K-141 Kursk (Antaeus/Oscar II-class SSGN)
The Granit/Antaeus class of cruise missile submarines--codenamed "Oscar" by NATO--was the Soviet Union's attempt to counter the overwhelming surface superiority of American carrier battlegroups. The intent was that the class would be able to stealthfully approach such a battlegroup, then fire its 24 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) cruise missiles while submerged. These cruise missiles would saturate a battlegroup's defenders, crippling or sinking escorts, after which the Antaeus would close in and finish off any remaining ships with its eight torpedo tubes. Because of its thick steel hull, the Antaeus-class could resist an external hit and would be harder to detect. Trials went well and the USSR would order 16 examples, of which 13 were completed. After the fall of the Soviet Union, four of the oldest types (including the two slightly shorter Granit sub-class) were scrapped, while the others were gradually modernized over the past two decades. Eight remain in service today.
The Kursk (K-141) was the seventh Antaeus to be built, and the first to be completed by the post-Soviet Union Russian Navy. Because of funding, the crew of the Kursk were inexperienced, and only undertook one long-range operational patrol, in 1999. It was all the Russian Navy could do to keep less than a third of its ships operational, though the Kursk was one of them. In the hopes of changing that, the Russian Navy announced a summer exercise in August 2000 for its Northern Fleet. Three days into the exercise, the Kursk was making a practice run on a surface target when disaster struck. A huge explosion rocked the exercise area, and contact with the Kursk was lost. Later, it was learned that volatile hydrogen peroxide, which powered the Kursk's torpedoes, had detonated during loading practice, leading to a chain reaction that destroyed the bow.
Since the Kursk sank in relatively shallow water, several foreign navies offered to assist in rescue operations, but were refused by the Russian Navy. The latter assumed that all 118 men aboard the Kursk were killed instantly; after the after hull of the sub was salvaged in 2001, it was learned that 23 men had survived the explosion and lasted anywhere from six hours to three days before they died of injuries, fire, or asphyxiation. The bodies--along with notes written by the men who survived the initial explosion--were recovered during the salvage operation.
Dad read of the story of the Kursk while researching the K-19 disaster, and decided to honor the crew by building an Antaeus/Oscar-class as a memorial. Though Dad spent some of his naval career hunting Soviet submarines, he felt a kinship with his former enemies. The Kursk is shown how she would have appeared in August 2000, with standard Russian colors of black upper hull over dark sea gray, with the crest of the city of Kursk carried on the sail. As is common with tributes to lost submarines, the plaque carries the legend "Forever on eternal patrol."
K-141 Kursk (Antaeus/Oscar II-class SSGN)
The Granit/Antaeus class of cruise missile submarines--codenamed "Oscar" by NATO--was the Soviet Union's attempt to counter the overwhelming surface superiority of American carrier battlegroups. The intent was that the class would be able to stealthfully approach such a battlegroup, then fire its 24 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) cruise missiles while submerged. These cruise missiles would saturate a battlegroup's defenders, crippling or sinking escorts, after which the Antaeus would close in and finish off any remaining ships with its eight torpedo tubes. Because of its thick steel hull, the Antaeus-class could resist an external hit and would be harder to detect. Trials went well and the USSR would order 16 examples, of which 13 were completed. After the fall of the Soviet Union, four of the oldest types (including the two slightly shorter Granit sub-class) were scrapped, while the others were gradually modernized over the past two decades. Eight remain in service today.
The Kursk (K-141) was the seventh Antaeus to be built, and the first to be completed by the post-Soviet Union Russian Navy. Because of funding, the crew of the Kursk were inexperienced, and only undertook one long-range operational patrol, in 1999. It was all the Russian Navy could do to keep less than a third of its ships operational, though the Kursk was one of them. In the hopes of changing that, the Russian Navy announced a summer exercise in August 2000 for its Northern Fleet. Three days into the exercise, the Kursk was making a practice run on a surface target when disaster struck. A huge explosion rocked the exercise area, and contact with the Kursk was lost. Later, it was learned that volatile hydrogen peroxide, which powered the Kursk's torpedoes, had detonated during loading practice, leading to a chain reaction that destroyed the bow.
Since the Kursk sank in relatively shallow water, several foreign navies offered to assist in rescue operations, but were refused by the Russian Navy. The latter assumed that all 118 men aboard the Kursk were killed instantly; after the after hull of the sub was salvaged in 2001, it was learned that 23 men had survived the explosion and lasted anywhere from six hours to three days before they died of injuries, fire, or asphyxiation. The bodies--along with notes written by the men who survived the initial explosion--were recovered during the salvage operation.
Dad read of the story of the Kursk while researching the K-19 disaster, and decided to honor the crew by building an Antaeus/Oscar-class as a memorial. Though Dad spent some of his naval career hunting Soviet submarines, he felt a kinship with his former enemies. The Kursk is shown how she would have appeared in August 2000, with standard Russian colors of black upper hull over dark sea gray, with the crest of the city of Kursk carried on the sail. As is common with tributes to lost submarines, the plaque carries the legend "Forever on eternal patrol."