Kursk: 23 Survived Initial Blast

[ajskydiver]

Here's the Link:

http://www.talkcity.com

"A note scribbled by a dying officer aboard the Kursk submarine reveals that at least 23 members of the 118-men crew did not die immediately. Did Russian pride and a slow response time prevent these lives from being saved?"--From the website.

 

[Total Refected Power]

Left a note too.

 

[GL]

Just heard this...talk about horrible news.

-GL

 

[thebestMAX]

Hard way to go.

 

[Czar]

23 of 118

Must have been quite an explosion. Makes you wonder how long it took for the sub to fill with water.

 

[snow patrol]

A terrible way to go

 

[Stifko]

can you imagine being stuck down there? I wonder what killed them, a lack of oxygen?

 

[Passions]

=(

 

[Fathom4]

That would be a horrible way to go. So very sad. I can't help but wonder if Russia had called in help sooner if they might not have been saved.

I don't envy the divers going in after bodies either, I did Underwater Rescue/Recovery once and just couldn't handle it. Running across a body in in zero visibilty, the thought still give me chills. Very dangerous work and IMHO should never have been attempted.

 

[Dameon]

just saw the spot on CNN myself.... talk about your voices from the grave.

from my understanding these 23 sailors were stuck in the dark in one compartment of the sub.. left waiting for days for the inevitable.. hoping for miracle that never came.





23 sad faces for those that may have been lost because of national pride and reluctance to accept help.

Pride is one of the seven deadly sins.

 

[PCAddict]

This is indeed very sad. Now their familes have to endure more pain knowing that their death wasn't quick and without suffering.

 

[FettsBabe]

Its sad, and you get that awful feeling in your gut when you read about it too. I felt so sorry for them when Russia was attempting the rescue, and wouldn't accept any help. Everything should have attempted to save their lives. I hope this teaches the world and its leaders a valuable lesson about pride.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

I haven't heard what the Russians decided to do --haven't kept up on the news recently. Did they blow the damn thing up?

 

[DaBoneHead]

Yes,

Dont ever doubt it was Russian pride that killed them. Russians have a tendency to be fatalistic about things, and suspicious of everyones motives. Russians in general do not accept charity, since they dont believe in it like we in the West do.

What is a shame is that they are stilling trying to pin responsibility on Western nations, saying collision with a foreign sub was a likely cause... except, that collisions don't cause that massive of damage. From what the Russians have given up, the crew had begun a routine torpedo loading and firing drill, and then something bad happened.

Most likely reasons are that one of the torpedoes malfunctioned, and possibly even detonated. The other is that it collided with a WWII era mine. That are of the Barants sea was heavily mined, and though the possibility is remote that one has survived in a functioning state all this time, it is still possible.

My opinion is that low morale and funding of the Russian Navy lead to laxed procedures and maintenance of weapon systems, and during that military exercise (the largest naval exercise, I believe, since the wall came down) a piece of equipment failed (most likely torpedo) which lead to an explosion.

There is thread on the board right now that asks "What does hell look like?". Well, I'd have to say spending your final days hundreds of feet below the surface with 23 men slowly dying in the dark has to be a runner up.

~My $.02.