# Kursk Submarine Disaster: What was in the bow that was left on the sea floor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837 "2015-02-16T17:48:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/1 "2015-02-16T17:48:05Z")
Watched a History Channel show on the Kursk last night. They mentioned that because the bow was so badly damaged, the salvage company cut it off and left it on the sea floor. They also mentioned that they recovered all 118 of the crew from the rest of the hulk when it was in dry dock. That suggests that the bow area didn’t have any living or working quarters, since no-one was left behind in the bow. So what was in the bow portion? Was it just torpedo tubes and mechanical areas? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/2 "2015-02-16T17:49:37Z")
Maybe those, plus damaged reactors? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/3 "2015-02-16T17:54:48Z")
No, the reactors were mid-ships. The heavy shielding of the reactors diffused the blast and allowed the (temporary) survival of the crew in the three aft chambers. One of the goals of the salvage was to retrieve the reactors so they wouldn’t melt-down. Wiki has a picture of the hull in dry dock, sans bow: > **[Kursk submarine disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_submarine_disaster)** > > The nuclear-powered Project 949A Antey (Oscar II class) submarine K-141 Kursk sank in an accident on 12 August 2000 in the Barents Sea, during the first major Russian naval exercise in more than 10 years, and all 118 personnel on board were killed. The crews of nearby ships felt the initial explosion and a second, much larger explosion, but the Russian Navy did not realise that an accident had occurred and did not initiate a search for the sub for over six hours. The submarine's emergency resc... ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/4 "2015-02-16T17:58:50Z")
Okay, maybe it’s something that would make a good James Bond or undersea-horror movie. 🙂 From the wookie: “The salvage divers first detached the bow from the rest of the vessel because it may have contained unexploded torpedo warheads and because it could break off and destabilize the lifting.” ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/5 "2015-02-17T00:29:14Z")
The theory was that the Kursk was taken out due to a poorly maintained peroxide torpodo. Cutting of the bow let them stay well away from any other questionable explosives. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kursk-submarine-disaster-what-was-in-the-bow-that-was-left-on-the-sea-floor/712837/6 "2015-02-17T02:10:52Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > … > > They also mentioned that they recovered all 118 of the crew from the rest of the hulk when it was in dry dock. I know it’s nit-picky, but they recovered 115 of the 118 bodies. Still a pretty amazing story though, both the initial sinking and then the salvage efforts.