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Flooded in First Moments
Putin Prepares Nation for Worst; U.S. Intelligence Believes Half of Crew Died
in Early Moments
Aug. 16 — U.S. intelligence sources tell ABCNEWS they believe half of the
Russian submarine stranded at the bottom of the ocean is destroyed and that
half of the crew probably died within the first minutes of the accident that
brought down the vessel.
Russia calls on NATO for help. RealVideo
(download RealPlayer)
They also believe that, because so much of the Kursk is destroyed, there
is much less oxygen available on it than had been projected. Russian
officials said earlier today that the crew had 48 hours of oxygen left.
In another ominous sign, rescuers around the submarine reportedly have
seen bubbles escaping, meaning there would be even less oxygen on the vessel.
On Tuesday, U.S. intelligence sources told ABCNEWS they were fairly
convinced all the sailors aboard the submarine may have already died.
Today, some four days after the Russian submarine sank to the Barents
Sea floor on Saturday, rescue teams were still struggling to reach at least
116 crew members who were in the Oscar II class submarine, but the U.S.
intelligence sources in Washington say they believe the situation is bleak.
The intelligence sources said they believe five of the nine compartments
in the Kursk were flooded.
U.S. officials say Russian communications indicate that in the first
hours after the accident, Russian officials did have voice communications
with the crippled submarine. But they lost them in the first day, and the
only communication from the submarine crew was tapping on the hull picked up
by Russian sensors.
Immediately after the accident, the commander of the Northern Fleet put
out a message to all his ships ordering, in essence, a blackout of all
ship-to-ship communications about the accident, U.S. intelligence officials
said.
The Kursk has been lying on the ocean floor of the ice cold and
weather-plagued Barents Sea since it went down Saturday afternoon.
Putin Admits Situation Is Grave
For the first time since the Kursk went down, Russian President Vladimir
Putin went on nationwide television today in what could be described as an
attempt to prepare the nation for the worst.
The Barents Sea is in Arctic waters bordering the northwest coast of Russia
and the northern tip of Norway. The submarine malfunctioned near a navy
training area, where the Russian navy has been conducting major exercises.
(ABCNEWS.com/ Magellan Geographix)
Putin described the situation on board the submarine as critical,
insisting Russian sailors were trying to save the lives of the crew.
“Everything that can possibly be done is being done for the rescue of
the crew and the submarine,” said Putin, who is on holiday in the Black Sea
resort of Sochi.
After initial rescue attempts failed, the Russians gave the green light
to a British rescue team equipped with a mini-submarine to join the effort.
The LR5, flown from Britain to Norway today, may reach the area where
the Kursk lies on Saturday evening, Ture Idose, a spokesman for the Norwegian
armed foces, told the Russian news agency Itar-Tass today.
The mini-sub, which has a crew of three, is capable of rescuing 16
people at a time, a British Defense Ministry spokesman said. The LR5 may have
one distinct advantage: it is designed to operate at the 60 degree angle the
crippled submarine is listing at, on the ocean floor.
High winds and waves are buffeting rescue ships, and rescuers in an
underwater escape pod are having to deal with swirling sand and strong
currents.
Attempts to latch on to one of the cargo hatches of the submarine were
being frustrated because the current was rocking the rescue capsule, making
it difficult to steer, said Russian navy Capt. Igor Babenko.
Rescuers were only able to see a few inches through the muddy water even
though they had searchlights, he said.
Moreover, the submarine is lying at a sharp angle, making any latching
operation more difficult.
A rescue capsule was almost lost during an earlier attempt because of
the strong currents, said Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo, who gave no
details.
U.S. Offers Considered
The United States and Britain had made repeated offers to assist in the
rescue mission. In a 25-minute telephone conversation with Putin today,
President Clinton reiterated his offer to help Moscow with the stricken
submarine. According to a White House official, Clinton said the Russians
were “actively considering” U.S. assistance.
When a Russian delegation went to NATO on Tuesday, the Russians asked
for a list of things. Alliance officials asked the Russians a series of
questions they said they needed answered before they could help, such as the
Russian assessment of damage, the size of the emergency hatch, the sub’s
actual depth, and so on. By this evening, the Russians had not answered any
of those questions.
A delegation of Russian naval experts will hold meetings in Brussels
Thursday with NATO officials to discuss what equipment and expertise NATO
member countries might send to assist in the rescue effort.
Navy commander Vladimir Kuroyedov has said that if attempts to evacuate
the crew fail, the whole vessel may be lifted using two 400-ton inflatable
pontoons — a seemingly impossible prospect because the flooded craft weighs
some 20,000 tons.
High-Risk Attempt
The vessel lies inside the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Russia’s Kola
Peninsula, east of Murmansk.
ABCNEWS has learned that the Kursk is at a 25-degree angle with its nose
in the seabed and that the nose is slightly dented. The submarine is listing
as much as 60 degrees to the side, officials said.
The position of the submarine is reportedly complicating rescue efforts.
The vessel has three hatches — one in the nose, another in the central post,
and another in the rear — but rescuers are only trying to access the rear
hatch.
Divers were in the water to make sure the rescue capsule was properly
attached to the hatch. Only then could pressure be equalized between the
rescue capsule and the interior of the submarine and the submariners be
brought to safety.
Torpedo Explosion Blamed
There have been conflicting reports about the cause of the accident. Initial
reports blamed a collision, but a defense company source told Russian news
agency Itar-Tass that preliminary surveys of the stricken submarine by
deep-water equipment ruled out a collision.
U.S. intelligence sources said the most likely explanation for the
disaster was an explosion of a torpedo or missile in the front compartment
that ripped a hole in the side of the submarine.
Water would then have rushed into several of the compartments, plunging
the ship to the bottom.
ABCNEWS has learned that a U.S. submarine in the area did detect an
underwater explosion on Saturday, the same day the Kursk experienced its
malfunction.That same day, the United States also intercepted an urgent
Russian message about “an explosion at sea.”
Yet another theory put forth was that the Kursk hit a World War II sea
mine. It is not uncommon for sailors in the North Atlantic to come across
such devices.
Norway’s Foreign Ministry said the vessel sank “because of a lack of
buoyancy in the airtight hull.” The information was based on an official
Russian report.
The Pentagon also ruled out a collision with U.S. vessels, saying that
the two U.S. submarines in the area were both reported fine.
The U.S. Navy surveillance ship USNS Loyal was monitoring the Russian
exercises in which the Kursk had been taking part in the vicinity of the
Barents Sea at the time of the accident but was far from the scene of the
incident, Pentagon officials said.
No Radiation Leaks
The Russian government says the submarine was unarmed, there are no radiation
leaks and the vessel’s reactor has been shut down. Karsten Klepsvik, a
spokesman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, also said there were no signs
of radiation leaks. Norway has a scientific vessel in the region.
The Kursk is capable of carrying up to 24 nuclear cruise missiles. Its
two nuclear reactors provide energy and power life support systems, Dygalo
said.
ABCNEWS’ John McWethy and Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, Peter Vassiliev,
Hilary Brown, Linda Albin and Alexandra Lutz in Moscow, and The Associated
Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
What Price Secrecy?
Aug. 15 — Russia’s reluctance to seek international assistance to rescue
more than 100 sailors trapped on a submarine hundreds of feet below the ocean
is not just a matter of international pride.
It also reflects the character of all submariners around the world —
secrecy at all costs.
U.S. officials note the Russians zealously guard their submarine
operations — just as the Americans do with them.
So, despite an offer from the United States to help, Moscow continues
its rescue effort alone.
The nature of a submarine is stealth — a submarine that can be detected
has lost its reason for being. And now, with submarines used by the world’s
nuclear powers primarily as moving launch platforms, they have even more
reason to hide — to safeguard their position, and their nuclear technology.
Nevertheless, the lives of more than 100 sailors are not an easy
sacrifice. Today, a group of Russian military officers reportedly went to
NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to see what kind of assistance the
alliance could offer.
The Kursk, one of eight giant Oscar-II class submarines in the Russian
fleet, represents the height of Russia’s nuclear submarine technology.
It was commissioned only five years ago, and it was the submarine used
to conduct routine operations in the Mediterranean last year against the U.S.
aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
The Russians also say an American offer of help is useless. Hatch sizes
are different, and an American vessel would not be able to safely link up
with the Kursk.
And since the Russians have a rescue capability similar to the U.S.
systems, it is not clear what advantage the Americans could offer.
— ABCNEWS’ Barbara Starr and Reuters contributed to this report.
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