Kursk: The Gripping True Story of Russia's Worst Submarine Disaster

by Peter Truscott

In the worst peacetime disaster experienced by the Russian Navy, on 12 August 2000 the state-of-the-art nuclear-powered Kursk submarine sank with the loss of 118 officers and crew. The sinking was a humanitarian, environmental, and military catastrophe for Russia, and a powerful political reversal for President Putin But what really happened? Peter Truscott, former Foreign Affairs and Defence spokesperson in the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Security Committee, aims to provide the answers. An expert on Russia, with a modern history doctorate from Oxford University, Truscott has met President Mikhail Gorbachev, three Russian Prime Ministers, two parliamentary Speakers and the leaders of all Russia's political parties over the past decade. For this book, the author has also interviewed relatives of the crew; Russian, British and American nuclear submarine commanders; international torpedo experts; politicans; diplomats; British and Norwegian rescue teams and their leaders; submariners; seismologists and members of the defence and intelligence communities This work vividly re-creates the terrible final hours of the crew as they waited in vain for rescue .

(Source: Amazon UK, accessed 21 May 2019)

Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Katia M. Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty absorbing book, although keep in mind it was first published in 2002. It is only the first few pages that deal with the initiating event. The remainder of the book deals with the bumbling rescue attempt by the Russians who did not have the equipment required, the reactions of families, political and naval cover ups, the serious political misstep made by Putin soon after becoming President and his attempt to claw back what he lost in the eyes of the Russian people, and the continued deep mistrust between foreign powers despite an end to the Cold War (yes, we still snuck around under water spying on each other - we still do), and the belated request for foreign assistance due to this quite justified mistrust amongst reasons of national pride and potential shame/weakness. What we mustn't forget, is that 118 people died (23 quite nastily after surviving the initial explosions), and were left in a watery grave for over a year preventing families from finding some sort of closure despite the money and platitudes the Russian government threw at them. If you are interested in naval disasters, this is an excellent read.