Kursk

[lordtiberius]

As many of you know I am editing a graphic novel about the Kursk submarine.  The Kursk by Sasha Janowicz is the graphic novel adaptation of The Kursk. K-141 Kursk was an Oscar-II class nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of the Russian Navy, lost with all hands when it sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000.   Here is a few of the pages illustrated by Andrea Montano.  Sasha Janowicz is an Australian musician, actor and playwright of Belorussian extraction.  Born the Soviet Union, Sasha spent six years interviewing Russian Naval Officials, Sailors and their families.  This is their story.

[lordtiberius]

Cover

[lordtiberius]

pages

[lordtiberius]

The Oscar II class submarine was the last submarine constructed in the Soviet Era


After a decade long period of neglect, Captain Lyachin completed an 83 day mission to the Mediterrean to shadow the Sixth Fleet during the Kosovo War in 1999

[lordtiberius]

page 2

On the days leading to the accident, the Russian Navy conducted the largest naval exercises since the Old Soviet Days.  Rumored to observe the exercises surreptitiously were 2 Los Angeles class submarines - the Toledo and the Memphis. 


Also rumored to observe the exercises was the HMS Splendid:

[lordtiberius]

Graphic designer and European designer Sławomir Nietupski will finalize the cover design shortly.  For a look inside his portfolio, check out:

http://snietupski.deviantart.com/
http://www.facebook.com/slawomir.nietupski
http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Nahald/74627
http://www.artserwis.pl/portfoliobrowser.php?gid=4489

[lordtiberius]

this is about the Kursk, the Russian people and all peoples.  It has a lot to do conflicts between cover ups and patriotism. 

It has a lot to do with an on-going undeclared war under the sea between the US and Russia.   I can honestly see something like this happening in America today.  It probably already has happened but unlike the Russian people of 2000, do we  even whimper a protest.

The Kursk was the Russian 9/11.  It forever changed how the Russian people relate to their government.  The old Soviet days of use and abuse were over.

This story is about honoring the families:

telling their story as best we can.  We are in contact with two of the families of the survivors and invite them to tell their story and that the freedom loving people of the world are listening and we stand with them.

[lordtiberius]

1990   Work Started

1992   Laid Down

1994   Commissioned
               
1999   Kursk carried out a successful reconnaissance mission in the Mediterranean, tracking the United States Sixth Fleet during the Kosovo War

12-Aug-00   Sunk

1128 hours 12-Aug-00   there was an explosion while preparing to fire

1130 hours 12-Aug-00   The second explosion ripped a 2-square-metre (22 sq ft) hole in the hull of the craft, which was designed to withstand depths of 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), and also ripped open the third and fourth compartments.The second was 45 to 50 times bigger than the first, suggesting that one or more of the Kursk's own torpedoes had exploded.

That appears to be confirmed by the extent of the damage to the forward part of the submarine, but the cause of the first explosion is still unknown. Water poured into these compartments at 90,000 litres (3,200 cu ft) per second killing all those in the compartments, including five officers from 7th SSGN Division Headquarters.

The fifth compartment contained the ship's two nuclear reactors, encased in 13 centimetres (5.1 in) of steel and resiliently mounted to absorb shocks in excess of 50g. The bulkheads of the fifth compartment withstood the explosion, allowing the two reactors to shut down automatically and preventing nuclear meltdown or contamination

12-Aug-00   Twenty-three men working in the sixth through ninth compartments survived the two blasts. They gathered in the ninth compartment, which contained the secondary escape hatch (the primary hatch having been in the destroyed second compartment).

Captain-lieutenant Dmitri Kolesnikov (one of three surviving officers of that rank) appears to have taken charge, writing down the names of those who were in the ninth compartment.

0840 hours 13-Aug-00   the rescue ship Rudnitsky carrying two submersible rescue vessels, AS-32 and the Priz (AS-34) reached the disaster area at around 8:40 AM the following morning.

14-Aug-00   CBS News reports that the Russian Navy is communicating with the sailors via Morse Code and that 2 Los Angeles class submarines

16-Aug-00   the Russian government accepted the British and Norwegian governments' assistance

17-Aug-00   a rescue ship was dispatched from Norway

18-Aug-00    Nadezhda Tylik, mother of Kursk submariner Lt. Sergei Tylik, produced an intense emotional outburst in the middle of an in-progress news briefing about Kursk's fate. After attempts to quiet her failed, a nurse injected her with a sedative by force from the back, and she was removed from the room, incapacitated. The event, caught on film, caused further criticism of the government's response to both the disaster, and how the government handled public criticism of said response.

19-Aug-00   Norwegian Rescue ship reaches the site

20-Aug-00   British and Norwegian deep-sea divers reached the ninth compartment escape hatch.  They were able to determine that the compartment was flooded, and all hope of finding survivors was lost.

[mendeleyev]

cool

[lordtiberius]

I just got a $ 200 donation from a contributor on a sister forum.

It has been 20 years since the end of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Yet our two nations are engaged in undeclared war under the sea.  We kept this secret because we had been on war footing for decades.  We did not have a discussion about it in a democratic way.  Bureaucrats in Washington and Moscow decided this because it was war.

But we are not at war anymore.  If this country had something to do with the deaths of these men, we owe the Russian people at a minimum an explanation.  If we had nothing to do with it, then why not open up an unbiased independent investigation.  It would do much to de-escalate tensions between our nations due to the reset.

The Russians do not have clean hands in this affair.  But I believe the Russian people will handle their business in their own way.

[lordtiberius]

Again special thanks to the special contributor! Sławomir Nietupski has updated the cover! Enjoy!

[lordtiberius]

cool

A contributor on gogabber has been beating me up about Putin's role in the disaster.  I am doing my own research on this issue.  But I wanted to know what you thought about this.  Thank you in advance sir!

[lordtiberius]

"It's 13:15. All personnel from section six, seven and eight have moved to section nine. There are 23 people here. We have made the decision because none of us can escape. I am writing this blind."

The discovery of the note contradicts the official version of what happened to the crew and embarrasses the Russian navy further. It has issued numerous contradictory accounts of the fate of the sailors.

As it became clear that the Russian rescue attempts were going to fail, the navy took the line that all 118 crew died "within minutes", after several explosions ripped through the Kursk. The note shows that at least a fifth of the crew survived for at least several hours. A Norwegian seismic station recorded two explosions at 11.30am on Saturday, Aug 12.





Kolesnikov's tearful widow, Olga, a teacher, said last night: "I had a premonition my husband didn't die instantly. The pain I felt then has come true. I'm preparing for a meeting with him. I want to see him again. I want to read his letter."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/1372059/Doomed-sailors-letter-from-the-Kursk.html

[lordtiberius]

Submaritime Navigation is a very dangerous activity.  American authors Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew likened the activity to a Blind Man's Bluff where you are literally traversing through the ocean blind.

The Telegraph has reported as recently as 2011 of the 22 maritime accidents 19  are with submarines by which Americans lead with the most accidents 9 of which I will explore in a subsequent article. 

Here is a list of Russian Submarine and Nuclear Accidents

1995    A nuclear submarine had its electricity cut by an electricity company at a naval base due to unpaid bills. The submarine's cooling system ceased to function and the reactor "came close to meltdown".

2000
Jun-00   A fuel leak from a missile poisoned servicemen at a naval base in Russia's Far East.

12-Aug-00   The OSCAR II-class nuclear-powered submarine Kursk sank due to an explosion of ordnance in its torpedo room in the Barents Sea, killing all the 118 submariners on board.

30-Aug-03   The decommissioned NOVEMBER-class nuclear-powered submarine K-159 sank while it was being towed to a harbour in the Barents Sea to be stripped of its nuclear reactors. 9 crew died.


2005
Aug-05   The Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy provided assistance to rescue seven Russian sailors trapped in a minisubmarine that had become entangled in submerged nets off Russia’s Pacific coastline near Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy.

2006
7-Sep-06   a fire broke out in the submarine, Daniil Moskovskiy (St Daniel of Moscow), as it was being towed across the Barents Sea to a base in Vidyayevo. Two on board died.

2008
8-Nov-08   the AKULA II-class submarine K-152 Nerpa's freon fire extinguishing system was accidentally activated, killing 20 and injuring at least 22 people. The incident occurred while the submarine was conducting sea trials.

2009
Mar-09   a fire broke out on the hull of the decommissioned nuclear submarine, Orenburg, while at the Severodvinsk docks.

Oct-09   another blaze occurred during the decommissioning of the nuclear submarine, Kazan, again at Severodvinsk.

14-Nov-09   explosion on the outskirts of Ulyanovsk at Arsenal 31, a navy depot. 2 firemen died during the decommissioning of munitions.

23-Nov-09   second explosion at Arsenal 31. 8 soldiers died as they removed munitions.


2010
Feb-10   a blaze broke out on a decommissioned nuclear submarine, the Ak Bars, at Severodvinsk, on the Barents Sea. Casualties unknown.

2011
26-May-11   explosion in an arms depot in the village of Urman in Bashkortostan. 12 people were hurt and 40 buildings damaged. Over 2,000 people were evacuated from the surrounding area. The cause was blamed by an official on the "combustion of gunpowder traces".

2-Jun-11   explosion in an arms depot near the city of Izhevsk. 20,000 inhabitants of the surrounding area had to be evacuated. 95 people were injured in the blast, and 2 elderly people nearby died of heart attacks possibly caused by the sound of the blast. Windows were shatterd up to 10 km away. A discarded cigarette has initially been blamed for the blast.

29-Dec-11   the Yekaterinburg Delta-IV-class nuclear submarine, while in dry-dock in the Roslyakovo shipyard, north of Murmansk, caught fire after a blaze broke out on scaffolding that had been erected around it. The rubber outer hull was badly burnt. 9 people were injured fighting the fire. No radiation leak was detected.

2012
26-Sep-12   explosion at an arms depot 180km northwest of Orenburg killed one officer.

Oct-12   explosion at an arms depot in the Orenburg region. 4,000 tons of munitions exploded when a soldier failed to extinguish his cigarette. One officer was injured and inhabitants of the surrounding area had to be evacuated.

2013
18-19 June 2013   explosion at the Chapaevsk arms depot in the Samara region. 6,000 inhabitants of the surrounding area had to be evacuated. 30 people were injured in the blast caused by the "involuntary" explosion of shells.

[Hammer2722]

Submaritime Navigation is a very dangerous activity.  American authors Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew likened the activity to a Blind Man's Bluff where you are literally traversing through the ocean blind.

As a retired FBM Submariner, I'll take navigating under water over flying and driving anytime. We are by no means driving blind. Not only is the ship using extremely accurate charts to drive by, but we also have electronic navigation systems called SINS and ESGM which were highly accurate. These internal systems were backed up by GPs and Bathymetric (Sonar) external fix sources used to reset the internal Navigators when required.


The main causes of submariner collisions has been operator error as in lazy or inattentive or poorly trained crews.

[lordtiberius]

Thank you for your service.  You say you are not driving blind but in a literal sense you are driving blind.  Light is not guiding the navigation of your vessel but sophisticated acoustic and geographic equipment is.   To you, Underwater navigation maybe common place is buying gas, but to everyone else it is an  hazardous activity.  Especially if you are in a Post-Soviet boat who was never known for their craftsmanship or maintenance.   Given the evidence of 9 submarine accidents in ten years points coupled with your assessments indicates that the equipment is safer but the crews are not.  History, even the history of the nuclear navies, tells us that accidents happen.

Again, thank you for your service.

[lordtiberius]

For Mendy, a Russian version in progress

PS
I am speaking to the surviving family members.  One widow complimented the work of Journalist Helen Alm and that of the Russian Bureau of the London Telegraph.  She wanted to thank the Mammoet corporation in recovering the bodies of their husbands, brothers and sons.

[mendeleyev]

The last time I read a comic, Dick Tracy had a wrist watch that doubled as a telephone. Who would have thought?!

I enjoyed reading this and especially the storyline of the Russian couple. The fact that you've done some research and not just made up a story adds legitimacy.

[lordtiberius]

The last time I read a comic, Dick Tracy had a wrist watch that doubled as a telephone. Who would have thought?!

I enjoyed reading this and especially the storyline of the Russian couple. The fact that you've done some research and not just made up a story adds legitimacy.

That's supposed to be Dmitry and Olga Koleznikov.  Sasha Janowicz spent six years researching this story getting from Russian sources within the Russian Navy in Russian.  I am just the editor.

[lordtiberius]

marketing

[lordtiberius]

[kmin]

The rumors from very reliable sources here in the US stated that the explosion was part of an actual test of a top secrete underwater rocket torpedo that Russia was testing.

This underwater rocket torpedo was supposed to be able to take out one of our aircraft carriers without the possibility of avoidance.

I know there have been reports about the ship having the P-700 Granit Anti Ship Cruise Missiles, but the rumors were talking about a specific anti ship under water missile torpedo that went so fast it could not be avoided or destroyed.  Also carried enough kenetic energy upon impact to penetrate deep into a ship before detonating, thus overcoming the anti torpedo chambers on the outside of aircraft carriers.

Rumor was that during its initial test the fuel of the rocket exploded in the tube.

This rumor does seem to have some validity in that Russia refused to allow anyone to assist and when it came to raising the ship they wanted and did cut the front section off the ship.  I believe this was done to keep the secrete, secrete.

[kmin]

BTW it was supposed to be the next generation of underwater torpedo missile capable of 350mph or faster under water. 

Russia does have the VA-111 Shkval which is the first generation of this weapon that was developed in the 1960's and reportedly test fired in 1977.  It was fielded in the 1990's. Reported speeds are around 200-250mph underwater.

Basically the torpedo is supposed to go under normal propeller until it is away from the ship some distance before firing the rocket engine.  Rumor was the rocket initiated in the tube and due to the heat/pressure of being trapped in the torpedo tube caused the fuel of the rocket to explode.

[lordtiberius]

The rumors from very reliable sources here in the US stated that the explosion was part of an actual test of a top secrete underwater rocket torpedo that Russia was testing.

This underwater rocket torpedo was supposed to be able to take out one of our aircraft carriers without the possibility of avoidance.

I know there have been reports about the ship having the P-700 Granit Anti Ship Cruise Missiles, but the rumors were talking about a specific anti ship under water missile torpedo that went so fast it could not be avoided or destroyed.  Also carried enough kenetic energy upon impact to penetrate deep into a ship before detonating, thus overcoming the anti torpedo chambers on the outside of aircraft carriers.

Rumor was that during its initial test the fuel of the rocket exploded in the tube.

This rumor does seem to have some validity in that Russia refused to allow anyone to assist and when it came to raising the ship they wanted and did cut the front section off the ship.  I believe this was done to keep the secrete, secrete.

The rumor is that the Russian Navy put out was that a Norwegian spy ship - the Marjata.

and the HMS Splendid spied on the exercises.


 2 US submarines - the Memphis and the Toledo shadowed the Kursk.  The first submarine did so loudly and deliberately concealing the movement of the  true spy sub.

The Memphis:


The Toledo

[SANDRO43]

Where is the other, stern part of that ship ?