International appeal

A C-5 Galaxy being loaded with people and equipment from the Deep Submergence Unit, Naval Air Station North Island, Coronado, California. The C-5 took one Super Scorpio robotic rescue vehicle to Russia to assist in the rescue.

Immediate support was offered by the Royal Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the United States Navy. The United Kingdom sent a Scorpio 45 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) via C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft and a team to operate it. The United States sent one unmanned Super Scorpio ROV from San Diego, airlifted via C-5 Galaxy transport. Each unmanned vehicle was also accompanied by a team to operate it. It was intended that these unmanned rescue vessels, with their robotic arms, would be able to cut the nets or cables that anchored the submarine. The American ROV was assembled on the support ship Priz although they were not required to get underway as the British Scorpio was able to execute the rescue. A tactical decision by the United States Pacific Fleet command team at Pearl Harbor, allowed the British crew to use the limited local resources toward one rescue asset. The British team's efforts resulted in a successful rescue.

Rescue

On 6 August, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Ivanov to fly to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to oversee the rescue operation, which was under the command of the Commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Admiral Viktor Fedorov.

Russian Admiral Fedorov (Fyodorov) first discussed using explosives to cut the antenna but those tactics were never employed. The Russian oceangoing tugs MB-105 and KIL-168 instead attempted to lift the stricken craft to the surface using underslung cables. This attempt proved futile. Meanwhile, to conserve energy and oxygen, the crew of AS-28 shut down the submarine's non-essential systems (including the heater), donned thermal suits, and rested.

The British Scorpio was the only foreign ROV to arrive and be deployed.^[2] It successfully cut away the cables which had snagged the submarine while surface ships had retreated a safe distance.

On 7 August, all seven sailors were rescued after the cables snaring their submarine were cut by a British ROV. The submarine surfaced at 4:26 p.m. local time and all seven crewmen exited the vessel without assistance with four to six hours of air remaining.^[3]

Repercussions

The Guardian reports questions have been raised over how long Russian officials waited to request help.^[4] The first exposure of the accident came when the wife of a crewman called a radio station 24 hours later, and the wife of commander Milashevsky claims they were actually stranded Wednesday. Kommersant reported that the head of the Navy Vladimir Kuroyedov, may be relieved over this, the Kursk, and other incidents.^[5] Another nuclear submarine, the K-159, being towed to the junkyard, sank in 2003^[6] when the pontoon broke loose, with the loss of nine lives. The BBC also reported that in July, an inter-continental ballistic missile test firing witnessed by Putin failed to launch twice; then exploded soon after launch the next day. Although officials claimed the crew of AS-28 had food and water for five days, they were actually desperately short of water.^[7]

The story of the submarine's rescue was featured on the BBC One documentary Submarine Rescue. The documentary was subsequently awarded the accolade of "best documentary" by the British Maritime Society. The rescue of AS-28 by Scorpio was also featured as the subject of the tenth episode of the 2007–2008 documentary series Critical Situation, entitled "Running Out of Air".