U.S.: Crippled Sub Largely Destroyed

Aug. 16, 2000 -- 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.

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.

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 therescue of the crew and the submarine,” said Putin, who is onholiday 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.