Jawper - Thanks for a first-rate post.
I don't buy into the conspiracy stuff. At this point it looks like an explosion in the forward torpedo room. Another article reported that one of our spy ships heard an explosion.
I caught Tom Clancy on Larry King (I wuz surfin', Honest!). He pointed out that the boat is on it's side, compounding any rescue attempt. Also, the Russians don't use retractable rods in their reactors, so they can't fire them up anyway. I'm not familiar with that last, but I guess it has something to do with the coolant.
Here's an interesting article from the AP.
http://capitolhillblue.com/a/ap.washington/20000814/3998af27.44d9.6/ap.asp
Pentagon: US Vessel Didn't Hit Sub
WASHINGTON (AP) - No U.S. ship or submarine was involved in the collision that Russian officials said caused one of their submarines to plunge to the bottom of the Barents Sea, the Pentagon said Monday.
Two U.S. Navy submarines were operating in the area at the time of the accident, and one reported having heard an explosion at the site Saturday, a Clinton administration official said late Monday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is familiar with U.S. intelligence reports on the matter.
Russian officials said the incident happened Sunday, but the U.S. official said it was Saturday.
``There were some U.S. submarines in the area,'' the official said. ``All indications are that there was no U.S. involvement (in the accident). We know the U.S. units are OK.''
The U.S. Navy surveillance ship, the USNS Loyal, was monitoring submarine movements in the vicinity of the Barents Sea at the time of the accident but was far from the scene of the accident, Pentagon officials said.
Russian officials said the submarine Kursk, with a crew of more than 100, apparently was in a major collision and sustained serious damage.
``We have no indication that a U.S. vessel was involved in this accident,'' Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said. He would not say, however, whether a U.S. submarine was in the area at the time.
White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, with President Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, said the administration ``made clear to the Russians that any assistance we can offer is available.'' He said national security adviser Sandy Berger reiterated this in a telephone conversation with Russian officials. ``At this point there's been no request for our assistance,'' Lockhart added.
U.S. submarines normally monitor the movement of Russian submarines. It was even more likely in this case because of the size of the Russian naval exercise, which Pentagon officials described as the largest of the year.
Because of the major role submarines play in gathering foreign intelligence, the Navy usually is reluctant to discuss details of their movements.
The Barents Sea is often patrolled by U.S. submarines. In 1993 a U.S. submarine, the USS Grayling, collided with a Russian ballistic missile submarine, causing slight damage to both vessels. A year earlier, also in the Barents Sea, the USS Baton Rouge sub hit a Russian sub, also causing minimal damage.
Several major Russian military seaports are located on the Kola peninsula and Russian vessels must transit the Barents Sea to reach the Atlantic.
Quigley said the U.S. military had not been asked to assist in a potential rescue of the Russian crew. It was not clear what assistance was possible, even if requested.
The U.S. Navy has a rescue vessel designed to bring the crew of a U.S. or allied submarine to safety, even at depths far beyond that where the disabled Russian submarine rested. But U.S. military officials said they were not certain whether the rescue vessel is compatible with Russian submarines hatches.
The U.S. vessel, known as a Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel, is designed for quick deployment in the event of a submarine accident. The rescue vessel is transportable by truck, aircraft, ship, or by a specially configured attack submarine. The only two such vessels in the Navy's inventory are based in San Diego.
A retired U.S. Navy officer familiar with submarine rescue operations said that when the Navy developed its rescue vessels in the 1960s it told Russia and other submarine-faring nations how to design their hatches to make them compatible with the rescue vessel. The officer, who discussed the matter via telephone with Pentagon reporters on condition of anonymity, said it was not known whether the Oscar-class submarine involved in the accident has a compatible hatch.
Although the U.S. rescue vessels are used frequently in training, they have never been used in an actual rescue.
At the accident site, the 49-foot rescue vessel dives, conducts a sonar search, and attaches to the disabled submarines hatch. The rescue vessel can take aboard up to 24 personnel for transfer to safety.
The rescue vessels were developed as a result of the USS Thresher submarine accident in the North Atlantic in April 1963, in which all 129 aboard were lost. At the time, submarine operating depths greatly exceeded the capabilities of rescue vessels.
The Deep Submergence Systems Project contracted with Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. to produce a deep-diving rescue submarine, the first of which was launched in 1970.
Copyright 2000 Associated Press.
