On August 12, 2000 the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea following an onboard torpedo explosion during a naval exercise, killing all 118 crewmembers.
Russia’s cities of Kursk and Murmansk, as well as several Northern Fleet bases, commemorated on Tuesday the 14th anniversary of the deaths of the Kursk submarine crew.
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© East News/ AP
K-141 Kursk was one of Russia's largest and most advanced submarines. She was 154 metres long and could move at the speed of nearly 60 km/h when submerged. In this 1999 file photo Kursk heaves ahead in the Barents Sea near Severomorsk.
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© East News/ Laski Diffusion
Gennady Lyachin (L), commanding officer of the submarine Kursk. Russia, Murmansk region, 1999.
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© Public domain/ wikipedia.org
Photo: A note left by Captain Kolesnikov. It was written on August 12, 2000 and discovered by divers during the salvage operation in October, 2000.
"It's too dark in here, but I'll try to write blind," Lt-Cpt Kolesnikov begins. "It looks like we don't have any chances: 10-20%. Let's hope somebody reads this."
He left a list of the crew members that were waiting to be rescued in the ninth compartment of the submarine. "Do not fall into despair," Kolesnikov writes in the end, as he sends his final message to the world.
"It's too dark in here, but I'll try to write blind," Lt-Cpt Kolesnikov begins. "It looks like we don't have any chances: 10-20%. Let's hope somebody reads this."
He left a list of the crew members that were waiting to be rescued in the ninth compartment of the submarine. "Do not fall into despair," Kolesnikov writes in the end, as he sends his final message to the world.
Kursk crew members memorial was erected near the Russian Armed Forces Museum in Moscow.
The control room of the Kursk submarine is now a part of a larger monument dedicated to the sailors who died in this peacetime disaster.
