SAVING KYPCK

The submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on 12 August 2000 at half past eleven according to Moscow time. None of the 118 crew members on bord escaped death although at least 23 of them were still alive several hours after the explosion and managed to write two letters which were later brought on shore.
According to the Russian Government Commission which investigates the disaster, the main possible reason behind the accident was an explosion in the first torpedo compartment. BBC cited a member of the Commission, Vice-Admiral Valeri Dorogin who said that a torpedo may have exploded in the front section of the Kursk, triggering another, a much larger blast. It was the first time the Government Commission members admitted the accident was caused by the crafts’ own torpedo.
However, Dorogin was not clear on what could have caused the first explosion. He offered several reasons like a defect in the craft or torpedo, collision with another submarine or lastly and most improbably, that Kursk may have hit a World War II mine.

Many experts believed that it would have been possible to save the crew from 108 metres below the surface in the Barents Sea. “Rescuers could access the ninth section,” recalled Solovjov, “which means that if the rescue attempts had took place during the first days of the accident, 23 lives could have been saved.” The fact that 23 crew members survived the explosion provoked fierce disputes in Russia whether they could have escaped a horrible death had the help arrived earlier. In the game based on the sad event sailors trapped on submarine may still have hope. The player must dive three times to the site of given coordinates and rescue all 118 crew members. The vessel used for the missions is a Norwegian mini-submarine LR-5.