The first hours after the sinking were chaos. I’d never heard anything like it in my life. The questions started almost immediately: what can we do to help? But there was hesitation too, because we didn’t know exactly what the Russian president knew.
In that world, there’s no concept of taking responsibility for something, because if you do, you’re going to get shot. We were inside a pipe, 33 feet in diameter, trying to carve out a new relationship between the US and Russia. But we weren’t naive; we didn’t take anything for granted. Putin had been deep in the KGB, then head of the FSB, organizations given to vendetta.
He was determined to restore Russia’s greatness, and I was all for that. But we didn’t know yet if Russia’s democratic freedoms would endure, or if it would define its greatness in yesterday’s terms or tomorrow’s. The Russian Navy hadn’t operated at this level for a long time. We surmised this was Putin’s first real exposure to the Northern Fleet.
There was activity all over the place. By Sunday, we hadn’t heard anything from Russia about the incident. People might still have been alive down there. I just wanted to help save their lives if we could.
Then the Navy began spreading rumors that the catastrophe was a collision with an American submarine. There was a clear recipient of all this lie. The Russian Navy tried to answer questions, but I don’t think any of them expected to be shoved in front of cameras from 20 different news networks. I didn’t have big expectations of him showing up.
Accountability isn’t something native to him. If you’re in a submarine in real trouble on the ocean floor, you don’t have long. They’re trained extensively for this. We always use acronyms, like LR5.
The LR5 rescue vessel could dock with a stricken submarine even if it was lying on its side. It would be on standby if the Russians gave the go-ahead. It was truly a journey into the unknown. It wasn’t clear if some or all of the crew were still alive, or how long their oxygen supplies would last.
The technology wasn’t the most advanced. All over the country, people were watching. I can’t speak to Putin’s mind, but I surmised his calculus was that this was still NATO. He should have come instantly and asked for foreign help.
Instead, he should have been abandoning his holiday. Maybe it’s psychological, maybe it’s cultural, maybe both. Our people had been in touch through NATO, but we kept saying, if there’s anything we can do, just let us know. That was a first test of his political leadership, and he did not pass with flying colors.
If he came to the streets of our town without guards, he’d be killed. We’d had enough of politics. We didn’t want more delays. How long would it be until we got to the ocean?
Norway had made an agreement to do anything needed to help. All sailors at sea share the same emotions if somebody is trapped. We’re all seafarers. I was flown to Tumsa, then driven down to the keyside, which was a beehive of activity.
Normally, we go into a job with exact details, risk assessed to death. This was absolutely flat out all the way. Right then, parents, immediate relatives, and friends were still streaming into that far Russian northern city of Merman, hoping against hope that their loved ones were still alive. Why had it taken so long to invite outside help?
We were frustrated because we expected to be within a mile or two. If you’re fortunate enough to survive, you end up in what we call an escape compartment. The tower consists of two hatches: an upper hatch with water above it, and a lower hatch into the compartment. There wasn’t an openness that followed.
You must fiercely call. That played on television everywhere in the world. By then, it was becoming pretty clear what their tactic was going to be. A suggestion was made that we have a meeting to establish exactly what we were going to do.
The plan hadn’t been finalized yet, but it might involve the British mini sub. The attitude from the beginning of the meeting was… how should I put it? To use LR5.
Then it was one thing to allow Norwegian divers to go, but another to let a Royal Navy rescue submarine have success where they’d spent a week having none. Everyone was aware this was the first story on all news outlets worldwide. We were still waiting, hoping, and watching the clock run out. The irony was that we were ready, trained, and willing—but the door remained locked from the other side.
And every hour that passed, the odds of finding anyone alive slipped further away.
