Secrets from the Black Vault by John Greenewald Jr

Author:John Greenewald Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2020-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

With no inspection of American ships, and the official denial of involvement, much of the international press dismissed the collision theory. Russian pride and ego were largely to blame for Russia not taking responsibility. However, not everyone is willing to dismiss American or NATO involvement.

FOIA requests reveal an enormous amount of secrecy surrounding the events with the sinking of the K-141 Kursk. The National Security Agency (NSA) fully denied releasing the records relating to the incident back in 2014. Another attempt was made in 2018, and a final denial by the NSA was issued in April of 2019 stating that all NSA documents, which totaled an unknown number of pages, were being withheld as they were classified “Top Secret” and “Secret.” Not a single word was releasable about a very public event. Although secrets such as submarine locations, capabilities, and such should be withheld, it is unlikely that every page within NSA holdings would not be releasable.

Other agencies were not quite so dismissive of efforts to pry loose documents. The Department of the Navy released fifteen pages to The Black Vault, all consisting of “Maritime Intelligence Reports” from the days after the initial explosions on board the Kursk. The US Navy issued multiple reports on August 14, the earliest of their records, and days that followed, updating new pieces of information coming in regarding the tragedy. One of the reports offers a clue as to how classified details remain within American files:

During the mid 0700 ZULU hours of 12 August, OSCAR II [REDACTED] KURSK Impacted the sea floor in the Barents Sea, apparently unable to resurface. The submarine was participating in the Russian Navy’s SUMMEREX 2000. The Russian General Staff has been quoted as saying that a crew of 166 was on board.

During mid 0700 ZULU hour of 12 August, at least two distinct acoustic events were detected in what is now known to be the casualty area.

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