In the worst peacetime disaster experienced by the Russian Navy, on 12 August 2000 the Kremlin confirmed the loss of 118 officers and crew of the nuclear-powered submarine "Kursk". The sinking was a humanitarian, environmental, military and political catastrophe for Russia, and a powerful reversal for President Putin's standing both at home and abroad.
But what really happened? Did, as the Russians initially claimed, a British or American submarine actually collide with the "Kursk", causing the fatal explosion in the bow? Or was an outmoded fuel type to blame, igniting disastrously when one of the torpedoes started dry-running in its tube? And why, hours after the initial explosion, did the Russians prevaricate catastrophically when there was still a chance to rescue some of the crew?
This book not only vividly re-creates the terrifying final hours of the submariners as they waited in vain for salvation at the bottom of the Barents Sea; it also throws sharp light on the nature of the "democracy" this billion-dollar state-of-the-art vessel was designed to protect.
Peter Truscott, an expert in modern Russian and defence matters, has had unique access to naval and intelligence officers in Britain, Russia, Norway and the United States as well as relatives of the victims. His masterly analysis of this terrible event assesses and dismisses a number of wild claims that have been made and advances his own compelling explanation of what really happened.
In the process he demonstrates the fragility of post-Soviet Russia and provides a gripping illustration not just of human courage, but of human failing at the highest levels of government.
