Sailor Lived for Sea Until the End

Dmitry Kolesnikov began life with a legacy of the sea. He ended it upholding the sea’s traditions.

Huddled in the cramped aft section of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, with death closing in on him and his men, Kolesnikov began to take notes, as if in a logbook. And he did it in strict maritime fashion, starting and ending with the time.

By the end, the light was failing along with his strength. “I’m writing blindly,” he scrawled finally.

“He was one of the best officers of the best crew of a submarine of the Russian navy,” said Capt. 2nd Class Igor Dygalo, a fellow serviceman.

Kolesnikov, 27, commanded the turbine section of the submarine, which sank Aug. 12 in the Barents Sea after a still-unexplained explosion in its bow. The disaster killed all 118 submariners aboard the Kursk and shook the confidence of Russia and its navy.

Kolesnikov came from a family steeped in naval tradition. His father, Roman, retired from the submarine fleet with the rank of captain first class and teaches at St. Petersburg’s prestigious Kuznetsov Naval Academy. Dmitry’s younger brother, 22-year-old Alexander, recently graduated from a special naval college.

“This tragedy won’t make me quit my service. My brother wouldn’t approve of such a decision, I know,” Alexander told The Times by telephone from the family home. “I will continue to go out to sea. This is the way of life for our family. This is our lot.”

On video footage, Dmitry Kolesnikov appears to be a cheery sort--stocky, with a blond crew cut and an easy, self-effacing manner.

He married last summer. His wife, Olga, told a Norwegian TV crew after the disaster that Kolesnikov seemed to have a premonition of his death.

“Before he went on this last mission, he left this at home,” she said, showing a set of dog tags with a silver cross hanging around her neck. “I don’t know why.

“And shortly before taking to sea he wrote me this poem,” she continued:

When the hour comes for me to die

Although I try not to think about it

I would like to whisper just this:

My beloved, how much I love you!

On the back of the log notes, Kolesnikov wrote what navy officials described as a “very personal” note to his wife.

He was, it seems, trying to fulfill his promise, however he could, to the end.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

There are 23 people here...

There are 23 people here. . . . None of us can get to the surface.

Russian naval Chief Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov, quoting a message written by Lt. Capt. Dmitry Kolesnikov, near left, about two hours after the Kursk sank on Aug. 12.