Torpedo blamed for Kursk disaster

Jun 19 15:06 UTC 2002

As Russia prepares to issue its final verdict on what caused the Kursk to sink
nearly two years ago, a top official has blamed a faulty torpedo on board the
nuclear submarine.

Ilya Klebanov, heading the inquiry, acknowledged that the submarine had not
collided with a foreign vessel or with a stray mine, as Russian officials
suggested shortly after the disaster in August 2000. 

All 118 men on board were killed. 

The announcement follows a further mission by salvage ships to collect key
remains of the submarine from the bottom of the Barents Sea. This week, they
brought up parts of the nose of the vessel. 

A preliminary report by the Russian navy had already concluded that the
submarine sank when one or more of its own torpedoes exploded, but the latest
statement brings the government nearer to a final announcement. 

Mr Klebanov said that the commission will probably only meet once more. A
final verdict is to be announced on 29 June. 

Questions remain 

The minister did not however give any indication of what might have caused
the torpedo, a standard Russian weapon fuelled by hydrogen peroxide, to
explode - detonating other weapons on board. 

It also remains unclear whether the blast occurred during an operation to lift
the torpedo into its firing chamber, or whether it was lying still. 

Peroxide fuel has been a staple of the Russian Navy in the post Soviet-era
because it is so cheap, but other countries have abandoned its use because
it is thought too unstable. 

Britain returned to other fuels after an accident on board HMS Sidon in 1955,
when the craft was using peroxide fuel. Thirteen sailors died in the incident.


The Russian Navy ordered peroxide fuelled torpedoes to be removed from service
after the Kursk disaster.