Ok for a start i have seen pictures of kursk with the bow damage before salvage, this is totaly not a torpedo attack the ballistics are entirely wrong for a start the hole you see is back towards compartment 3 and 4, a torpedo explosion is the cause i have spent 10 years researching Kursk and the disaster and the evedence shows that had a MK 48 been responcible it wouldnt have sunk the submarine, the submarine is built like a typhoon although lacks twin pressure hulls, the kursk is able to come to the surface thanks to its 32% reserve bouyancy and there fore the disaster would not have happened in such a catastrophic way.
I have sources within the russian navy who yes spun this scenario off, they are the old die hard communist who still wants war with america.
The photos i have seen show explosive outwards damage to the forward starbord side of the bow so the torpedo went off in tube 1 or 3 ripping upwards, in the said pictures you can clearly make out peeled back metal of the kursks damaged bow.
Again ballistics does not support the idea a torpedo from a forign vessel sinking the entire submarine, the thing was designed to take atleast one direct hit and still be able to make surface, whats more the MK48 ADCAP detonates under the ship in normal circumstancies, this pushes the hull upwards breaking its back.
againg there had already been several instancies with a certain type of torpedo used in the fleet and they had known flaws and problems.
We know from records that a 65-76 fat girl torpedo was onboard and are commonly used for training torpedos, the said torpedo was built in march 1976 and had recieved little maintinance between 1988 and 2000, we also know the torpedo when loading was dropped on the quayside as the cradle gave way and couldnt support it, it was loaded on any way.
Given the state of the torpedo and its age and the fact its fuel is also corrosive it is incredibly possible and most plausable that a fuel leak (Hydrogen peroxide) met with copper components and reacted causing immence pressure in the torpedo finally exploding and causing a fire.
Now the british tested hydrogen peroxide in the 1950's and found the exact same results, further more in 2002 a scenario was put to a british scientist on behalf of the discovery channel UK he showed a small amount of Hydrogen peroxide aprox 10ml mixed with a small amount of copper in a test tube that is sealed like a torpedo will explode with great force.
Another thing stationed some 140 miles infront was the SSBN K114 also taking part in the exercise who picked up the explosion, there were atleast 15 ASW units in the area they would have sniffed a forign submarine and yes they did know who was where, two US submarines and also a british submarine were known to be in the area, and also swedish submarine was in the near area.
Should the americans or british or swedish fired on kursk they would have retaliated they were firing off live weapons at the time kursk went down, whats more peter the great who was just 12 miles away would have heard a torpedo run and also the ASW escorts beside and behind would have heard, if unshedualed the torpedo would have been hostile and a fully sweep would have been conducted to weed out any forign intruders.
The reason a US submarine was photographed in norway is quite simple and is not un common, dropping off intelligence material to be flown back to the USA damage would have been apparent on thier satalites, and whats more photos of the submarine reveled no damage.
Further more any collission between a western submarine and kursk would have led to severe damage, kursk is 18,000tonnes when submerged unlike the 7,000ton US submarine. and 5,000ton british, the damage would have been severe enough that the submarine would had to have surfaced, the kursk is a hefty lump and moving like she was would garentee your going to damage another vessel if a collision occours badly.
I can honestly say after my 10 years of research, the photos i have seen, the people i have spoken to the evedence laid out from both sides.
A torpedo from a forign submarine never caused this accident.
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