00:00The cause of the Kursk nuclear submarine disaster is still shrouded in mystery,
00:06with NATO rejecting initial Russian claims that a foreign submarine was to blame.
00:10Despite the end of the Cold War, naval forces on both sides have kept a close eye on each other
00:16in the depths of the world's oceans, maintaining an air of intrigue and suspicion.
00:21David Shookman reports.
00:23The Royal Navy rescue team leaves the Barents Sea.
00:26A Russian destroyer, its crew on deck, offers a formal salute.
00:31Never have these two navies worked so closely before.
00:34It's a sight that gives the impression of a changing relationship.
00:39The admiral in charge of British submarines is more used to preparing to fight the Russians than to helping them.
00:44So for him, something positive may come from this tragedy.
00:48This is just a demonstrable event which shows that we are trying to get closer.
00:52And I believe that if we can possibly develop greater understanding internationally on submarine escape and rescue,
01:00then that's all to the good, and you learn your greatest lessons from the biggest tragedies.
01:04It's been a period of painful decline for the Russian Navy.
01:07In the last ten years, it's shrunk from having 148 frigates to 10,
01:12114 diesel-powered submarines to just 16,
01:16and 114 nuclear submarines to 28, an unprecedented reduction.
01:21The image of a fleet in collapse is reinforced by pictures like these.
01:26Short of money, short of fuel, short of just about everything.
01:29A miserable end to a once great fleet.
01:33Yet the Russian Navy can still field very potent weapons.
01:36This was fired by the Kursk just before it sank.
01:39It's why NATO keeps a very close watch.
01:42The Berlin Wall may be down, but the rivalry underwater goes on.
01:48Here in the Royal Navy's underground headquarters at Northwood, outside London,
01:52they monitored the loss of the Kursk.
01:54And the experience of sending help to the Russian Northern Fleet was really unprecedented,
01:58because the two navies still try to keep track of each other's submarines.
02:03It's a constant and serious struggle, a last remnant of the Cold War.
02:08The Russian Northern Fleet, based around Murmansk, has long been a target for NATO intelligence gathering.
02:13An American surveillance ship was nearby earlier this month, so reportedly were two American submarines.
02:19And when Russian submarines venture into the Atlantic,
02:22underwater microphones between Greenland, Iceland and Britain listen out for them,
02:26because one Russian objective is to track Britain's Trident submarines,
02:30as they leave their base at Fas Lane for the Atlantic.
02:34After the Kursk's last major mission, the captain revealed what they'd been up to,
02:38trying to find Trident and other NATO warships.
02:42The Kursk did its best to evade NATO surveillance.
02:45As the commander put it, we did not let the forces of the enemy relax.
02:49No wonder both sides remain on high alert.
02:52The submarine is the ultimate stealth vehicle.
02:55Every other aircraft or ship or tank can be seen from satellites,
02:59but you can't see the submarines.
03:01So there is an element of clandestine operation which is associated with it,
03:07in our perception of it.
03:09Because they're mostly unseen, submarines are easily ignored.
03:13For this disaster of the Kursk has served as a reminder
03:16that a long undersea struggle shows no sign of fading.
03:20David Shookman, BBC News.
03:22There's no כ scrap
03:22that use the Kursk.
03:23The Kursk following the Kursk
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