CARLATA BRADLEY
A Russian nuclear submarine sank to the bottom of the Barents
Sea on August 12, 2000; all 118 crew members are later found
dead. The exact cause of the disaster remains unknown.
Kursk left port on August 10 to take part in war games with the
Russian military. Russian ships, planes and submarines met
up in the Barents Sea, which is above the Arctic Circle, to
practice military maneuvers.
On August 12, Kursk was scheduled to fire a practice torpedo;
at 11:29 a.m., before doing so, two explosions spaced shortly
apart occurred in the front hull of the submarine and it plunged
toward the bottom of the sea.
