clockwork until the boilers burned ... and only in 97 -m put into reserve category 1 ...
            and your "recollections" of intimate conversations with the commander of the nuclear-powered ship, sorry, but do not inspire confidence ...
            I, as the former commander of the ship, somehow do not really believe in such rantings about problems ... especially with the "industry" ...
            1. +7
              12 August 2020 13: 39
              Quote: kepmor
              I somehow do not really believe in such rantings about problems ... especially with "industry" ...

              I can also say, as a former General Customer, that no matter what situation happened, it was strictly forbidden to discuss it with the industry, even if everyone was very drunk. For this, any officer would immediately get hit on the head if the command found out that he was talking too much even among his colleagues, and there is nothing to say about the industry - they often did not even know how this or that product that they create would be used in the future. So it’s somehow hard to believe in the commander’s revelations, and even with the recording on someone else’s video camera - I think there it was, if it was, then something completely different.
              1. +13
                12 August 2020 14: 59
                about the recording ON THE CAMERA of the "reasoning" of the commander of the nuclear-powered ship about pressing problems in front of the first comers, generally enchanting ... so much even a hardened "awl" cannot drink ... nonsense ...
                by the way, for the presence of abnormal audio-video equipment on board, you can lose your position, and not the use regulated by the command and not coordinated with counterintelligence is generally a matter of jurisdiction ...
      3. +2
        12 August 2020 22: 21
        By the way, at that time I had a video camera on, so I keep a video of this conversation.

        Why don't you make it public ??
  4. +6
    12 August 2020 07: 34
    Eternal memory to heroes!
  5. +4
    12 August 2020 07: 40
    Samsonov again got into a topic in which he could not kick in the tooth.
    Eternal memory to the crew!
    1. +5
      12 August 2020 08: 04
      write better
      1. +2
        12 August 2020 08: 35
        In the 2000s, I did not go to autonomous systems. Although at one time the outboard plafonchik drank.
        Let Timokhin write he is a pro. How about blaming the crews?
  6. +5
    12 August 2020 08: 34
    Quote: Oleg Skvortsov
    write better

    You see, dear, if I, a submariner who passed 3 BS in 20 years before the Kursk tragedy, cannot write better, this does not give Samsonov the right to write heresy.
    1. +9
      12 August 2020 12: 07
      well, why heresy ... the author quite truthfully described the dashing times in the navy in the 90s and early 2000s ...
      After all, you served in the blissful 80s ... and you simply do not understand what it means to walk "on hardware" with a bunch of hardware malfunctions, with a 50-60% staffing of your crew and useless secondments, who were taken from slow-moving, and sometimes from the coast, just to bring the completeness to the cherished 75% ... with limited supplies of fuels and lubricants and food ... so to speak "on parole" and under personal responsibility ...
      in the 80s this was not a priori ... but in the 90s it became commonplace ..
  7. +4
    12 August 2020 08: 41
    Eternal memory to peasants!
  8. +9
    12 August 2020 09: 04
    An article about the death of the nuclear submarine Kursk or about the resource economy of the Russian Federation. The author mixed everything in a row. Although what I'm surprised is Samsonov.
    There is an official version of the death of the nuclear submarine Kursk, the explosion of a torpedo aboard the submarine. ("she drowned" and a malicious smile)
    We have no way to check or find out the truth.
  9. -11
    12 August 2020 09: 05
    Quote: A. Samsonov
    In particular, this is a collision with an underwater object (probably a collision with a foreign submarine);

    Four torpedoes from a US submarine were fired at the Kursk.



    Russia still maintains a raw material economy model

    It's a sin not to use 20% of the world's natural resources that belong to us, and by the way, their share in our budget is only 1/3.
  10. +4
    12 August 2020 09: 09
    Sorry guys .. fond memory ..
  11. +4
    12 August 2020 09: 17
    Eternal memory to the heroes of submariners! We grieve.
  12. +2
    12 August 2020 09: 23
    Eternal memory to the submariners of our fleet who died at combat posts ..
  13. +4
    12 August 2020 09: 23
    Quote: Boris55
    Four torpedoes from a US submarine were fired at the Kursk.

    And "Tovs", "Pli!" Did Zaznobin give it himself, or did the commander of the American submarine tell us out of friendship?
    Quote: Boris55
    It's a sin not to use 20% of the world's natural resources that belong to us, and by the way, their share in our budget is only 1/3.

    Yes, of course, it's a sin not to use the opportunity to earn an extra penny. The question is - where will she go? It's just not entirely clear what this has to do with this topic? More precisely - it is not at all clear ...
  14. +13
    12 August 2020 10: 44
    The death of the Kursk is the result of the death of the Soviet Union and the Soviet armed forces.

    I disagree. Either Stalin bothers the liberals, or Lenin planted a bomb under Russia. Enough to justify your inaction and bungling by the past years and the communists.
    There is a conclusion of the state commission, there is nothing about the causes of the explosion, but a lot is written about sloppiness and carelessness, which together led to the tragedy. And all the people with big stars on their shoulders did it. There was no combat training, there was no preparation for the campaign, there was nothing at all that should be. Who is responsible for this? Fleet command first. If the government does not give you money for military training, and you send unprepared people to death, you are committing a crime. Everyone has a choice, either to become a criminal or to retire.
    For some reason, Lev Rokhlin prepared his corps for the war in Chechnya and went into battle with them, someone resigned, refusing to fight, and someone suffered losses and is trying to blame everything on the bad situation in the country and the lack of money for combat training ...
  15. +2
    12 August 2020 10: 51
    in September 2000, a month after the tragedy, the newspaper "Sov.secretno" wrote its opinion about the incident. On the basis of the available data from the Norwegian seismic station, even then the version was set forth that the torpedo engine initially exploded (about 100 kg in TNT equivalent), and then the torpedo detonated (about 2 tons of TE). But what was the reason is unknown. Unfortunately, the investigation has not clarified anything.
    But at the same time, on the night after the accident in St. Petersburg, the McDonald's restaurant was destroyed and the wall was written "This is the USA for Kursk."
    Probably they knew something already then.
  16. +3
    12 August 2020 11: 14
    Quote: glory1974
    But at the same time, on the night after the accident in St. Petersburg, the McDonald's restaurant was destroyed and the wall was written "This is the USA for Kursk."
    Probably they knew something already then.

    Do you think that those who smash the PETERSKY restaurant, paying a lot of money to the PETERSKY budget, could know something? Well you give ....
    1. +3
      13 August 2020 08: 43
      Do you think that those who smash the PETERSKY restaurant, paying big money to the PETERSKY budget, could know something?

      there is a fact about the restaurant pogrom. How to explain it, you need to ask those who did it. But the sailors knew that they were lying to us from the screens from the first minute.
      That only there is a statement that the nuclear submarine lay on the ground and everything is fine with it. request
      somehow I never thought about the St. Petersburg budget. However, as probably those who trashed.
      1. +3
        13 August 2020 09: 17
        This is true. We just found out later. If I’m not mistaken, it was the 14th, I was lying with a broken leg. The wife woke up: "Valera, something is wrong with the submarine." When I listened to all this tryndezh, I told her: "Everything, n ... ts, the guys drowned!" And I still think so.
  17. 0
    12 August 2020 11: 16
    The United States trades its shale oil and gas right and left - oh horror, America is a raw material appendage of the world economy laughing
  18. +11
    12 August 2020 11: 30
    Quote: smel
    I'm talking to Olgovich.

    If you are talking to Olgovich - write to him in a personal. If you write to the public - be prepared for ANY registered user to answer you. And if you have something to say, referring to someone's opinion - speak up. Or just keep quiet if you have reasons to keep quiet. And so, excuse me - empty chatter. As a submariner, I would also be interested in the opinion of another submariner, especially since I served urgently, and even 20 years before the tragedy. And you only mysteriously hinted that you heard about something like that and that's it. What for?
  19. BAI
    +7
    12 August 2020 15: 58
    In all this business, I am very confused by 2 things:
    1. Why so hastily destroyed the nose, although all the information about the explosion was in it.
    2. Why did the authorities go to the "auction of unprecedented generosity" and paid decent compensation to the families of the victims, although this had never happened before? And then they paid only one more time to the families of the Pskov paratroopers.
    1. ANB
      -1
      12 August 2020 17: 15
      3. After a while, the command of the Northern Fleet was thoroughly scanned. Some of those dismissed immediately began to compose versions of the collision with the American square.
    2. -2
      12 August 2020 21: 24
      I remember that day well. There were reports that the British nuclear submarine came to Norway and was there for repairs. After an official request to inspect its bow, there was an official response that our side had nothing to see there, gentlemen should take their word for it. There have also been reports of a green and white emergency buoy (our emergency buoys are red and white). Suddenly, the then head of the CIA came to Moscow to talk. And then the SF command flew off, and suddenly there was money to compensate families. Most likely, there was an unintentional collision with the bows, the Kursk hit the bottom with a torpedo detonation, and the British boat was thrown upwards.
      1. ANB
        +1
        12 August 2020 21: 54
        ... And then the SF command flew off,

        And why then should the SF command be punished?
        1. +1
          12 August 2020 22: 13
          It just covered the issue of the green and white emergency buoy. And after taking the American money, it was already impossible to talk about it.
  20. ANB
    +3
    12 August 2020 16: 11
    Almost immediately after the arrival of Putin, the question was raised about the restoration of the issuance of torpedoes with SBS on the plane.
    About six months before Kursk, Kamchatka was offered to perform practical shooting of the M5. So all M5s were already overdue, Kamchatka refused.
    There were 2 explosions in Kursk, one smaller, after a while a large one, which is widely recognized as the detonation of the ammunition of the first compartment.
    At Kursk there were representatives of Dagdizel and many officers of the division headquarters.
    Links and scans, naturally, will not be.
    Draw your own conclusions.
  21. 0
    12 August 2020 18: 57
    Quote: Chuck Lee
    It is enough to count how far the outer TA cover flew off
    Well, how much?
  22. +2
    12 August 2020 19: 17
    Quote: Chuck Lee
    In the apparatus, the regeneration plates are replaceable.
    If released into water, they cause a fire.
    When the plate was changed, it fell, and the compartment was already slightly flooded and there was water on the floor.
    Don't talk nonsense, she already hurts. When injected into water, the plates do not ignite spontaneously, but begin to intensively release oxygen. And no more. But if in a fire. This is exactly what if a depressurized can gets into the water - turn off the light, throw a grenade! This is what my "ratsuha" was dedicated to to make the irrigation system for these cans. As in the 1st irrigation torpedoes. Wrapped up with the resolution "requires approval from the design bureau." They are still agreeing.
    1. ANB
      +1
      12 August 2020 20: 50
      The decommissioned regenerative elements jammed the fish.
      Irrigation requires only 298 and bzo in case of fire.
  23. 0
    12 August 2020 19: 33
    Quote: BAI
    The biggest problem for the survivors on the boat was the atmosphere, Kurdin explains. “They used an emergency air regeneration system. This is a simple machine that requires inserting B-64 plates that absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen. But if a piece of such a plate is thrown into water, then it immediately boils. These plates change after about eight hours. Something happened while the plates were being reloaded. The three bodies of the officers who were reloading were scorched to horror. The rest have a sooty upper respiratory tract. I believe there is a drop of oil or water on the plates. After all, condensation accumulates on the top of the ceiling. The drop fell, and the entire installation instantly flared up.

    Captain 1st Rank Igor Kurdin spent 20 years conducting his own investigation of the tragedy.
    And you still believe this yap, who went to sea or excursionist, or even a supervisor?
















    eh if he walked to the sea, then or eh
  24. -1
    12 August 2020 20: 48
    I have the impression that the song "You know how you want to live" from the Christmas group, it is for swimming, not in the eyebrow, but in the eye, like this song, then immediately the submariners K141, a lump comes to their throat. No other song with "K141" This song is the only one, on a terrible anniversary they played. The song took my whole soul under the float together with boats. We have a lot of dock films about the fleet, there are only no boats about catastrophes, they don't like this topic in the Kremlin, they try to use the tenth path bypass.
  25. 0
    12 August 2020 20: 55
    Put wreaths on the water, even if there is no sea nearby, but simply in a stream. This is a memory of those who wanted to live.
  26. +2
    12 August 2020 21: 16
    The official version is the official one: 99% of the population accepted it, and 1% of those who understand this ask many questions that they cannot get an answer to ...
  27. +1
    13 August 2020 09: 35
    Quote: glory1974
    somehow I never thought about the St. Petersburg budget. However, as probably those who trashed.
    Yes, I announced the budget later. And at first I just thought it was strange to smash something in my city in order to take revenge on the United States. Well, if they do smash, then at least their embassy.

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