Relatives Bid Farewell to 118 Killed in Sub

Reeling from shock and heartbreak, relatives tossed flowers Thursday into the waves of the frigid Barents Sea in tribute to 118 men killed when their nuclear submarine crumpled in an explosion and sank to the silt below.

President Vladimir V. Putin, who vowed to rebuild the armed forces after an emotional televised mea culpa Wednesday, ordered a 20% pay raise for millions of Russia’s men and women in uniform, including soldiers, sailors and police.

While some family members still insisted that they want the bodies retrieved before they will mourn, most boarded a Russian ship for the area near where the Kursk went down Aug. 12, as their anger over the tragedy turned to grief and resignation.

Wives, mothers and fathers with ashen faces huddled together and looked over the deck railings. An Orthodox priest and Muslim cleric led prayers for the victims, then the relatives threw fresh flowers and wreaths, including one from Putin, into the sea.

The disaster has been a grueling ordeal for the families, many of whom found out about the sinking only from television reports and endured days of a confused rescue operation, only to hear from Norwegian divers that their sons and husbands were dead.

Earlier Thursday, many relatives of the crew clustered to watch the laying of a foundation stone for a memorial to the Kursk in the town of Vidyayevo, where the submarine had been based. Two women fainted, and several people fell onto the grassy slope sobbing and kissing the earth.

Russian officials have faced public anger for their handling of the crisis. They struggled to reach the wreck for days before finally relenting and asking for foreign help.

Col. John Espen Lien, spokesman for the Norwegian Supreme Defense Command, said early information from the Russians was so bad that the Norwegians were not sure that conditions were safe enough for the diving team to continue.

A frustrated Vice Adm. Einar Skorgen, leader of the Norwegian rescue effort, eventually turned to Adm. Vyacheslav Popov, commander of Russia’s Northern Fleet.

“When it was taken up with Popov, it was taken care of immediately,” Lien said.