#8
gazeta.ru
February 7, 2002
Kursk sunk by own torpedo
By Viktoria Maliutina

Representatives of the Chief Military Prosecutor have announced that they now know exactly which torpedo on the Kursk exploded first, causing “at least four other torpedoes” to detonate. The investigators have also announced that they do not expect to find any other bodies on board the salvaged wreckage of the submarine that sank in the Barents Sea on August 12th 2000 during a naval exercise.

Investigators of the chief military prosecutor announced on Thursday that they have established exactly which torpedo in the first section of the nuclear submarine exploded first. According to the head of the military prosecutor’s investigation department Viktor Shein, at least four torpedoes detonated on board the Kursk, but said it was too early to say exactly how many.

The investigators say they managed to establish exactly which torpedo exploded by studying the data retrieved from the first section of the submarine, which remains on the bed of the Barents Sea having been cut off from the rest of the sub, along with the wreckage which was raised and towed to land in September. Shein also said that “a fragment with a number” had been located near the wreckage of the first section, obviously meaning fragment of a torpedo. How this helped the investigation establish which torpedo exploded first he did not explain.

Shein also announced that the investigators would only be able to give a final verdict on the cause of the disaster once “all that remains on the seabed has been salvaged.”

The military announced a few months ago that they plan to raise the first section of the Kursk this August.

The military investigators have repeatedly refused to give any preliminary versions about the cause of the Kursk disaster. When the tragedy was unfolding they were adamant that the sub had been struck by “a foreign vessel” which was probably a U.S. submarine which was known to be in the vicinity of the exercise area. This version has not officially been deleted from the government commission set up to oversee the investigation into the disaster.

However, several Russian naval sources have said on condition of anonymity that the Kursk was carrying new torpedoes that had not been previously tested and one of these was faulty or got jammed and detonated.

The investigators have now inspected almost all sections of the Kursk and are currently working on the fourth and lowest deck of the third section.

On Thursday the military prosecutor of the Northern Fleet, Vladimir Mulov announced, “the chances of finding anyone else have been exhausted. Later he told Gazeta.Ru “We are not saying that it’s sure we won’t find another body, but the chances of that are minimal.”

94 bodies have been found of which 90 have been identified. 118 crewmembers perished aboard the Kursk.

Before investigators set to work sifting through the wreckage, they announced that they expected to find about 60 bodies.

According to the first deputy military prosecutor of the Northern Fleet, Pavel Vodinsky, work upon the wreckage of the Kursk is coming to an end and could be completed this week. All that remains to be done is to clean out debris and drift from the bilges and to complete inspections of the fourth deck in the third and fourth sections, he said.

Once the investigators complete their tasks, the submarine will be prepared for scrapping.

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