Officer blamed in mini-sub probe

BBC ^ | 8/22/05 | Beeb

[IonImplantGuru]

Russian prosecutors have opened a criminal case against a naval captain accused of negligence during the recent rescue of a mini-submarine.

The captain of the Georgy Kozmin rescue vessel damaged a Russian underwater robot craft at the accident site in the Pacific, naval prosecutors said.

The setback meant the navy had to call for foreign help - and a UK rescue craft finally freed the submersible.

The crew of seven resurfaced on 7 August after 76 hours on the seabed.

The breakdown of the Russians' Venom vehicle - similar to the successful Scorpio robot that freed the mini-sub - cost the navy an extra 10 million roubles (£195,000; $352,000), Russian officials said.

"During the rescue operation the captain's unprofessional actions damaged expensive equipment - the underwater Venom vehicle," the Pacific Fleet prosecutors' statement said.

The navy had acquired the Venom after the Kursk submarine disaster in 2000.

The mini-sub's crew had written farewell notes as they endured cold, hunger and thirst on the seabed off the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east.

The Priz AS-28 submersible had got stuck 190 metres (620ft) below the surface, trapped by fishing nets and cables which formed part of a military coastal surveillance system.

[IonImplantGuru]

Interestingly, a member of the US Navy Deep Submergence team, who took one of our RCS units over to participate in the rescue attempt, expressed disgust (in another forum) when discussing loading our gear onto this ship; he noted the broken Russian RCS (remote controlled submersible) on the Georgy Kozmin and was flabbergasted that the Russkies had made no effort to repair their RCS. In essence, he said, "our guys would have busted their butts and used anything - chewing gum and baling wire - to get that puppy functioning and back in the water trying to save those guys!"

[IonImplantGuru]

Vasily, one ping only! Direct to Steely-Eyed Killers of the Deep.

[SmithL]

That will teach them to even try, huh?

[Wally_Kalbacken]

No s*** Sherlock - they are Russkies!

[Marine_Uncle]

"Vasily, one ping only! Direct to Steely-Eyed Killers of the Deep." Aeyah capyton. One ping only.

[in hoc signo vinces]

True that.


This Russian girl, who works down the hall from me, came by my office when this story hit the news...she told me that the Kursk had been a cover up...that a "U.S. sub hit the Kursk" while intelligence gathering...and that Putin made a deal with Bush in "hard currency" and favors to cover it up. HAHAHAHHAHAHAa... I was like...didnt Pravda move to the Hudson and is now the NYT, where did you hear of such a story?

Point is...the Russians, sadly, will still blame everything but the true cause in regard to an accident. I am sure Chernobyl was the U.S.'s fault...as will this latest sub accident be, somehow, the the U.S.'s fault.

[BIGLOOK]

These problems could all be avoided if the Russkies would simply publish in advance all ops and movements of their sub fleet to the British and US navies. All joint efforts rescuing Ivan would be written off as training exercises.

[Tallguy]

I heard another rumor that the divers that worked on the Kursk salvage were not all Norwegian, as was reported. Most of the divers were, in fact, Royal Navy divers operating off a Norwegian vessel. Of course the Russians were desperate for help, but they were attempting to pin the accident on a collision with a US or RN sub. The Brits were willing to play along with the charade for a close look at the sub.

[IonImplantGuru]

These problems could all be avoided if the Russkies would simply publish in advance all ops and movements of their sub fleet to the British and US navies. All joint efforts rescuing Ivan would be written off as training exercises.

Oh, I think we probably already get that kind of info - if not in advance, we certainly know the moment they sortie.

As an aside, one wonders if they will ever ask for help again - considering the face they lost with this incident.

[GSlob]

"...considering the face they lost with this incident."
Not everything with two cheeks is a face.

[SmithL]

They may have lost face, but they saved lives. And the whole world knows it.

[IonImplantGuru]

They may have lost face, but they saved lives. And the whole world knows it.

Me thinks you misinterpreted my statement. I was imputing that the Russian Navy lost face because of their own poor performance, not the lifesavers themselves (in this case the Brits).

[SmithL]

I think that they think that they lost face for asking for help. I also think that they were dragged over the coals for not asking for help for the Kursk, which probably caused them to lose even more face that time. I think that if they find themselves in a similar situation, they'll choose to lose face by asking for help instead of losing face, and sailors, by not asking for help. Is that what you think I thought?

[csvset]

Fwiw.

Russian Navy Delegation Visits DSU