Half-Staff for the KURSK

[Peter Ansoff]

We are flying the Russian naval ensign and state flag at half-staff today in memory of the 118 Russian sailors who died in the sinking of the submarine KURSK on 12 August 2000. When the submarine was finally salvaged, it appeared that many crew members survived the initial explosion that disabled the ship, and lived for several days while trapped on the bottom in the disabled hulk. They all died before rescuers arrived. I was briefly associated with the US submarine force back in the 1970s, and this scenario was every submariner's worst nightmare.

I've had the KURSK on my calendar of flag-flying days for several years. When the Governor of Virginia announced that flags would be half-staffed today for the Navy SEALs who died in Afghanistan, I wondered if I should do that instead. However, my personal decision was to fly the flags for the KURSK. Both the American SEALs and the Russian submariners died for their country and deserve great honor for that. However, the horror of being trapped for days in a dark, cold hulk at the bottom of the sea, with little hope of rescue, is something that (in my opinon) deserves special remembrance.

Peter Ansoff

[csaanv]

Hi Peter,
Could you snap us a picture of the flags? BTW, I was flying the current US naval jack in honor of the Navy Seals here in Virginia Beach and someone stole my flag this morning! Fortunetly it was my cheaper printed Annin version but still I could not believe. But they did leave the flag pole. Go figure.
Mike

[wild-bill]

Hi Peter. Yes I'd like to see some pics also. And Mike, that's awful that someone stole your flag.

[Peter Ansoff]

Unfortunately, there was not much wind. Normally, I fly a streamer on the the pole(s) that don't have flags on them. However, for half-staffing situations, I leave the poles bare -- I think it gives an appropriate "missing man" effect.

Peter Ansoff

08-12-11 sm.JPG 08-12-11 2 sm.JPG

[csaanv]

wild bill, thank you for the condolences, I hope it finds a good home. Peter, are your Russian flags from Russia or local made? I assume the naval ensign would be hard to get locally.

[Robin Hickman]

...

NAVAL ENSIGN on eBay !!!


SovietNavalEnsign-Dettra-1980.jpg


http://cgi.ebay.com/Soviet-Naval-Ensign-3x5-100-Cotton-Cold-War-/150646907465?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231341 6249

[csaanv]

Not a bad repro except the sickle handle should be attached to the sickle, not sure why there is a white separation. I see that the seller had it custom made in cotton whereas the real ones were printed wool bunting with rope sewn into the header. Here is a small Soviet boat flag from my collection and current Russian naval ensign. The blue cross should be a pale blue, the photo is off.

3.jpg
001 029.jpg

[Bergschlawiner]

Re the Naval ensign referfred to above: What does the Kursk have to do with the Soviet flag? The Kursk was a Russian Navy vessel and I assume that either the Russian "tricolor" was flown or maybe the "imperial" flag.

[csaanv]

Sir, you are correct, the Kursk would not be considered an Soviet naval vessel and would not fly the former naval ensign of the Soviet Union. Our friend Robin probably did an eBay search and typed in "Russian Ensign" and the Soviet Naval Ensign came up. This is because the seller "tagged" the item with words that would attract other collectors or buyers.

[Peter Ansoff]

The confusion here is that there were two separate discussion topics in this thread. The first was about the flags that I flew in memory of the KURSK. As shown in the photos, they were the blue and white "Andreyevskii" flag, which is the current Russian naval ensign, and the white/blue/red Russian civil flag. Later, Robin made a separate post about a Soviet naval ensign that was being sold on Ebay. Nobody implied that the KURSK flew a Soviet flag.

Peter Ansoff