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Proudly carrying on deck an honor guard in snappy uniforms of dark blue, flags rippling in the stiff sea breeze, the five year old nuclear submarine 'boomer' Kursk, an Oscar II class vessel sailed proudly out into the Russian Sea. It was Aug. 10th and Kursk and her men were heading for a planned series of war game maneuvers with the Northern Fleet's cruisers, destroyers and one or more other 'nukes', in the cold waters of the Barents Sea.
Like Titanic, Kursk was fitted with such safeguards and strong hulls that she was considered 'unsinkable'.
Named for the region in southern Russia where Soviet troops had in 1943 attacked and routed Nazi Germany during the largest tank battle in history, Kursk was not only the pride of the fleet, but intended to be as deadly a weapon as the Armored force which destroyed the Nazi advance.
Five hundred feet long, Kursk was an underwater missile launch pad, sleek flanks studded with two dozen missile solos, each holding a cruise-type missile capable of launching its payload into supersonic flight and aimed with deadly accuracy at such targets as battleships or carriers of an opposing fleet.
Kursk and her twelve sister 'boomers' were designed and partially completed during the waning days of the Cold War which had ended a decade before her sailing; and designed to beef up a rapidly decaying naval force of older conventional submarines and surface vessels under Russian command.
Newly upgraded and refitted with a set of chemical torpedoes, Kursk formed a big part of the modern Russian fleet. These torpedoes were of a type, according to knowledgeable Intelligence sources, that had previously proven sometimes unstable. Their liquid fuel systems had been totally reworked, thus providing much more confidence in their performance. Sources say that Kursk also carried a number of 'tech reps' and weapons systems analysts whose job was the care and monitoring of these apparently much more reliable torpedoes. Fast and silent, they were of the Squall type.
Although now denied, some sources state that Kursk also carried a newer type of torpedo, capable of being launched skyward and then guided like 'smart bombs' toward their targets. These ultra-modern projectiles have never been proven to have been on the ill-fated Kursk, but it is both logical and likely that they were. This anti-submarine torpedo missile is fired not from a silo, but from an ordinary torpedo tube.
Accidental ignition of either type before clearing the tube would be disastrous to not only the torpedo firing room but to other such weapons stored nearby. Squall type torpedoes reach speeds of two hundred knots, but travel in a gas capsule to reduce friction from surrounding seawater thus adding more perfect control.
'Rocket propelled' torpedoes carry the risk of such ignition of the first firing stage while still inside their compartment. Any leakage could virtually destroy anything within a radius of 350 feet, including the boomer's pressure hulls.
A letter written home from a Kursk crew member mentioned that they were whiling away some time while watching 'rockets' being loaded into the boat.
A SUDDEN SILENCE
On August 11, Kursk had successfully fired a practice missile from a silo and Gennady Lyachin, Kursk's Commander, had been pleased with the result. Admiral Popov on the flagship Peter The Great had also been pleased and given the command to repeat the missile firing on the following day, Aug. 12.
After reporting a second success with this missile firing at about 1700 hours, Kursk was to have followed up by coming to periscope depth (less than 100 feet) and prepared to fire a salvo of torpedoes at the designated target. This sequence was verified by Norwegian and even U.S. 'watchers' who were doing their monitoring of the war games location from a safe distance of 20 miles or more away.
Unexpectedly, underwater explosions were detected by a Norwegian Seismic Institute at 11:28 a.m. and 11:39 a.m. on the 12th. The second concussion was registered at 3.5 on the Richter earthquake scale. Frode Ringlaire, science adviser to the Institute reports "This is the single most powerful explosion we have ever registered in this area."
Following this there was a sudden silence over the entire fleet, and when Kursk's skipper failed to report results of his torpedo salvo to Peter the Great, a stunned fleet feared the worst. Attempts to locate the submarine began at Kursk's last known position. It was reported some hours later that a tapping sound was being heard from the silent hulk resting on the muck and rock seafloor at the bottom of Barents Sea. The world was told that a nuclear submarine may have gone down in that area.
Far away from the war games, in America, a group of remote viewers heard of the tapping sound being reported, and began an operational remote view to determine if anyone indeed remained alive on the stricken submarine. The group's focus is to help whenever or wherever their unusual skills may be of help. This was certainly such a case.
In the late hours of August 14th and ending on the 15th, the group's leader began a search for the doomed nuclear submarine and quickly determined that the explosion had not involved the Kursk's nuclear reactors, and that not only were sailors still alive, but that there seemed to have been many more persons aboard than had been reported. Some of them had not been sailors.
Obvious signs of a blast near Kursk's prow on the right side were evident, and indicated that the explosion had blown the metal fabric outward, indicating an accident from inside the boat. Living men were seen, some strapped in, in horrific conditions of cold and almost complete darkness. A few sparks of green light were seen, perhaps emergency lights, and small devices which may have been heaters were observed. From inside, it was evident that both inner and outer hulls had been breached. Twisted and buckled railings and metal were seen everywhere in the forward area. Some seawater was seen even in those few rear compartments where hatches had been closed by the survivors, even though it appeared that these hatches had not completely closed. Most important, it was evident that Kursk's nuclear reactor compartments had not been breached.
Early on the 16th, it was decided to contact other members of the remote view team via email and to ask them to concentrate on Kursk's personnel, to be certain that there were indeed men left to be rescued. An email of the original remote view was sent to the group's webmaster who posted it on the website.
First to respond was a Canadian, new to the team, but very accurate. By the afternoon of the 16th, he had reported seeing the vessel on the bottom and that the men in his area of sight were all dead. Changing his perspective to another area, he observed a crew member who seemed to be drowning at that moment. He also saw the greenish color and pegged it as 'goo' overlaying the seawater. His report included the words 'turbines, locks, mechanisms, mechanical failure, containment, breach, and pressure.' An exterior view of Kursk showed a hole or rupture in the hull, which was due to an explosion from inside.
Second to report was a member who is a police officer, with the group for nine years. His response reported damage on the right side of Kursk, extensive damage including a large hole in the hull. He saw living men, some wearing non-military clothing, in a state of shocked disorganization. The name 'Kenzy' was apparent. Flooding was widespread and remaining air was 'going bad'. He felt none of those living would get out alive.
Six confirmations caused the group leader to urgently attempt to pass this information on to higher sources. However, Russia's top authorities were refusing outside help, apparently because at this point they believed Kursk had been sunk following a collision, not an internal explosion, or so it is thought. Main points in continued remote viewing showed that although a good sized group of men survived the initial accident, their numbers were decreasing every few hours. A final remote view on Aug. 20th revealed that all were now dead and the Kursk completely flooded. At that point, the group concluded that they could be of no further help and stopped the hopefully lifesaving efforts.
Remote Viewing is not a new skill. It was brought to operational and tactical targets during research at SRI (Stanford Research Institute) and culminated in the U.S. Army's Stargate Project at Ft. Meade, MD. The group who viewed the Kursk is the only non-military RV team in the U.S.
This Kursk incident clearly shows the immense potential and value of teams trained to perform such operational remote views in exactly this type of life and death scenario. In a vessel on the bottom of the sea, or a vehicle on land or in space, data can be accessed by trained viewers providing valid information and details when more conventional means of contact such as radio or computer are damaged, destroyed or inactive. Lives might thus be saved that would otherwise be lost, and timely information be gained.
It is important to state that only one member of this RV team had any experience with Naval vessels of any type and that this member was not able to provide help as he was still in training. He did however, provide services to help coordinate the sequences.
CONCLUSIONS
It seems logical that some means of entering the uptilted rear sections of Kursk might have resulted in saving those yet alive, had the data reached the proper sources.
Additional RV data included that, while otherwise unknown at that time:
The group has received unofficial 'thanks' from Russian citizens who became aware of their efforts.
A NOTE FROM THE DEAD
On Oct. 26, CNN released the news that a letter was found on a body recovered from Kursk. Lt D.R. Kolesnikov reported the desperate efforts he, a junior Officer had made in sending 23 living seamen to the farthest rear compartments of the doomed submarine. Kolesnikov (Kenzy?) said they'd tried to use the escape mechanisms but had failed to escape. Knowing they were doomed, he had penned a note to those who would find his body and another to his young wife.
There may be more such notes found which may help to add details to this most unfortunate chapter in the annals of the 'silent service'.
Note: At least four submarines, two or more of them nuclear powered, lie in deep waters around the globe. Seawater, as is well known, is corrosive.
The Author wishes to thank O.H. Jones, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press and many other news groups including the Palmer Press website for background on Kursk.
Beverly C. Jaegers is a known field researcher in Psi and Remote Viewing, author of The Psychic Paradigm (Berkley Putnam 1998) and formed in 1971 the U. S. Psi Squad, a group of trained remote viewers, working with law enforcement and scientists.