Attempts to save the crew of Russia’s Kursk nuclear submarine were doomed by mistakes and sloppiness, not least the failure of a top admiral to realise anything had gone wrong, a government report has revealed.

Three Russian admirals have been dismissed over the Kursk disaster.

Severe damage to the Kursk nuclear submarine has thwarted efforts to remove its last six cruise missiles, so investigators must cut them out together with their silos, the Russian navy chief said today.

A giant barge hauling the battered Kursk submarine pulled into waters of a Russian shipyard today, in the final stage of an ambitious salvage effort made riskier by the ship’s two nuclear reactors and missile arsenal.