From Publishers Weekly
A gripping and gruesome tale, this book is a superb account of the loss of the Russian submarine
Kursk off northern Russia in August 2000. Long-range torpedoes fueled with hydrogen peroxide exploded in succession, which sank the submarine; a fifth of the crew of 118 survived the explosions, but probably did not last more than another eight hours. The Russian Northern Fleet failed to recognize the signs of an accident, failed to take any sort of constructive action with its limited resources, failed to inform political superiors, and didn't allow any cooperation with the efficient rescue gear of the NATO navies. Russian officials were then caught by the independent Russian media in several outright lies, which made for further scandal. Not that Western authorities were much more on the ball—the American and British embassies were left in the dark for several days—but the whole tragedy of errors profoundly embarrassed the newly elected Putin regime. Flynn has researched exhaustively in already crowded territory, interviewed widely and written clearly, leaving very little room for rumor, innuendo or propaganda (he definitely rules out any collision with a NATO submarine, for example).
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
On August 12, 2000, an explosion aboard the 14,700-ton Soviet submarine
Kursk sent the vessel to the bottom of the southern Barents Sea, with 118 crewmen on board. There were no survivors. Flynn provides a minute-by-minute account of what happened aboard. To get what he labels "the Russian side of the story," Flynn spent more than three years conducting hundred of interviews during five trips to Russia. His research included forensic data, recovered tape of dialogues, notes found on the crewman's bodies, and ships' logs. Much of the book deals with President Putin's response to the disaster and how many officials in his government tried to "hold their country together by focusing the blame on the Americans." Flynn also talked with the dead sailors' families as they attempted to resume normal lives. He concludes that a leaky torpedo exploded, puncturing fuel tanks and igniting warhead material, and then at least four nearby combat torpedoes reached their maximum heat threshold and detonated. This meticulously researched book offers a compelling account.
George CohenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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