Prayer for the crew of the Russian Navy Submarine "Kursk".

A note found on a body recovered from the sunken Russian nuclear submarine shows that at least 23 submariners survived the powerful explosions:
The desperate message, which the author says was written “blindly”as he was writing it in the dark, says the survivors gathered in the compartment where the emergency escape hatch was located — but could not escape. The note was found in the pocket of a seaman identified as Lieutenant-Captain Dmitry R. Kolesnikov.

“All the crew from the sixth, seventh and eighth compartments went over to the ninth. There are 23 people here. We made this decision as a result of the accident. None of us can get to the surface,”
The letter also contains important details about the accident that sank the Kursk — and the drama that captured the attention of the world. Russian naval authorities claim that the contents of the letter were private and would be handed over to relatives.
What may never be known is for how long the 23 survived in the ninth compartment, or how they eventually died. They probably died of drowning, hypothermia or high pressure.

God please grant my last desire,
To help me on my way.
Please take my loved ones by the hand
And help them each new day.

Don't ever leave them by themselves
Or let them cry alone.
How can I leave them all behind?
Can't even call them on the phone.

I hate to think that when I'm gone,
They'll be in so much pain.
That all the time I've lived on earth,
Turns out to be in vain.

God do you think it's ok now,
For me to carry on?
Do you think they will be fine,
Now that I am gone?

The pain was getting way too bad;
I thought I'd go insane.
But how could I just up and go,
Without trying to explain?

And now dear God I'm on my way,
I'm knocking at your door.
Please dear God, grant me my wish
And let them cry no more!

Irina Kolesnikova is a young Russian student who lives in Saint Petersburg. As many of her fellow country people she has a generous heart and noble soul.
Iris translated all 16 memorial books from English to Russian. She did a sacred work on her own time and free will.
All translated books are now on display at the Saint Petersburg Submariners Club. I hope that in the future those books will be printed and given to the families of the lost crew.

TO THE VALIANT WARRIORS OF THE KURSK From the United States Navy Submarine Force and submariners around the world
by Raymond (Rusty) W. Rent, Jr. MM2 (SS)-U.S.S. Thomas A. Edison SSBN 610
… Toe-to-toe, eye-to-eye we have faced each other under the silent seas. Unseen, unnoticed and unknown by most of our countrymen whom we were there to protect and defend. Once enemies, now only wary observers and today only brothers…. Only we, as few others can even begin to comprehend, know the full measure and extent of your sacrifice to your country as you went about your job. We, know the isolation and loneliness you endured so that others might enjoy their families in peace. We, know the years of children’s lives lost and lovers arms unfilled. We, know the unforgiving hostility of the environment in which you lived, equaled only by those who go into space, not for days or weeks but months on end. We, know the knowledge you carried with you every moment tucked neatly in a box in the corner of your mind, that you walked in the belly of a beast. A capricious beast who merely tolerated your presence. One that, at any moment, might decide to allow the most insignificant part of itself to malfunction and devour you, as it has done. We, understand the unspoken fears and thoughts you carried with you of just such an eventuality. We, know the close camaraderie and bonding with your fellow shipmates, each there for the other – each dependent on the other to be the very best they could be, as you faced the dark, cold, silent crushing depths together. Few men ever have the privilege of knowing the spirit of that bonding. From that brotherhood shared, through the long days of not knowing, we were with you perhaps not in body but certainly in mind and spirit. So it is on this day with thankfulness in the final knowledge, or at least the prayer, that all of you mercifully never even had the time to even realize your fate much less experience it, we accept the finality of your passing. There but for the grace of God walk any of us, so we stand in unison and salute you … our fallen brothers. Now our thoughts and feelings turn to those who loved you and remain in this world without you. Our prayers ask to give them strength and solace for the pain and grief they are enduring. We hope the lessons to be learned from your death and ultimate sacrifice will be seized upon, by all nations and especially by yours, and be taken to heart by those who can correct the causes and can prevent it from happening again so that your deaths will not be in vain and may someday keep other brothers from the same fate. Nevertheless, with honor and respect we shall keep your memory alive, as we do for our own that are Forever On Patrol……..

"And when at length her course is run,
Her work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that in her sailed,
Let not one life in Thee have failed;
But hear from heaven our sailor's cry,
And grant eternal life on high!"

visitores from 81 countries have joined together in a prayer of hope and comfort

Copyright of Irina Kolesnikova© 2001 All Rights Reserved