US 'torpedoed Kursk nuclear sub'

The Australian ^ | May 09, 2005 | Daniel Stacey, London

[Nucluside]

I know a couple of submariners and more than three Navy SEALS who wouldn't take 100K to divulge sensitive info. If we DID take the Kursk out, SO WHAT?

[MarkL]

Further Mk-48s do not sink their targets by blowing nice neat holes in the outer casing. They sink their targets by blowing bloody great holes in their pressure hulls.

I don't know if it's MK-48s or some other torpedo, but I remember reading about torpedos designed to sink surface ships that used proximity fuses, and they did NOT impact the hull, but would dive down beneath the hull, and explode underneath the ship. The sharp overpressure, and then the sudden vaccuum, would cause the "spine" of the hull to crack, effectively cutting the ship in two pieces.

Mark

[glaseatr]

I though modern American torpedoes are designed to blow up under the vessel and not designed to impact. Blowing up under the target causes the structure to fracture.

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!

[MarkL]

France does seem like a nice enough country. Too bad there are so many French people running around over there, ruining it for everyone else!

Mark

[shaggy eel]

in an act of diplomacy between then US presidents Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin – a deal that included the cancellation of $US10 billion ($12.5 billion) of Russian debt, the film states.

,,, a great fabrication to explain this amount of money leaving the cash register though. Was that amount of debt ever cancelled out? Get the French onto a sequel immediately! :)

[LasVegasMac]

One of these days the French are going to remember why they are free and not part of Germany.

I have faith, too.

Then reality walks in.......

LVM

[jackbill]

It could well be that the Russian submarine Krusk was sunk by U. S. subs. In the first place, this huge monsterous Russian nuclear sub, calld "Mongo" because of its huge size, was not on a training mission, it was on war patrol.

Wrong. It was on a several day "weapons exercise".

I suggest that you read "Cry from the deep", by Ramsey Flynn. The Kursk was a disaster waiting to happen.

The book gives some insight into the "short shrift" that the Russian submarine fleet was given in Russian military spending.

For instance, very few of the cranes used to load torpedos into the subs were functional. They had been built by the Ukrainians and Russia was reluctant to give the Ukrainians money to keep them maintained. In fact, while loading the Kursk, one of the torpedos was dropped onto the dock.

The HTP torpedos were a disaster. They leaked and were subsequently subject to "cooking off". The warehouses which kept the torpedos typically released the worst ones, to get them the hell out of the building.

It was one such HTP torpedo that eventually "cooked off" while in the tube, awaiting firing. The resulting fire set off another four or so non-HTP torpedos.

[LasVegasMac]

Thats not how a MK-48 Works

That is completely irrelevant.

Come on. Get with the program!

LVM

[EQAndyBuzz]

"A FORMER British military official has backed a sensational claim that the Russian nuclear submarine, the Kursk, was torpedoed by US forces in August 2000. "

Well, this is one time we can say it. YOU CANNOT BLAME BUSH FOR THIS ONE.

Blame Clinton!!!

[75thOVI]

Actually, you're right on. That's how a 48 takes on a skimmer. Against another sub, it goes for a skin hit. In either case the target is well and truly fornicated.

[Bob]

Correcto-mundo, Bob. The shot is of a Mk-46, designed for launch from surface ships or aircraft. The actual source of FIRM's shot is this site.

Thanks for the confirmation. Leahy-class DLGs had triple tubes port and starboard amidships.

[75thOVI]

Actually it was part of a long term plan to discredit clinton by the evil and nefarious "Darth Rove"!

[relee]

That's what they told us in sub school.

[IonImplantGuru]

Here's the still photo referred to purportedly showing the Mk-48 'puncture wound'...

My guess is that that hole is maybe 4 to 6 feet in diameter! Now recall that the diameter of a Mk 48 is a bit less than 21 inches; in my opinion the claim is bogus. A more likely explanation is that something circular that was welded to the inside of the outer hull was torn away by the force of the torpedo room explosion/implosion.

[hinckley buzzard]

Next they'll be claiming that the Pentagon blew up on 9/11 without even being hit by an aircraft. These zany froggies...I tell ya, they'll believe anything!

[Right Angler]

Note to self: buy stock in Reynolds Aluminum...

[75thOVI]

I know the Russians cut off the bow. I'm certain that they weren't trying hide anything by doing that. If I may make a point about the damage apparent in the picture, there is an intact bulkhead between the supposed torpedo penetration hole and the missing bow compartment. The hole looks to be abreast of the #1 SS-N-19 tube. If a 48 had hit there, they could have brought the remains up in clam baskets.

[Donald Meaker]

Torpedos intended to destroy surface ships normally use a depth keeping sytem to go under the spine, to break its back. Magnetic or hydrostatic fuses are used.

Torpedos intended to destroy subs used to be magnetic fuse with a backup impact fuse, and the depth keeping system was not used because you can't depend on a sub to be a particular depth. Either type of fuse would detonate outside the vessel and would petal the metal inwards, unless the metal was brittle, in which case it would fracture roughly.

The abrasive cutting system would make nice neat holes. Sounds good to me. Even the explosive cutters used for ejection seats leave a rough hole.

[pepperdog]

Personally I won't believe it till I see it in NewsweaK!