r/engineering • u/Soreknees38529 • 3d ago
[MECHANICAL] K-141 Kursk Sinking
This story has been reposted every few years on CatastropicFailure but doesn’t hurt to share here. The nuclear submarine K-141 Kursk exploded during a naval exercise in the Barents Sea, sinking in 107 meters of water. All 118 crew died.
A practice torpedo powered by high-test peroxide (HTP), a concentrated hydrogen peroxide oxidizer most Western navies abandoned as too dangerous, leaked through a faulty weld. At 11:28 local time, the catalytic reaction detonated the torpedo tube (~100-250 kg TNT equivalent), killing the forward crew and starting a fire. 135 seconds later, the remaining warheads cooked off simultaneously with 3-7 tons TNT equivalent, obliterating the bow.
At least 23 sailors survived in the aft compartments for hours, using chemical oxygen cartridges. Captain-Lieutenant Kolesnikov's recovered note read: *"It's dark here to write, but I'll try by feel. It seems like there are no chances, 10-20%. Let's hope that at least someone will read this."*
*Root causes:*
- *HTP torpedoes* — known unstable. Britain abandoned them after HMS *Sidon* exploded in 1955. Russia kept them because they were cheap and already in inventory.
- *Maintenance culture* — the failed torpedo had been in service since 1990, flagged for propellant leaks, and returned to service anyway. The 133-volume investigation described "stunning breaches of discipline, shoddy, obsolete and poorly maintained equipment."
- *Rescue decay* — Russia's submarine rescue infrastructure was non-functional post-Soviet collapse.
- *Pride over lives* — delayed acceptance of foreign help while sailors were still alive on the seabed.
Photos and additional detail here. https://www.eugeneleeslover.com/ENGINEERING/Russian_Kursk_Sub.php
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u/overcoil 3d ago
I remember this. Pre 9/11 I think this and the Concorde crash were the most engaging disasters I saw on the news.
I also remember that Putin stayed on holiday and a mother at Murmansk (I think?) was ranting at a Minister about their inactivity only to be carted off after being injected with something.
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u/coffeescious 3d ago
Kursk was a changing point in Putins Russia. After Kursk press was censored and the access of western journalists were limited.
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u/Fit_Cut_4238 3d ago
Yeah he was everyone’s new buddy for a short while. And for a short time after 911
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u/Calicuervo 3d ago
Yep i remember reading about that. The mom of a sailor who was on the ship yelling at them from the crowd while they were on TV or something, then they injected her with sedative and took her away.
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u/Soreknees38529 3d ago
I want to add this link which has some extra detail. This author says it wasn’t a bad weld but more likely a valve stuck partially open which allowed mixing of fuel and dirty compressed air triggering the first explosion. There are some diagram but nothing from source material. https://kursk.infografika.agency/en/
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u/SufficientVariety 2d ago
Check out the book “under pressure” which tells the story of a a WW1 sub on a maintenance test in 1920s off the coast of New Jersey, most of the crew survived. It’s a fairly short read and gripping.
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u/tkitta 1d ago
Russia after Soviet collapse was a disaster.
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u/ADHD_DEEZ_NUTS 3d ago
Im guessing the expanding foam is a safety measure after sinking?
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u/Soreknees38529 3d ago
I’d guess it was added after recovery to stabilize it until it could be removed properly.
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u/talltime 3d ago
Yeah what is pic 3? Part of making it more seaworthy after they re-floated it?
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u/Soreknees38529 3d ago
This isn’t definitive, but another Reddit post with this photo says it’s the crushed nose of a cruise missile. The nose would likely have its own 1atm compartment so hydrostatic pressure could have crushed it when the compartment flooded.
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u/full_metal_codpiece 1d ago
Looks like a P-700 missile that's been fixed in place with expanding foam, maybe for safety during the salvage.
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u/PerthlyPerson 3d ago
The front fell off...
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u/Fearless_Climate_688 22h ago
The front contained the torpedoes compartment, and was cut by the salvage company before raising the rest of the sub. It was deemed that after the explosion and with more torpedoes probably damaged inside that part of the submarine was to dangerous to move.
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u/PerthlyPerson 17h ago
Well duh... https://youtu.be/3m5qxZm_JqM?si=SJnP8E-BU-GGWaWB
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u/RecommendationOnly41 1d ago
As Putin always says when asked what happened: "It sank."
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u/Rockdrummer357 1d ago
Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe submarines are designed to sink. They're not designed to explode though - well, except for this one maybe.
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u/andynzor 1d ago
Submarines are designed to be neutrally buoyant, not sink.
Yes, I'm an unfunny person.
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u/MiyuHogosha 20h ago edited 20h ago
Russia's submarine rescue infrastructure was non-functional post-Soviet collapse.
There is nothing could be done even if they found them in time, which was literally hours - none of compartmens were left fully hermetic. Escape hatch's receiver was cracked and wouldn't provide seal also sumbarine listed to its side at bad angle - existing hardware wouldn't connect.
*Pride over lives* — delayed acceptance of foreign help while sailors were still alive on the seabed.
Tha's a valid critique. But it's also "secrecy". They didn't want aonyone to ae abel toa ccess vessel wich possibly had ОВ (That's two levels above typical СЧ - "Top Secret") information on board.
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u/monorels 18h ago
While these are certainly arguments, this reflects the typical russian attitude toward people.
The ordinary person in Russia is nothing - just expendable material.
And the reasons these sailors weren't rescued likely have nothing to do with an inability to save them. Maybe someone was just covering their own ass to ensure there were no witnesses.
That’s standard practice there.
I don’t believe any of the official versions,
because they were chosen based on what was convenient for the higher-ups.
That’s how everything is done there.0
u/Few_Wolf_4634 13h ago
There’s footage of a press conference where a relative is asking for answers - some guy comes up behind her with a syringe and takes her out.
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u/LeatherRole2297 2d ago
Ah, back to the distant past, a more sophisticated and gentle age. Back when the incompetent slaughter of 23 Russian servicemen nearly ended Putin’s presidency. These days, 1.5 million casualties and he’s still in power 🤦♂️
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u/BaseballParking9182 1d ago
My favourite fact with Kursk is that when the last guys were left in the aft compartment, they lit an oxygen candle to generate O2. They generate extreme heat, and It set fire to the oil and fuel on top of the seawater and killed them by causing a fire. Ironically, it probably ate the last of the oxygen in the compartment.
An oxygen candle was also the cause of death for two guys on HMS Tireless a few years before, when one exploded upon being lit whilst at sea under the ice (the worst possible fucking place to be for the incident), and the boat was only narrowly saved.
These oxygen candles were, until the Tireless incident, treat like shit. We would kick them down three deck, load them in bin bags, throw them about and usually they were stored in showers whilst at sea. No care and attention.
They resembled a tall metal corned beef tin, and they contain a sort of charcoal briquette and it was deemed that cracks in this had caused the Tireless incident.
From then on, they were handled with kid gloves and stored in special lockers in special bags. You couldn't even load them on the submarine if it was raining.
They are also stored on the ISS.
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u/Lost_refugee 2d ago
Why Putin is not mentioned? Waited 4 days to announce tragedy, then International assistance was refused. Their own rescue has failed
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u/full_metal_codpiece 1d ago
Then there was the mother of one of the crew who was injected with sedative on camera when she protested to officials about her son's death.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/engineering-ModTeam 2d ago
Hi, your comment was reported and removed for not adhering to Comment Rule 2:
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u/Ok-Branch-5321 2d ago
if its nuclear, what about radiation?
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u/Soreknees38529 1d ago
Reactor was shut down by crew and the containment system worked. And a year later the sub was recovered to a salvage yard like you see here.
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u/oilpanhead 21h ago
Nuclear aint as scary as you all blab on about
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u/Ok-Branch-5321 20h ago
But after explosion, the nuclear fuel should have caused radiation hazard but nothing is mentioned on this post.
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u/hornet_221 19h ago
As mentioned below, it was shut down and contained, but in addition even if it had failed, its surrounded by miles of water, so nothing would have happened besides in a very miniscule localised area around the sub, if at all
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u/Soreknees38529 19h ago
The explosion didn’t directly damage the reactor compartment. No loss of containment.
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u/Odd-Masterpiece7304 1d ago
Looks similar to the current Russian submarine fleet, at the bottom of the black Sea.
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u/TedMich23 1d ago
Soviets also used potassium superoxide (KO₂) for their rebreathers to scrub CO2. Its very potent BUT has the nasty characteristic of blowing up on contact with water, which the survivors compartment was filling with. Likely someone dropped a rebreather in the water and their remaining O2 was instantly combusted.
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u/eeddddddd 19h ago
The space between the inner and outer hulls: does that fill up with sea water, and does that cause corrosion issues?
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u/Soreknees38529 19h ago
Yes, certain zones at least. Everything in that zone is designed to survive it until its planned maintenance period. Use a lot of stainless, inconels, nickel bronze, duplex, etc. or straight up paint and cathodic protection.
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u/choddles 3d ago
Hires would help us all
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u/Soreknees38529 3d ago
I’m not holding back. The salvage photos are from around 2001 and 2002. 1-3mp was about normal for the time.
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u/spectrumero 20h ago
Film was normal for the time (these have the look of being shot on film), and then the prints or negatives scanned. Scanners weren't all that great in 2001/2 either.
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u/wassona 3d ago
Jeez. Dying because of a WELL KNOWN issue.