The sinking of the Russian submarine 'Kursk' last Saturday was a horrifying example of the dangers faced by submariners. Kursk,' commissioned in 1995, was one of Russia's newest subs. Sailing on a nuclear sub is a remarkable experience. Older, conventional-powered subs are crammed, malodorous and claustrophobic.
Nuclear boats are relatively capacious, their air is clean and fresh, and they run almost silently.
Standing atop the conning tower, watching the sub cleave a great vee through the water, your whole body feels the enormous, throbbing power coursing from the nuclear reactors below. When SSN-708 dove to 1200ft, or twisted and turned like a porpoise, it felt like being in a jet fighter, rather than a ship. But as we went ever deeper, I couldn't escape the uneasy knowledge that if a pipe or vale burst under the rising pressure, we could plunge down into the black depths until the sub hit 'crush depth,' where water pressure would implode even its high-tensile steel sides and reduce us to pulp. Sub crews, a very special and courageous breed of men, have learned to live with this ever-present danger. At this point, the best guess is that one of 'Kursk's' Type 53 or Type 65 heavy torpedoes exploded either in its storage position, or while being loaded into a bow tube.