Dedicated to the Northern Fleet submariners who died in the Barents Sea and the World Ocean

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August 12-13:

"The boat didn't get in touch"

On Saturday, the complex exercises of the Northern Fleet forces entered their highest stage. Surface ships carried out missile firing, fought off air raids of a simulated enemy... And the submarines evaded the sonar captures of the surface ships, gamely launched torpedo attacks, drilling their whale-shaped hulls into the gloomy depths of the combat training ground. About the tragedy that has already occurred, no one even suspected. There was still time for a communication session with the leaders of the exercise, which the Kursk was supposed to leave for...

In the evening of the same day, Lieutenant Colonel Alexey Palkin took over the duty at the headquarters of the Northern Fleet. His assistant, having gone to his office for a while, quickly returned to the control room of the duty officer and reported excitedly: "The boat is missing!.."

- From the moment when the boat did not get in touch, - Alexey Alekseevich told me later,-the Il-38 was lifted into the air within an hour. He barraged in the combat training ground, where the submarine was supposed to be, according to all calculations, until nightfall. The plane tried to visually detect either the nuclear-powered ship itself, or signs of its location in a given area...

"Anti-submarine" returned to the airfield around eight in the evening. At this time, the chiefs and many officers of the naval services and departments were already called to the SF headquarters. An operational group was also formed there to meet the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov, who, according to available information, was supposed to fly to Severomorsk at 10 am on August 13.

Somewhere in 19.00 - 19.30 on Saturday, the head of the Department of Search and Rescue Operations of the Northern Fleet, Captain 1st Rank Sergey Morozov, came to the control room of the staff officer on duty and called the UPASR. To the commander of a part of the rescue vessels of the Northern Fleet, he set the task of urgently preparing the SS Mikhail Rudnitsky, Altai and the ocean rescue tug Nikolai Chiker for sea on Sunday morning. Immediately, Sergei Konstantinovich ordered to increase the air hoses and electrical cables to three hundred meters, because, as it followed from the telephone conversation, before that they were about eighty meters on the "rescuers".

At about seven o'clock in the morning, the first rescue ship went out to sea. Information was received that the acoustic means of one of the submarines "working" at the test site, at 11.43 on August 12, recorded some kind of strong water hammer. They reported a bearing on it. Surface ships patrolling at the supposed location of the" silenced " submarine were already actively searching.

"According to my information," Lieutenant Colonel Palkin told me, " on Sunday, the 13th, the boat was already discovered. The shift was just coming to an end. They gave information that the depth is from one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters - they haven't determined exactly yet. By this time, all the rescue forces were already at sea. Therefore, no matter what various media outlets write, I am a witness to that, the fleet did not waste a single minute of time in vain.

August 14:

"I was forced to lie down on the ground"

On Monday morning, it was felt that the atmosphere was heating up. They didn't say it out loud yet, but the navy garrisons were already filled with the "ringing" that an accident had happened to a nuclear submarine during the exercises. And at eleven o'clock in the afternoon, a message was broadcast on central television that shocked the relatives and friends of the crew of the Kursk APRK. Further silence was pointless. Therefore, after some time, as they say, a statement was published by the press service of the Russian Navy.

Throughout Monday, the electronic media discussed various versions of what happened, which, however, did not rely on any reliable sources.

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Even the number of sailors on board the submarine of captain 1 rank Gennady Lyachin was called different: from 107 to 130 people. It was also reported that "Kursk" lay down on the ground at a depth of 108 meters, 80 miles from the main base of the Northern Fleet - Severomorsk.

And only in the evening, a message was sent about the causes of the incident, as they say, from a competent person. The most competent person. The message is extremely disturbing...

"There are signs of a major and serious collision. The situation is difficult. And the chances of a successful outcome are not very high, " Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, said in an interview with ITAR-TASS...

A familiar officer called and - right in the forehead:

"Don't you think we're being prepared for a government announcement?"..

August 15:

"Every minute counts"

On Tuesday, early in the morning, the press service of the Northern Fleet reported: at noon, a briefing for journalists will be held, which will be attended by the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet Hero of Russia Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak. Finally, I thought at the time. "At least Mikhail Vasilyevich will say something concrete."..

But when a press-service UAZ truck braked at the porch of the North Sea House of Fleet Officers and a man in civilian clothes appeared from it along with Captain 1 rank Vladimir Navrotsky, they realized that they had decided to buy us off with one of the specialists of the Rubin Central Design Bureau who had flown to the Arctic the day before. Civilian colleagues were sad: of course, the acting admiral is preferable. "So, nothing is clear yet, or so clear that... - a thought flashed through my mind, and then I checked myself. "Don't jinx it... Time will show. In the meantime, by the way, the technical "educational program" will not hurt, otherwise our brothers, having never seen the" live ""Antey" in their eyes, write such tall tales about him..."

At a press conference, Igor Baranov, General designer of nuclear submarines with cruise missiles, said that rescue operations to evacuate the crew of the Kursk APRK from the sunken submarine are ongoing. But due to a strong undercurrent in the area of the boat and bad weather conditions (storm 5 - 6 points, wind up to 20 meters per second) on the surface of the Barents Sea, contact with the crew of the Kursk can not be established. Fifteen ships and vessels of the Northern Fleet are involved in the rescue operation.

In general, the Kursk nuclear-powered missile cruiser is a serial (twelfth hull) submarine of the Antey project developed by the Rubin Central Design Bureau in St. Petersburg. For two decades of the existence of this series (the first boat was adopted by the Navy in the 80th year), the ships proved to be very reliable and even beloved by the fleet. They "serve" today in the Northern Fleet and in the Far East. For its very high combat qualities, this ALL is highly respected, and simply put, our colleagues from abroad are afraid of it.

Its reliability is primarily determined by the so-called redundancy of all mechanisms. It has a buoyancy margin of more than 30 percent, which allows

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keep it afloat in any accident, flooding of any compartment. It confidently keeps on the surface even in stormy conditions. Air reserves allow the " Antey "to surface from any depth at which the boat was" working " at that moment when it receives a hole.

The boat of this project is capable of lying on the ground - on this occasion, training tests were conducted repeatedly. The strength of the Kursk bulkheads allows you to withstand pressure up to ten kilograms per square centimeter with a coefficient of one and a half, that is, up to 150 meters. In addition, the boat is also divided into two blocks by a bulkhead that can withstand pressure of 40 kilograms per square centimeter, which will allow you to safely stay in the other at a depth of up to 400 meters when one of the blocks is flooded.

At the moment when the press conference was held, rescuers were examining the hull of the submarine. We worked out possible versions of the disaster. By the way, Baranov did not rule out the possible version of the collision of the Kursk with some underwater object.

What can we assume about the situation in which the submariners found themselves? The design of the boat provides for the occurrence of such accidents when the submarine is completely de-energized. Therefore, in any of its compartments there are emergency supplies of water, food, regeneration cartridges that purify the air. This will allow the entire crew to feel quite tolerable for five to six days. Everything is ready and the rescue ships have to supply air to the strong hull. According to Igor Baranov, due to the lack of communication with the crew, unfortunately, it is not known whether there are dead or injured.

Foreign countries offered their assistance in carrying out the rescue operation. But the general designer felt that so far he does not see the point in this. Emergency services do not stop their work for a single moment from the moment of receiving an emergency signal. And it is unwise to push everyone on a relatively small sea "patch", and there will be more interference. We will also not be able to quickly use the British rescue submarine offered to help us by the British Navy. The fact is that, according to Baranov, it will take much longer to connect technical nodes. And now every minute counts.

At the end of the press conference, Igor Baranov said that with regard to the fate of the Kursk submariners, he still hopes for a favorable outcome...

We went out for a smoke. The impression of the meeting with the general designer is unsolonically slurped. Nearby, civilian colleagues were talking quietly:

"Do you think he even owns the place?"

— I don't know... At least he didn't say anything unnecessary...

And in the evening, the commander-in-Chief of the Navy made another statement. He expressed the hope that today the weather conditions will allow the rescue operation to start at 22 hours Moscow time. The evacuation is supposed to be carried out with the help of rescue shells specially designed to save the crews of submarines. They descend from a surface ship and then dock in autonomous mode to the submarine's escape hatch. After that, the sailors from the emergency submarine go inside the shell. To the question about the number of such devices

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on the rescue vessels, the commander-in-chief replied that they would be involved as many as necessary. The main thing is that the weather doesn't let you down. Such an operation, according to Fleet Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, will take six to seven hours.

Well, we'll probably find out in the morning if our plans have been successful, if our shared hopes have come true...

August 16:

"The only task is to save people!"

But Wednesday morning turned out to be "foggy": from the area of the rescue operation-nothing comforting, encouraging.

At night, four attempts were made to dock special vehicles with the Kursk hull. But all of them ended in failure, as the wind changed direction and a large swell began to move across the sea. Because of it, one of the rescue cameras swayed and hit the side of the ship. Something broke in the cell. They are being repaired.

Until two o'clock in the afternoon, rescuers made seven more attempts to lower the camera to the stern of the submarine, but due to the deteriorating weather conditions, all of them also did not lead to anything.

And the weather has diverged specifically: a storm of 5-6 points, sometimes wind gusts reach 20 meters per second. Due to the instability of the operation of special vehicles in such conditions, the emergency rescue service of the Northern Fleet was forced to examine the condition of the submarine with other means available in its arsenal. The hydrographic vessel made a survey of the Kursk with a sonar station combined with a computer, which made it possible to build a reliable echogram of the submarine.

Specialists of the Department of Search and Rescue Operations of the Northern Fleet found that the missile carrier is lying on an even keel, with almost no roll and trim. This, according to experts, gives a good opportunity to put a special device on the boat in the area of the aft escape hatch. A hitch is the lack of more or less favorable weather conditions. But, despite even this, rescuers persistently, time after time, go to the depths.

By the way, despite the denials from abroad, the version of the collision of a missile carrier with an underwater object is still relevant. And there is an explanation for this. The North Sea crew found all the signs that there was more than one foreign ship in this area of the Barents Sea, as we are convinced. Therefore, a thorough analysis of the situation allowed experts to accept the collision as one of the versions. Along with it, of course, we are also working on

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others that caused water to enter the forward compartments of the cruiser.

But the main task at the moment is to save people. The fact that, according to some information channels, communication with submariners was stopped by tapping is not a reason to lose hope. It is possible that a number of unfavorable factors have occurred in the strong case, for example, the pressure and air temperature have decreased. In such conditions, people begin to starve of oxygen. And here, of course, it would be better to save your strength, not to make unnecessary movements. The main thing is that submariners know that help is coming.

Naval rescuers in their quest to wrest the "Kuryan" from sea captivity perform truly miracles of courage. The headquarters still believes that there are chances for a successful completion of the rescue operation. That's just the time. It is inexorably going away...

Experts suggest other possible options for rescuing the crew...

By the way, two planes took off from Scotland to the Norwegian port of Trondheim, which delivered a group of British rescuers and a mini-submarine LR-5 for a deep-sea rescue operation. A Norwegian transport ship will take her to the scene of the accident.

Already leaving the headquarters, I accidentally found out that the developers of the APRK believe that as a result of the disaster, the first and second compartments were filled with water in ten seconds. God! That's two-thirds of the crew!..

Time to save those who might still be alive...

August 17:

"We have to make it!"

I woke up with the thought: I really wanted time to stop. To freeze the hands of all the clocks in the country - from the smallest, wrist, to those that are located in Moscow, on the Spasskaya Tower. So that they would stop relentlessly approaching the fatal numbers - the hour, minute, second, when the last oxygen molecule would disappear in the cold, dark compartments of the Kursk. Stop, just a moment! After all, rescuers need only one thing-to be in time. They really need to make it!..

At the headquarters of the Northern Fleet, I learned: the condition of the submarine is critical. Well, this was also discussed the day before. They also found significant damage in the bow of the boat in the area of the first and second compartments. Unfortunately, this is no longer news. But everyone still hopes, although, as many people understand, the chance is scanty.

In a short time, an underwater rescue shell that was damaged the day before was repaired. And the weather finally took pity: in the area of the operation, a favorable north-easterly wind prevails, its speed is 10 meters per second, and the sea is rough 2-3 points. Experts note that the radiation background in the area of rescue operations is normal.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who heads the government commission to investigate the causes of the Kursk nuclear submarine accident, has arrived at the Northern Fleet. Together with him, the commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov, also flew to Severomorsk. At the operational meeting at the fleet headquarters, options for rescuing the crew and versions of the causes of the tragedy were again discussed...

In Murmansk, I went to the editorial office of a regional newspaper. Familiar journalists said that they contacted their Norwegian colleague Bent-Aare Jensen by phone to find out about the situation around the British LR-5 ultra-small rescue boat, delivered to Trondheim from the UK by AN - 124 plane.:

- What happened to the Kursk and its crew became the central topic of the Norwegian media. Not only newspapers, but also TV pay an unprecedented amount of attention to this tragedy, even taking into account the scale and drama of what is happening. All possible aspects are discussed. There is a lot of talk about possible consequences for the environment and fish stocks in the Barents Sea.

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sea. There are even voices that, when talking about fish, some people forget about the fate of those who are on board the Kursk. Norwegians take this tragedy very personally, because you are our neighbors.

Bent-Are went on to say that the Dagbladet newspaper criticizes the Russian authorities for the obscenely small amount of information about the situation with Kursk, for the fact that even the crumbs that come in are very late.

As for the LR-5, everyone was puzzled by the fact that the boat was delivered to south Trondheim, and not to Murmansk. Or at least in Kirkenes-closer to the scene of the tragedy. At first, this was explained by the lack of coordination between the actions of the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian military.

However, the Dagsavisen newspaper quotes a representative of the British Ministry of Defense: "The boat could only be delivered to Trondheim, because it can only work successfully in tandem with a specially equipped support vessel. The closest of these was the Nurman Pioneer, located in Kristiansund, near Trondheim. In addition, its crew already has experience working with the LR-5. Other vessels in this situation would simply be useless."

The representative of the Swedish Navy, Johan Oserud, in an interview with the NTB agency, refutes the Englishman. According to him, the RL-5 could also work with a Russian support vessel.

Nevertheless, Bent - Are Jensen told his Murmansk colleagues by phone that on August 17, at exactly noon Moscow time, the Nurman Pioneer left Trondheim with the LR-5 and a mobile hospital on board. The estimated time of arrival at the accident site is Saturday, August 19, at 12.00...

August 18:

"There is no such thing as someone else's misfortune"

The rescue operation continues. It involves about 20 ships and vessels of the Northern Fleet. From the evening of August 17 to this morning, two underwater rescue shells were working at a depth of at the location of the Kursk . In total, ten approaches were made. Four unsuccessful attempts were made to dock with the submarine's hull. On one of the rescue shells is the commander of the electromechanical warhead of the second crew of the Kursk in order to more accurately analyze the nature of damage to the hull of the submarine.

By the way, over the past few days, anti-submarine helicopters based on the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great and four Il-38 aircraft have been operating in the area. Their goal is to monitor the area...

At the Fleet headquarters, I went to the Department of educational work. In the control room of the Department of Internal Affairs duty officer, near the hotline phone, I noticed a telegram, the text of which, I am sure, would not leave anyone indifferent:

"Murmansk. To the Governor of the Murmansk region Evdokimov. We ask you to provide moral support to the crew of the Kursk submarine. Hold on, guys, our Russian submariners, we are with you. You are real heroes. We pray for you. We are waiting for you to return alive, healthy and unharmed. We admire your endurance, courage and heroism. Murmansk residents are Nenakhovs, Ivanovs, Skvortsovs, Antonovs and many others."..

Yes, in these days of anxiety for the whole country, telegrams are sent to the Northern Fleet, to the Murmansk region, in a continuous stream from ordinary Russians with words of support for submariners of a submarine in distress, with offers of real, including material, assistance. "Little brothers! Hold on! " - wrote reserve officers from the Republic of Mari-El. "Dear friends, - the wives of former submariners living in the Rostov region addressed the wives of the crew members of the Kursk. - We believe and hope for salvation. Hold on, dear ones!" Captain of the 2nd rank of the reserve G. Tsaturov, now Chairman of the managing directors of the ICB

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Sudkombank, in a telegram addressed to the commander of the Northern Fleet, said that the bank's management decided to allocate free assistance to the families of submariners in the amount of 500 thousand rubles. On the morning of August 16, a representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Murmansk Region, Galina Snegovskaya, called the headquarters of the Federation Council and said that President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and the government of the Republic of Belarus are ready to transfer money for the submarine crew members and their families. Former navigator of the Beshtau rescue vessel N. Popov from Murmansk is also ready to provide financial assistance to the families of the crew of the Kursk nuclear missile carrier. A severomorets A. Raevsky, on the phone of the "hotline" in the department of educational work of the SF headquarters, offered to place in his apartment relatives of injured submariners who come to the fleet these days. The wife of the head of the chemical service of the nuclear-powered ship, Captain 3 rank Vyacheslav Bezsokirny, while on vacation in Sevastopol, just learned about the tragedy, immediately decided to go back to the Arctic. But it is very difficult to leave Crimea in August: there are no tickets. Fortunately, at the same time, the pilots of the ship's fighter aviation regiment, commanded by the Hero of Russia Colonel Igor Kozhin, were returning from the Sak after working out the flight program on the simulator to the North. It would be incredible if our "deck crew" remained indifferent to the woman's grief. Therefore, on August 17, she flew to Severomorsk on An-12 along with the regiment's personnel, where she was met by a car from the Kursk submarine division. In short, it seems that the whole of Russia is watching with bated breath the dramatic developments in the Barents Sea. However, it not only provides moral and material support, but also offers a completely different kind of assistance to the fleet, practical-personal participation.

Thus, Captain of the 2nd rank A. Sholokhov from St. Petersburg was once the commander of the AC-34, one of the special vehicles currently involved in the rescue operation of the Kursk crew. The officer, at his own expense, immediately came to the Northern Fleet with the firm intention of participating in the rescue of his comrades. On the morning of August 16, he was sent on a TL - 280 (torpedolov) to the area of the rescue operation. A day earlier, an employee of the State Research Institute of the Navy, Captain 2 rank D. Podkopaev, the first commander of the AC - 36, also left there.

An officer of the Pacific Fleet, Captain 2nd Rank Kuznetsov, a Muscovite Astakhov, and Vikchetaev, a former submariner and now a resident of Tyumen, offered their practical help in rescuing the submarine crew.

A lot of technical advice and suggestions are sent to the Northern Fleet headquarters and via the hotline.

Even I personally had to receive several times in the press service of the Northern Fleet faxed messages marked " Urgent. To the Commander of the Northern Fleet."

"An academician of the Russian Academy of Transport, an expert in the field of emergency management, Yuri Malenkov, is writing to you," one of the messages said. - The situation with the rescue of the boat is completely hopeless, the English rescue team by sea will arrive late, in addition, there will probably be problems

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incompatibilities of hatches and the absence of a transition module. The only hope is to use non-standard solutions... Please do not reject these measures."

From Vladikavkaz to the headquarters of the Northern Fleet sent a message on four pages, with drawings and diagrams of the physicist George Potravka. "Comrades, these are effective options," Georgy Mikhailovich pleaded over the phone. - Take them apart, try them - they will help. Call me at any time of the day."

Anytime... How similar it is to those of us in the past, when we were taught at home, at school, and just in life from an early age: there is no other person's misfortune, we are one people, one family. Is it only when misfortune comes that we begin to understand that in our country we will never be alone in our grief?..

Anytime... People keep calling-on the "hotline", to the headquarters of the Northern Fleet, the press service of the Federation Council. For example, Yuri Filchenkov, a deep-water diver who once served on the rescue ship Sprut, called around midnight on August 17. "Just give me a command," Yuri Mikhailovich used to say, " and I'll get my guys together. We can work at this depth." After that, the press service received a call from a person I've known for many years. Seven years ago, he went to sea with him for the first time on board the Guards APRK Voronezh (a single project with Kursk). He wrote his first report about submariners - "Reactor Compartment". Captain of the 2nd rank of the reserve Grigory Turchin, former commander of the Voronezh movement division, who served on the Kursk for more than a year. In short, the 949A nuclear-powered ships of the project are familiar to Grigory Mikhailovich "from drawings, as from diapers".

- ... I still can't believe it. In shock. How is the situation in the rescue area now?

- Grigory Mikhailovich, Severomorsk residents are doing everything possible and impossible.

- Please tell me the phone numbers of the Technical Department of the Fleet. There are a lot of my friends and specialists there. There are suggestions...

Every day in the headquarters of the Northern Fleet, without exaggeration, up to a thousand phone calls are heard. They call from all over Russia, from near and far abroad (France, Israel, etc.). They express support for the families of submariners from the Kursk, offer their own

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options for lifting the boat and rescuing its crew. The latter - always with the same request, even a plea: "Just do not dismiss it, listen to the advice..."

So I want to say to everyone: "Our dear compatriots! Thank you very much and a low bow from the families of the crew of the Kursk APRK and the entire Northern Fleet for their participation, concern, and empathy. None of your suggestions will be ignored by the SF command. All technical developments immediately fall on the table to the Chief of the Fleet Staff, Hero of Russia Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak. After that, they are immediately sent to those departments and departments of the SF headquarters in whose competence the issues under consideration are located..."

August 19:

"At the deserted pier"

Now I can't even remember how many times during my service in the Northern Fleet I came to Vidyaevo on journalistic business trips. It was always a joyful meeting with friends, friends of submariners, about whom I had already written and about whom I was just planning to write. The current arrival... Yes, what to say. And so everything is clear...

In the base of nuclear-powered ships, I went to the eighth berth, where, like a whale sprawled on a light swell, a single - project nuclear submarine with the Kursk, the Guards Voronezh, is moored. Eighth pier... It was from him that six years ago, together with the crew of Captain I rank Mikhail Ivanisov, I left for the Tambov submarine for combat service in the North Atlantic. From here, on the morning of August 10, the Kursk APRK also left for its last campaign...

But, as I remember now, there was also March 95, when it was on this pier that the Kursk and its crew were consecrated. And then the words of Bishop John of Belgorod, rector of the Kursk Theological Seminary, were addressed to the "Kurians": "They were united by concern for the Motherland!.."

After sprinkling holy water on the boat's wheelhouse, its flag, coat of arms, as well as the submariners themselves and their families, Vladyka presented the crew with a copy of the seven - hundred-year-old icon of the Kursk Mother of God, and each sailor with small icons depicting the face of St. Nicholas the Saint, the patron saint of seafarers.

For a long time I did not dare to ask the priest, as it seemed to me, a tricky question: they say, the consecration of the nuclear-powered ship is not a tribute to the current fashion? Then he took a chance.

"Sailors are not people who tend to be opportunistic," Vladyka John replied. - From time immemorial, they have an inner need for Faith, for God. Now this need can finally be realized. And I felt: each of the submariners

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inwardly ready for consecration, they were all united by anxiety for the Motherland. And in this feeling it is difficult to be deceived...

The Kuryan submariners had a holiday. Another anniversary of the crew's creation. And, as you know, on your birthday they give gifts. And the Kuryans, who are already chefs, did not change the tradition. Accompanied by a car of the Kursk traffic police in Vidyaevo came KAMAZ, loaded "to the eyeballs" with food for the crew, building materials for the construction of the coastal barracks, and a brand-new PAZ bus, on the "board" of which the Slavic script was written out: "To the crew of the Kursk APRK from the Kuryans." The chiefs, it turned out, had found out in advance that one of the biggest problems for the crew members was getting from the garrison to the base of nuclear - powered ships and back.

But the submariners did not remain in debt to the guests when they saw their patron - a beautiful nuclear-powered ship.

- I could never imagine that our country is able to build such a miracle of technology, - shared with me the impressions of the Mayor of Kursk Isidor Brykailo. "It's a fantasy, not a ship. It serves mostly young guys. But they already know their stuff well. And I believe that we, the people of Kursk, should not only be proud of such a namesake of our city, its crew, but also do everything in our power to make the life of submariners in these difficult conditions - both natural and economic - as good as possible.

The bosses had big plans. Over time, they became a reality. In the summer, when the fathers often "passed through" the depths, alternating rocket firing with torpedo firing, and control exits with naval exercises, the children of crew members rested in sports camps and sanatoriums on the fertile Kursk land. Housing was built for the "Kuryans" who were leaving for the reserve. And another very important circumstance, in my opinion, is that the best Kursk guys have started to be called up for a "named" submarine missile carrier. And, believe me, it was such an honor that in the military registration and enlistment offices of Kursk and the region, young men and their parents "cut off" the phones: "We want only on our boat." Well, upon returning to his native penates, there was no need for a better characteristic than "I served at Kursk", in any educational institution or production.

In July last year, the crew of the APRK celebrated the fifth anniversary of the lifting of the Naval flag on the nuclear-powered ship. Ship's Day for sailors is an event, in comparison with which another state "red date"is an order of magnitude lower. And then there's the anniversary. What about here, but without a cruising "test": they say, "our brand"? Solved - done: rocket firing is excellent. Especially closer to the fall of the "Kursk", a thunderstorm and a fighter of carrier groups, shone combat service. In the area where our underwater "stitches-paths" originally began, figuratively speaking, to grow into the past.

The Kurians, the bosses, guessing in general that such a risky lot fell to their wards, could not, of course, not come to Vidyaevo. The delegation was headed by Governor Alexander Rutskoi himself. The commander of the APRK, Captain of the 1st rank Gennady Lyachin, was awarded a traditional roast piglet for cruising "credit", and several officers were congratulated on awarding the next military ranks. But the main thing was still a parting word:

- You are the pride and elite of the state. Unfortunately. it is not yet able to give the people of your courageous profession proper attention. But in order to consider ourselves a great power, we first need to bring the Navy into a normal state. Without it, Russia has no future. Seven feet under the Kursk's keel. May good luck accompany you...

At the beginning of August last year, the nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser Kursk went autonomous. For the first time in many years, the North Sea Fleet had to perform combat missions in the Mediterranean Sea, operate in conditions of multiple superiority of the anti-submarine forces of the Navy of a likely enemy.

Long before the campaign, despite the insufficient material and technical support of the Northern Fleet, the submariners prepared the nuclear-powered ship and weapons for a long voyage. By the way, the commander of the APRK, Captain 1 rank Gennady Lyachin, has already been in the Middle-Earth on first-generation submarines. Therefore, Gennady Petrovich paid a lot of attention to training subordinates: officers studied the naval theater, the planned route of transition to the combat service area, its operational, navigational, hydrographic and hydrometeorological features.

During the voyage, the Kuryans observed aircraft carrier strike and multi-purpose groups of a potential enemy, tracked their weapons in readiness to launch missile strikes with the start of hostilities, and carried out a passing search for missile and multi-purpose submarines of foreign Navies. During the campaign, the submariners launched five conditional missile strikes on real targets.

The Kuryany autonomous ship conducted more than 150 installations of a pop-up towed antenna device, provided more than 300 communication sessions, which was a record figure in the history of the Russian Navy. Thanks to the high professionalism of the officers of the ship's combat crew and the Kursk combat information post, a foreign submarine was discovered while crossing the Faroese-Icelandic anti-submarine line by the nuclear-powered ship. Having taken all the necessary measures, competently and skillfully maneuvering, Captain 1 rank Gennady Lyachin masterfully brought the nuclear-powered cruiser out of the detection zone of a foreign submarine...

...The days became weeks. They were formed during months of heart-wrenching waiting - for wives, mothers, and children. Meeting familiar submariners on the streets of Vidyaevsky, the Kuryan home crew asked them about one constant: "How are our people?" "It's all right...!"

And then came the long-awaited, un-polar sunny October day, when the nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser Kursk was returning from combat service. He went to his home base, one might say, with the stately step inherent only in the winner.

On the tug that went out to meet the nuclear-powered ship in the bay, there was-how could it be without her? - the Kursk delegation. And when the missile carrier was already close to us, one of the Kuryans said: "Handsome!" Said it admiringly, proudly, and most importantly - sincerely. Only perfect creations are so highly valued. And, by the way, before the splendor of "Kursk" and its "brothers", even overseas specialists could not resist, having awarded underwater

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ships of this project (according to the NATO classification) are named "Oscar"!..

And on the pier, the crew was waiting. Colleagues, friends, relatives, and friends of submariners. They waited with an impatience that had absorbed the long months of anxious separation. The last moments were painful, when the nuclear-powered ship was already pressed up against the dock, its dewy side glistening in the sun, and the gangplank connecting the ship's and earth's worlds had not yet been installed. But Captain 1 rank Gennady Lyachin was the first, as befits a commander according to immutable naval canons, to descend from the deck of the missile carrier and report to the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet, Hero of Russia Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak:

- The submarine cruiser from a long campaign has arrived, the task of combat service is completed... The material part is in service, the personnel is healthy. After resupply, we are ready to go to sea...

So they always reported: in the Great Patriotic War - the commanders of happy "pikes" and "babies", in the post - war period-the pioneers of Soviet rocket"kashek". And they spoke, believe me, not for the sake of a red word! Therefore, Captain 1st rank Lyachin, completely exhausted by sleepless nights in the central post, a string of commander's decisions to track or avoid pursuit, could not say otherwise. It seems to me that he simply did not have the moral right to trample on the traditions of the Russian submarine fleet, the height of which is as courageous as the abyss of dishonor is terrible for a self-respecting officer.

And swimming, although commonplace in the life of submariners, was still unique. Take, for example, the fact that the Kursk was submerged in the Strait of Gibraltar, famous for its intensive navigation. Usually, our sub-swim went like on "rails" in the Mediterranean Sea: you don't need to go to the right, you can't go to the left, there is a "road" - you can swim along it. The enemy knew this and, in principle, always tried to track submarines. But before the Kursk's combat service, Hero of Russia Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak, the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet, made a clever move: he used a very powerful tactical technique, very abruptly changed the route of the APRK movement. As a result, NATO believed that our nuclear-powered ship could be here, here and here. And suddenly "Kursk" was not there - it passed another "road". Gennady Petrovich, as well as all his subordinates, was simply delighted with this campaign.

The commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov, to whom Captain 1st rank Lyachin personally reported on the results of the voyage in Moscow, appreciated the level of professional skill of submariners, which they demonstrated in the confrontation with the many times superior anti-submarine forces of the NATO countries. The autonomous vehicle, by the way, the first in the crew's asset, also confirmed the high tactical and technical characteristics of the submarine missile carriers of this project. Despite the high temperature of the seawater, the operating mode of the mechanisms, the climate inside the boat were normal-the refrigeration units did not disappoint. And if earlier the submariners themselves still doubted whether the APRK was suitable for medium and low latitudes, then Kursk proved with its combat service that the 949A project was suitable for the entire World Ocean.

"We can! We can do anything! - said to me just half an hour after mooring senior campaign on board the APRK Captain 1st rank Viktor Kobelev. "The devil is not so terrible as they paint him. And our submarines, I am absolutely sure, are quite capable of resisting the US ones.

According to the results of combat training for the past year, the Kursk APRK was recognized as the best submarine of the Northern Fleet, and won the Cup of the governor of the Murmansk Region. I heard that his commander was presented with the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. I, superstitiously afraid to frighten the" star bird " of justice, wanted for the time being not to bother Captain 1 rank Lyachin. Several times, when they met at the Northern Fleet headquarters,he casually reminded them that they had already agreed on an essay about the Kursk on the return of the boat. "So come," the commander invited. - We will be glad..."

I wanted to make the main topic in the article the words spoken by Gennady Petrovich on the pier of the base on that already distant, not polar sunny October day:

"What about the autonomous car?" Yes, with such a crew, I am ready to go anywhere - in any campaign, battle, fire, water...

The crew of a submarine missile carrier, in the opinion of many officers, both from submarines and surfacers, is the best or, as they say in the navy, professionally worked out in any possible scenarios for the development of an emergency situation. Before the accident, unless there was a landslide accident, the scale of which we cannot even imagine, they could not have been saved.

It remains only to wait for the final results of the rescue operation, the technical opinion of specialists, and not out of nowhere fantasies. Hope and hope...

...In Vidyaevo there are relatives and friends of the crew members of the Kursk APRK. It is difficult in this situation to find the right words to somehow comfort them, to ease the pain. And it seems to me that in the bitterness of the endless stream of tears, prayers to God, many people invariably arise: "For what? Why not?"

They chose the military path. They were united by concern for the Motherland. From any other mouth, it would have sounded pompous, pompous. But this is said here, at the now deserted pier, by Bishop Vladyka John of Belgorod, who consecrated the Kursk five years ago. A person who lets go of earthly sins, cleanses us before the Almighty.

August 20:

"But wives, children, mothers don't believe..."

...It doesn't seem to be cold in the Arctic on August evenings yet, but I was getting chills. It was just pounding. From everything I saw, heard, and got through to the marrow of my bones during a few days of business trip to the Vidyaevo garrison.

To this day, wives, parents, relatives and friends of the crew members of the submarine that sank in the Barents Sea come here from all over Russia, where the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Kursk was based. It is impossible to express in words all the grief, despair, and pain that they feel when they learn from information sources a terrible verdict, like a verdict to still warm hopes: foreign experts

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they consider the continuation of the rescue operation impractical, the crew of the Kursk was killed. The emotional experience is already mixed with a sense of bewilderment: "How is it? After all, every day during the past week we were inspired with faith?"

"What are they thinking?" - nervously fiddling with a cigarette in his hands, the father of the sailor Oleg Evdokimov, called up from Kursk, says in a strangled voice. "We must hurry to save our sons. Until I see the body, I won't believe it...

For about an hour, we stand together in the foyer of the garrison House of Officers, where the operational headquarters for meeting relatives of "Kuryans"is located. We are constantly smoldering "I will accept". Oleg's father, a tall, wiry man, seemed to have aged twenty years in the last twenty-four hours. He talks about his son only in the present tense. What a wonderful guy he is, how proud his parents, sisters, and friends are of him. There was no answer. Oleg is there. And the fact that an official statement has been made, so it is, my father is sure, overreacted. We would not waste time on condolences and apologies, but would save them. Everyone in the garrison is talking about it. And also that hope is the last to die. Even the current commander of the Nizhny Novgorod submarine, Captain 2nd rank Mikhail Kotsegub, who served on the Kursk as a senior assistant, answered my request simply to tell about last year's combat service of the submarine in the Mediterranean Sea briefly, as if he cut it off:

- When they come back, they'll tell you...

Time for the evening news. The father of the sailor Evdokimov, throwing a smoldering cigarette butt into the trash can, hurries to the second floor, where there is a TV set. For all the crew's relatives, this " box " is akin to an altar to which they fall, to which they pray, hoping for a still illusory hope. Only here he is in the last few days as a vampire, draining strength, shortening vidyaevtsam life: whatever the message is, it's a hit. One mother came to the garrison and was reassured on the way: nothing was clear yet - so much so that when she entered the DOF, her tear-stained eyes really sparkled with confidence. And then the speech of the Chief of Staff of the Northern Fleet on the RTR, not an official statement, as news agencies later began to justify themselves, but simply, they say, the opinion of a specialist, a professional. Wow - "just an opinion"! The woman was barely brought to her senses.

"Why did he say that?" "What is it?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Was he there?" Did you see my son dead?..

... And the evenings in Vidyaevo are quiet. Only talkative flows its waters over the stones into the Bay of restless Uritsa. As if there was no trouble, and people dreamed it all. But no: I wasn't imagining it, I wasn't imagining it. Depressing souls and hearts of submariners melancholy heavy seal lay on the garrison. Even looking into each other's eyes is hard enough.

Next to the DOF, the second crew of the single-project APRK Voronezh with Kursk gathered. Its commander, Captain 1st rank Oleg Yakubina, instructs his subordinates on which of the native "Kuryans" to visit, support, and encourage. Suddenly, having separated from the formation, the senior midshipman rushed to meet me... Bah! Why, this is Martynenko, our senior cook-instructor from Tambov . Five years ago, we went out together for combat service in the North Atlantic. Like a spark,

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a flash of mutual joy - a firm handshake, hugged. Then... Sasha pulls out a pack of cigarettes. We smoke. He was silent for a while. Then Alexander said to me: "Do you remember how they drowned on the Tambov near Novaya Zemlya? Almost the fate of "Komsomolets" was not repeated...

And now my friend at the Kursk is gone... Tolik Belyaev, their cook... When the boat left the dock, I was shouted from the deck: they say, Sanya, in the galley I will soak meat for kebabs, we will return immediately to the hills... And so. Who would have thought, even guessed? After all, they were only supposed to be out for three days... As I imagine Tolik, I immediately remember Tambov, roaring water. It would have been better if they were meant to be instantaneous. So that you don't suffer... Melancholy..."

Sasha is right: eat, bitch, eat. And the water "Dukovskaya" too-before your eyes. I'll never forget it...

But all the same: it is one thing - the experiences of men, friends, colleagues "Kuryan", quite another-waiting, pleading, grief of women: wives, mothers, sisters of submariners. What I didn't see in the garrison, I didn't hear. One of the wives, looking at nothing in particular, said bluntly::

"If the boat was lost, I'd like to see my husband die instantly." Because I'm sure those who were still alive in that pitch-black hell for a while were jealous of the dead. And there is no need to raise the Kursk, even if it is better to use a mass grave. But, so that I must be given a document on my hands that my husband... he died... when performing official duties. Because in this country... in her... everyone is not behaving as they should. I understand it, even my children understand it...

In the operational headquarters of the garrison for the meeting of relatives of submariners from the Kursk, women are given the highest priority. Psychologists constantly come to them, doctors of the military hospital are ready to call at any moment, reinforced by therapists, resuscitators, psychotherapists from Murmansk and Severomorsk. Even on the Svir SF hospital ship, which was planned only to accommodate native submariners, specialists got jobs.

Women are supported by friends of their husbands and brothers, and specialists working with military families. And wives, mothers, and sisters are brave, looking for a ray of hope in every grain of information coming from the Barents Sea. But with what difficulty, effort of will they are given, judge for yourself: in just one day, doctors made the same diagnosis six times-neurosis, hysteria. Many women have deep stress. And what can we say in these tragic days of exhausting expectations about the self-control of the "kuryanok", if during the prayer service the father of the commander of the navigator combat unit, Lieutenant Commander Maxim Safonov, clinically died. A minute and twenty seconds fought for it

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vidyaevtsy's life: first submariner officers, then doctors who arrived in time. Thank God they saved me.

In short, the situation in Vidyaevo is tense. A tiny trickle of faith in justice still feeds the hope of the residents of the garrison for a successful outcome of the rescue operation, which, as the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, vowed, will continue until the end. At the same time, the atmosphere is getting hotter and hotter. What can happen? It's hard to guess. So far, the residents of the village and their relatives who have arrived are supported by one thing:"If we don't see it ourselves, we won't believe it."

August 21:

"Bay 9 is flooded..."

In the evening, the media reported a statement by the commander of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Vyacheslav Popov, that the nuclear-powered submarine missile cruiser Kursk was completely flooded. All 118 crew members were killed...

"The bow of the ship is badly damaged," Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Navrotsky, head of the press service of the Northern Fleet, said at a briefing for journalists two days earlier. - In the first two minutes of the tragedy, the first and second compartments were flooded instantly. They contained up to sixty percent of the boat's crew. Most likely, the water filled the compartments from the 3rd to the 6th. It is possible that the 9th compartment is also flooded. At the moment, there are still chances that only the 7th and 8th compartments have air.

Two hours later, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, chairman of the government commission investigating the causes of the accident, spoke to the media. He outlined the main versions of the disaster, which at that time experts considered the most likely.

At 12.25 pm, Norwegian rescuers managed to open the lid of the lower hatch of the airlock chamber. Unfortunately, the most gloomy forecasts were confirmed - the 9th compartment was flooded.

Today, the statement of the commander of the Northern Fleet did not leave an ounce of hope, which everyone lived for the last few days...

"I often raise the problems of military seamen in the Federation Council," said Pavel Sazhinov, chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma, whom I met in Vidyaevo. "But that's probably not enough if it could happen." It is necessary to provide all possible support to the relatives and friends of the submarine's crew members. The crew accomplished the feat. It consists in the fact that the sailors of the Kursk saved us all from an environmental catastrophe...

In this regard, I would like to note that some central publications still published contradictory information about the alleged increase in the radiation background in the area of the boat's death. So, from the first minutes of the tragedy, the Northern Fleet command sent specialists to the disaster area to measure and analyze the radiation situation. This work is carried out constantly, including with the involvement of foreign scientists.

The Norwegian Radiation Protection Agency published the results of its research in the Barents Sea, which was carried out at the time of the rescue work. Water and air samples were taken at a distance of 50-60 kilometers from the crash site.

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The examination showed that there was no radiation leak from the Kursk APRK...

In the evening, Norwegian divers working in the Barents Sea at the site of the Kursk disaster left the area on the Seaway Eagle rescue vessel. This happened at the end of a meeting of Norwegian and Russian experts.

"We came to rescue people," the divers explained their decision. However, negotiations between Norway and Russia on the continuation of work on the sunken submarine have not yet been completed.

"The operation in the Barents Sea will continue until the last sailor's body is removed from the submarine's compartments," said Viktor Kravchenko, Chief of the Russian Navy's General Staff.

By the way, specialists of the Central Design Bureau "Rubin" are already developing a project for lifting the nuclear-powered ship, their work will take at least two weeks. But first of all, according to Igor Spassky, General Director of Rubin, the Central Design Bureau's employees solve issues related to the evacuation of the bodies of dead submariners before November, so that the sailors who died on the Kursk can be buried with dignity.

August 22-23:

"The President has arrived in Vidyaevo"

On the evening of August 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Murmansk Region. His plane landed at the military airfield of Severomorsk. After that, together with members of the government commission to investigate the causes of the Kursk nuclear-powered missile cruiser disaster, Vladimir Vladimirovich left for the garrison.

Vidyaevo. There he held a private meeting with the relatives and friends of the crew of the sunken submarine.

The hall of the House of Officers was so full that it was impossible to breathe in it. During the meeting, which lasted several hours, doctors and officers helped relatives of the sailors from the Kursk to listen to the end of everything - they brought water, medicines,ammonia. But the huge stress, emotional and physical fatigue of people still affected: several people lost consciousness right in the hall. They were taken out of the room and taken to the hospital.

- It is much easier to declare mourning throughout the country. Lower the flags at half-mast. And then forget it... - the President was told by the wives and mothers of the dead submariners. "We're not wearing black headscarves until we see the bodies." We need to continue the rescue operation. Maybe we can save at least one person. Let at least one happiness return to someone's home. And we may find out the real truth about what really happened to the boat...

Perhaps, for Vladimir Vladimirovich, this closed meeting was the most difficult day in his life since the beginning of his rule. But the President endured it courageously, probably just realized. And also, I think, because I saw firsthand what it is, the garrison of the elite of the Navy: broken houses with boarded-up windows, empty apartments like tombs. Hot water was also given when the commanders of the remaining boats in the division, embittered, threatened local utility workers with "unscrewing their heads".

"I can't imagine," the sister of one of the dead Kuryans told Vladimir Putin at the meeting, " how my brother could have lived here for many years. How could he

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to go out to sea, leaving on the shore, in these ruins, his wife and child, who in the winter sat in the same room fully clothed and froze. And no one cared how they lived, what they ate...

In Vidyaevo, the situation has slightly stabilized. People are preparing to go to sea tomorrow, August 24, on the ship of the Murmansk Shipping Company "Klavdia Elanskaya". Tonight, it will moor at the wall of the Vidyaevskaya submarine base.

Regarding the visit to the place of death of the submarine, the opinions of relatives were divided. Some do not want to go to sea yet: this will be like a recognition that the sea has accepted sailors forever. Many relatives and friends of the "Kuryans" want to postpone the mourning events until the time when the bodies of their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers will be recovered from the abyss. They even asked the President to cancel the mourning period. But this conversation took place late in the evening, and mourning has already begun in the Far East. That's why it wasn't canceled. But since in Vidyaevo itself, the mourning events were still canceled. The Russian president left for Moscow...

August 24th:

"A monument will be laid here"

It hurts, unbearably painful, to look into her mother's eyes, which are dead with grief, and still have hope at the bottom of them.

Today, dozens of mothers and widows threw red carnations from the Klavdia Elanskaya into the cold waves of the Barents Sea, which became the grave of 118 Kursk submariners.

A flick, a splash, and the arm hangs like a wounded wing at the side of the body. The mother steps away from the boat and whispers, " I don't believe it... He's still alive... " On "Elanskaya" everyone was crying-relatives, friends, colleagues. A grizzled admiral was crying furtively on the sidelines: "I didn't save you..."

The band wasn't playing funeral marches, but "Farewell to the Rockies." And that made it even more painful. Wreaths floated across the sea, carefully lowered from the gangplank. And widows and mothers, deprived of the opportunity to take at least a handful of earth from the grave of a dear and beloved person.,

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they took with them water as salty as their tears, as if they were trying to scoop the sea to the bottom...

Nevertheless, at the place of farewell to the Kursk, in the salty wind, the mountain was more restrained than a few hours earlier, when a cloth cloth was sliding down in Vidyaevo, covering a stone with a sign " A monument to the Kursk submariners who died in the ocean will be laid here."

"Elanskaya" went to sea from the same pier from which the Kursk left on the last trip, and returned to it - alone. And all the way back and forth people stood on the deck and looked, looked, looked at the sea. It was as if they were begging him in the last hope of bringing back their sons, fathers, husbands, and brothers...

They were gone forever. They will never again put strong arms around their mothers, wives, and girlfriends, or see the first steps of their unborn children. They won't laugh, they won't sing, they won't cry.

They were gone forever. But they will come back-the sun after the rain, beating on the rocks with a powerful, heavy wave, the singing of birds, the smiles of children...

August 25:

"We will take all your wishes into account..."

Last night, a working group headed by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matviyenko arrived at the Northern Fleet. The group also included Colonel - General Vitaly Azarov, Head of the Main Department of Educational Work of the Russian Armed Forces, Deputy Ministers of Labor and Social Protection, Health Care, representatives of the housing and maintenance services of the Ministry of Defense and the Navy, and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sberbank of the Russian Federation.

Valentina Ivanovna met with the command of the Northern Fleet and discussed issues of providing material assistance and housing to the families of the deceased submariners.

This morning Valentina Matvienko left for Vidyaevo, where she met with the families of the crew members of the Kursk APRK. She handed them savings books, each of which - 720 thousand rubles. In addition to this money, relatives of submariners will be paid 120 salaries of monetary support for sailors. And their housing problems

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They will be resolved within three months, Valentina Ivanovna assured.

One of the construction organizations is ready to provide families of submariners with housing for settlement. By the end of the year, two houses will be commissioned in the near Moscow region and one in the Leningrad region. In addition, the Russian Government undertakes to provide them with apartments in various cities of the country. The Cabinet of Ministers will send funds to the administrations of those cities where families of submariners want to live.

During her visit to Vidyaevo, Valentina Ivanovna handed over a million rubles ' worth of equipment and medicines to the local hospital. Roman Blokhin, President of the Garantia Foundation for Social Guarantees for Military Personnel under the Government of Russia, provided financial assistance in the amount of 200 thousand rubles.

Answering questions from journalists, the head of the Main Department of Educational Work of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Vitaly Azarov, stressed: "This is a completely new level in relation to a person in uniform. The motherland appreciated the work of the servicemen and remembers them."

According to him, Vladimir Putin instructed the governors to provide housing to the families of the Kursk sailors as a matter of priority, their children received the right to enroll in military and civilian universities without exams, and schoolchildren will soon go to the Orlyonok children's health camp. Colonel-General Azarov believes that the same attention should be paid to the families of servicemen who died in Chechnya, as well as to soldiers and officers who were injured or disabled during the counter-terrorist operation in the North Caucasus.

Colonel-General Azarov talked about this with Valentina Matviyenko on the plane on the way to Sevegorsk. Later, Valentina Ivanovna told reporters that the proposals will be carefully considered at the next Government meeting.

Valentina Matvienko left Vidyaevo knowing exactly what the relatives of the Kursk crew members needed.

"All wishes will be taken into account, the sailors' relatives will be guaranteed social protection, " she assured journalists...

As it became known, the Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on the death of the submarine.

August 26th:

"The rescuers did everything possible and even more..."

Fewer and fewer relatives of the dead crew members remain in Vidyaevo. They return home, taking with them from the Arctic heartache, bitterness from the realization of the untimely loss of people dear to their hearts and small glass capsules with sea water taken at the point of the Kursk disaster. The last thing that the relatives of the deceased submariners did before leaving was to delegate an initiative group to the Northern Fleet command. She had to answer the wives, mothers, and children of the "Kuryans" to the most important question, perhaps...

Father of an engineer of the automation group of the traffic division

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Warhead-5 of the nuclear-powered ship of Senior Lieutenant Alexey Mityaev, captain of the 2nd rank of the reserve Vladimir Anatolyevich Mityaev is a former submariner. For sixteen years he served on the "strategists" in Gadzhievo, Kamchatka. The last position is senior assistant commander of the SSBN. The father of the technician of the BCH-7 sonar group, midshipman Viktor Paramonenko, Captain of the 2nd rank of the reserve, Alexander Viktorovich Paramonenko , is a submariner. Duty stations - ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the Mediterranean Squadron. In the officer's asset - twenty-eight "calendars". Third in the representative group was the brother of the assistant chief of the electromechanical service of the submarine division, Captain of the 2nd rank Vasily Isaenko, Lieutenant Commander of the reserve Alexander Sergeevich Isaenko. "You are professionals," Kuryan's relatives admonished the officers. "If anything happens, your eyes won't get screwed up."...

First, they met with the Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet, Vice Admiral Vladimir Dobroskochenko, who was sympathetic to the request to visit the point of death of the submarine carrier. I gave the command to prepare the helicopter.

Then a conversation took place with the head of the Search and Rescue Department of the Northern Fleet, Captain 1st Rank Alexander Teslenko. He described in detail to the members of the group the situation in the area of the rescue operation. The relatives of the crew members of the Kursk also talked with the officers who directly descended to the depth in rescue vehicles. They were told who exactly, how many times and in what weather conditions tried to come to the rescue of submariners.

"We made a report about our stay in the area of the rescue operation," Captain Vladimir Mityaev of the 2nd rank of the reserve told me, " which we handed over to the command of the Northern Fleet. The only conclusion is that the Northern Fleet and its emergency rescue service did everything they could, and even more than that, while showing truly heroism and dedication. The rescuers were actually working hard, exceeding the criteria specified in various instructions. If they had the opportunity, they would have lifted the Kursk from the depth on their hands. We were at sea, went on a diving boat - on the wave throws so that just hold on... Water was collected directly above the boat so that the parents and relatives of the "Kuryans" could at least take something with them...

Relatives of the deceased submariners also believe that the merit of foreign rescuers is greatly exaggerated. The main burden of work fell on the shoulders of Severomorsk residents. Yes, the British and Norwegians did their bit, but nothing more. Our rescuers worked in much worse weather conditions. "For what the North Sea rescuers tried to do," Vladimir Anatolyevich emphasized, " they have done, having today in service with the poor equipment left after the Naval corral, it remains only to remove the cap and bow to them to the ground."

When the UPASR SF specialists had exercises, people were raised from approximately the same depth in a normal way. The tragedy of the "Kursk" is some kind of landslide confluence of fatal circumstances, which, unfortunately, turned out to be beyond the strength and capabilities of the North Sea people.

- I would like the death of our children to serve as a bitter but substantive lesson for everyone, - said captain of the 2nd rank of the reserve Alexander Paramonenko. - And first of all, so that the Government finally turns its face to the navy. Is there any confidence in this after the meeting with the Russian President? I'll say it philosophically: we'll wait and see. Do you remember how Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin said to an unforgettable memory: "We wanted the best, but it turned out-as always." At least in Vidyaevo, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin basically said everything as it is. According to the President, large-scale, long-term measures are needed to revive the Russian Navy. We understand this, of course. But I want some initial actions to be carried out faster, so that people who go to sea and protect the interests of our Motherland can be sure that help, God forbid, of course, will happen again, will come on time and the tragedy will not happen again...

"There are amateurish opinions," the members of the initiative group wrote in their report, " that if we look for those responsible for the death of the APRK crew, then we should look for them in the Arctic, in the Northern Fleet. But we, reserve officers, openly declare that the North Sea people did everything they could, and even more. And there is no need, as is customary in our country, to look for extreme ones where there are none..."

"But do all the relatives and friends of the deceased submariners," I asked the officers, " agree with such conclusions?"

"When we returned to Vidyaevo from the sea," Alexander Paramonenko told me, "we explained and told the submariners' relatives and friends the details of the rescue operation based on what we saw and were shown. And they would say,"Thank you!" But for what? After all, we are in the same trouble with them. I had only one desire: to see for myself, firsthand, without listening to anyone, and to draw a conclusion: could they or couldn't they?

"There was no pressure on us," Vladimir Anatolyevich Mityaev supported him. - The sailors did not hide anything: they showed us, told us, right on the clock, how and what they did, how many times the rescue vehicles landed on the stern of the boat... The information was complete and honest...

The officers made their statement to the personnel of the division of nuclear submarines, which included the APRK "Kursk". With this, the relatives and friends of the deceased crew crossed out all the" flourishing " slander and idle fictions: in the face of a terrible tragedy that befell submariners, the name of the Northern Fleet, which they were proud of, which they served faithfully, will not be smeared. And the brother of the captain of the 2nd rank Vasily Isaenko, Alexander, appealed to the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov, with a request to call him from the reserve to the Northern Fleet. A lifeguard...

Captain of the 3rd rank Sergey Vasiliev, permanent correspondent of the magazine "Orientir" for the Northern Fleet.

Severomorsk - Murmansk-Vidyaevo

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