Kursk submarine: More questions than answers

The investigators finished their work on board the Kursk submarine in Roslyakovo dock. Vladimir Ustinov , the Russian Prosecutor general, stated on Monday that there was practically no secrets left about what happened on board the submarine.

A group of investigators performed a large amount of work on board the sub. They retrieved 82 bodies, and 79 of them were identified. In total, there were 94 dead bodies found and 91 identified.

However, Vladimir Ustinov did not give an answer to the main question: what or who was the reason for the sinking of the submarine? Ustinov claimed that it was all about the traditional negligence, nothing much. The investigators totally rejected the version of a possible collision with another submarine. Ustinov said that there was the evidence that indicates that the Kursk was watching five objects, but those objects were not dangerous.

The commander of the Russian navy, Vladimir Kuroyedov, said at a press-conference that the explosion of a torpedo was still “one of the three” versions of the tragedy, and the experts will make their final conclusions on the subject.

The mass media outlets write that the Kursk sank because of a torpedo explosion. This version is the major explanation, according to the Russian press. The 65-76 “Whale” torpedoes have been used since 1957. These torpedoes were used in 949A submarines since 1991, and the Kursk belonged to this class of the subs. Noone was aware of the danger that those torpedoes were bearing, until the tragedy happened in the Barents Sea. The whole world refused to use such torpedoes back in 1955, after the catastrophe with a British submarine. It was the death of 118 submariners that made the officials talk about the danger for thousands of Russian submariners. Kuroyedov said that the Russian navy was going to withdraw those torpedoes from the arsenal.

So what is so good about those torpedoes that even the sinking of the British submarine did not stop the military officials, and they added the them to the naval armory? If this is so, then who is going to be held responsible?

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov