KURSK submarine badges

Phil2011

New Member
Hi, there!
On august 12th, 2000, the russian SSBN K-141 "Kursk" was lost during naval drills on Barents sea. The whole crew (118) perished. More than ten years later, the controversy about the circumstances of drama and about the disastrous attempts for rescue are not over...
Here is the "Kursk":

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And here is the official badge:
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It's made of gilt brass and hot enamel. You can see the coat of arms of Kursk town, with numbers XII and '94 : they correspond to the date of launching: december 1994. Above the coat of arms, the name "Kursk" and the tsar's crown. As a background, the Navy flag (white, with blue Saint Andrew cross).

As a tribute, some years ago I first put the badge into this small frame I found in an antique shop:
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I made the background from red satin on padded material.

Then, on my second and third trips to Russia I found commemorative badges and medals.
Here they are:

This probably is the first "sorrow badge", and also the most common on. Four part construction.
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This badge was probably issued quite at the same time. Three part construction:
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The Norway flag is to remind that the first divers who joined the Kursk in attempts for rescue came from Norway (they were specialists in offshore oil prospecting).

Another badge connected to rescue attempts (four part construction):
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This one also reminds the attempts for rescue. Note the norvegian flag. Three part construction:
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Maybe the most recent commemorative badge. I saw it for the first time in Moscow, last year:
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The word "Pamyati" could be translated into "In memoriam". Three part construction.

Medal for the participants in raising up the Kursk and taking the corpses back :
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And here is the frame I made as a tribute:

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:salute:
 
You wouldn't get me inside a submarine for all the tea in China.

Its horrific the way those guys died, I cannot even imagine the terror they went through.

RIP
 
Thanks for your comments! Yes, dying in a flooded submarine must be something horrific!.. It is said that 23 men survived in the rear part of the ship maybe for two days. Last year, in Saint Peterburg, I met the Captain 1st rank Igor Kurdin, chairman of the Saint Peterburg Submariners Club. He said that, to his point of view and according to the circumstances, if men survived they certainly all died within 8 or 10 hours. This or that version, who knows; but for sure these guys met hell before they die... RIP.
 
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