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An American Precedent
Russian handling of submarine tragedy takes us back to the Sixties
The nuclear submarine sank to the bottom of the ocean, and the Navy didn't even inform the families of the sailors. They had to hear that their sons and brothers and fathers might be dying on the news, a full day after the Navy already knew the sub was in trouble. Citing military secrecy, they refused help from other nations. They speculated that a torpedo in the sub had inadvertently detonated and caused the sub to sink. They hinted darkly that the sub had possibly been attacked by enemies, not willing to admit that it was their own negligence that may have doomed their men to a watery grave.
Russia? Nope. The United States.
In 1963, the nuclear submarine USS Thresher sank off the New England shore, killing all 129 men aboard. The disaster was caused by a bad weld. Admiral Hyman Rickover then warned the Navy in a memo sent to a Congressional investigation, “We must correct the conditions that permitted the inadequate design, poor fabrication methods and incomplete inspection to exist, if we are not to have another Thresher.”
On May 22, 1968, the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion sank with 99 men aboard. Two separate investigations ensued. It took 25 years for the investigative reports to be declassified, during which time the families of the men aboard were kept completely in the dark as to the results of these investigations. When the reports were finally released, they revealed that the US Navy had deliberately denied the Scorpion necessary repairs as a government-sanctioned experiment in cost-cutting.
Today the US is appalled and outraged by the actions of the Russian government. How dare they allow their national pride to take precedence over the lives of 118 men aboard the Kursk? How dare they consign these men to death in an ice-cold, airless casket at the bottom of the sea, when they've had so many offers of help? And how dare they deny the families information?
Well, it seems Russia had a good teacher in the United States.
But hindsight is 20/20, and today we know better. We have learned from our mistakes. And we are doing all we can to prevent it from happening again.
News coming out of Russia is sketchy and contradictory. We have heard that air and fuel were being pumped into the sub; then we heard the attempt failed. We have heard that Russian equipment is not compatible with American rescue equipment; we have heard that it is compatible, but the angle is wrong. We have heard that there was banging coming from inside the sub; we have heard that the walls of the sub are too well-insulated to carry sound. There may be a week, or a day, or an hour of air left. Or the air may have been the first thing to go.
As I write this, 118 families are praying for a miracle. They live each minute wondering if there is anymore air, if there is any chance. They are afraid to lose hope. They are afraid to hope. The rest of the world is watching and praying with them. We are frustrated by the lack of conclusive news, and anxious for this disaster to be over. We are all holding our breath in sympathy and dread and hoping that the men aboard the Kursk will somehow survive.
Juli McCarthy is a freelance writer living in the wilds of suburban Illinois.
When she is not writing, she spends her time crafting, chasing neighbors out
of the pool, and thinking of creative ways to overthrow the school board.
Note: Featured
author in August/September 2000
E-mail: coffeejitters@aol.com
Writing interests: Popular Media, Books, Family Issues, Human Rights,
Handcrafts
I.D. Theory articles:
"Presidential Material?" |
"An American Precedent"
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