US Navy Nuclear Power Program

This is what I did in the Navy. I was an Electronic's Technician and Reactor Operator in the nuclear field. It included 2 1/2 years of school, followed by nearly 4 years on an operational submarine (USS Memphis SSN-691), followed by nearly 4 years at the Nuclear Prototype in Upstate New York (Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories) as an instructor, followed by a couple of years on the USS Toledo SSN-769 as part of the new construction crew (while the submarine was being built, tested, and commissioned). I left the Navy at almost 12 years with a medical discharge due to six knee surgeries and an ankle reconstruction.

Here are some commentaries I found about the Navy's Nuclear Program:

Naval Nuclear Power School is a nuclear engineering school operated by the U.S. Navy to train enlisted sailors, officers, and KAPL and Bettis civilians for shipboard nuclear power plant operation and maintenance on surface ships and submarines in today's nuclear navy. Due to its depth and fast pace, it is regarded as one of the most difficult academic programs in the world rivaling nuclear programs at such universities as Harvard and MIT.

Enlisted personnel must have already graduated from the class A school pertaining to their rating assignment as a Machinist's Mate (MM), Electrician's Mate (EM), or Electronics Technician (ET) before commencing their training at the Naval Nuclear Power School. Sailors in the Navy Nuclear Program ("Nukes") make up only 3% of the sailors in the navy.

While the rigorous training program differs slightly in terms of content for the officers and enlisted ratings, the following topics are provided to all program attendees:

Mathematics
Nuclear Physics
Electrical theory and equipment
Reactor plant technology
Thermodynamics aka Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow
Chemistry
Materials engineering and metallurgy
Health physics
Reactor principles
The principal difference between the enlisted course and the officer course is the more extensive post-Calculus mathematical examination of reactor dynamics studied by the officers.

The nuclear program is widely acknowledged as having the most demanding occupational field academic program in the U.S. military today. The school operates at a very fast pace and stringent academic standards are required for all subjects. Students typically spend 45 hours a week in the classroom, and study anywhere from an additional 10 to 50 hours per week, giving the average student around a 65 hour work week. Students cannot study nor do homework outside of the classroom, as the material is classified. A security badge must be used to access study materials.

Prospective enrollees in the Nuclear Power Program must pass a demanding exam in the sciences and may be disqualified for minor infractions. The pre-entry requirements for integrity and consistency in the personal and professional life for this vital field is a very large concern to the military.

Failed tests and sometimes even wrong answers on tests require an interview with subject department heads to review students as well as the teacher's notes to verify the materials were taught and recorded by the student, and in the student's study logs. They may then be given remedial homework. Failing scores in the school can result in charges of "dereliction of duty" under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, depending on whether or not the student was determined to be lacking effort, or lacking the ability to complete the program.

Many colleges and universities award several years of college credit to graduates of Naval Nuclear Power School for the unclassified portions of the curriculum. Because large parts of the curriculum are classified, the amount of college credit awarded does not accurately reflect the depth of the coursework. The American College of Education recommends an average of 60-80 semester-hours of college credit for completion of the entire Naval Nuclear Power Training Command curriculum, which comprises both Nuclear Field "A" School and Naval Nuclear Power School (the acual amount is based on the specific training pipeline completed - MM, EM, or ET). Sailors with one to two years of college credit may easily find themselves only a few classes away from a bachelors degree upon completion of the training pipeline, though NNPTC in and of itself is not a degree-granting institution. Several universities do offer degrees in Nuclear, Mechanical, Electrical, and Electronics Engineering/Engineering Technology, and a number of them grant the full ACE-recommended credits to NNPTC graduates. Further, under the Navy's SOCNAV college program, the residency requirements at these civilian institutions are reduced to only 10-25%, allowing a student to take as little as 12 units of coursework through the degree-granting institution (typically 4 courses) to complete their bachelors degree. Further, naval nuclear engineers are some of the most sought after professionals many times being seen as more valuable than competitors from ivy-league schools. Nucs have gone on with no other schooling to teach classes such as nuclear physics, reactor design, and related courses at the top universities in America, including Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other top tier universities. Naval Nuclear Experience is many times seen as an equal to a PhD in the related field due to the hands on work experience with running nuclear reactors as opposed to computer simulations.

Graduates of Nuclear Power School go on to Nuclear Prototype Units for six additional months of hands-on experience and training at operating Nuclear propulsion plants. Upon separation, many sailors choose to work at civilian nuclear power plants or teaching nuclear field related classes at the university level. Naval Nuclear Power School is the only Nuclear Power School which provides hands on experience working with Nuclear Reactors.

It is interesting to note that both submarines that I served on were the only two US submarines present when the Soviet submarine Kursk was sank, losing both the submarine and the entire crew of 118. No one will come out and confirm, but there is a great deal of information available that would indicate it is likely that the Memphis and/or Toledo played a direct role in the sinking of the Kursk.

USS Memphis (SSN-691), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for Memphis, Tennessee. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 4 February 1971 and her keel was laid down on 23 June 1973. She was launched on 3 April 1976 sponsored by Mrs. Cathy Beard, and commissioned on 17 December 1977, with Commander G. Dennis Hicks in command.
In March 1981, USS Memphis completed an around-the-world cruise via the Panama Canal, including operations with both the Sixth and Seventh Fleets.
Memphis was redesignated an experimental submarine during 1989 to test composite hull structures, unmanned underwater vehicles, advanced sonars, hull friction reduction, and other advanced technologies for the LA and Seawolf classes, but remains combat-capable.
During a mid-1990s refit, Memphis received numerous modifications, which added about 50 tons to her displacement, most of it aft.
-a glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) turtleback abaft the sail to accommodate remotely operated vehicles
-a towing winch and drum for experimental towed sonar arrays
-4.27 m-high by 1.37 m-wide vertical surfaces at the ends of the stern stabilizers to accommodate sonar transducer arrays
-a 54 mm towed array dispenser in the port fin leading to the new winch abaft the sail
-supports for the stern stabilizers
-new hydraulic systems
-a fiber-optic databus
-58 standardized equipment racks to accommodate electronic test gear
In January 1994 Memphis entered Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for Refueling and Complex Overhaul (RCOH) and modifications to support her research and development role. Upon completion of the shipyard availability she was assigned to Submarine Development Squadron TWELVE in Groton, Connecticut.
Memphis has tested a composite material propeller shaft of about half normal weight and, in 1998, the Lockheed Martin Undersea Systems Universal Gravity Module (UGM) passive bottom profiler navigational system.
On 3 May 2005, Memphis deployed conducting two polar transits, returning to New London on 3 November 2005.
Memphis won the coveted Battenberg Cup in 2005.
On 6 May 2006, Memphis deployed against Iraqi insurgency, returning to New London, Connecticut, on 7 August.
On 27 June 2007, Memphis returned to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, for a Pre-Inactivation Restricted Availability. She returned to Groton on 8 May 2008.
Involvement with the sinking of the Kursk
For more details on this topic, see Russian submarine Kursk explosion.
The USS Memphis was present at the Russian war games during which the Russian submarine, Kursk sank, resulting in the loss of the submarine and 118 sailors and officers on board. It has been suggested by conspiracy theorists that the USS Memphis may have been responsible for the sinking.

USS Toledo (SSN-769)
USS Toledo (SSN-769), a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Toledo, Ohio. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Newport News, Virginia on 10 June 1988 and her keel was laid down on 6 May 1991. She was launched on 28 August 1993 sponsored by Mrs. Sabra Smith, and commissioned on 24 February 1995, with Commander Jack Loye III in command. The submarine was a cover story of the April 6, 1998 issue US News & World Report.

Deployments
The USS Toledo returned to the Naval Submarine Base New London in mid-April 2003 after having taken part in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
On 7 December 2004, Toledo returned to Groton, Connecticut, after a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf with the John F. Kennedy carrier strike group that included port calls in Crete, Dubai, and Bahrain. Her route home from Bahrain was unusual, rounding the Cape of Good Hope rather than using the Suez Canal. Once back in the North Atlantic, she was diverted for a classified drug interdiction mission with the Joint Interagency Task Force–South in the Caribbean Sea.
On 31 January 2006, "Toledo" again departed for a six-month deployment to CENTCOM. Port calls included Augusta Bay, IT,Dubai, the British island territory of Diego Garcia and La Maddalena. The ship returned from this deployment on 31 July 2006 and a change of command ceremony took place on 10 August 2006 where CDR Goldman relieved CDR Schnieder.
Maintenance
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy for maintenance work, known as a depot modernization period, on the nuclear-powered submarine USS Toledo (SSN 769). The initial planning contract is valued at approximately $34.7 million. The total estimated value, including the actual execution, is valued at approximately $175 million. The ship is scheduled to arrive in mid-November 2006 to Newport News, VA for a performance period lasting approximately 13 months, 10 of which will include dry dock work. Planning work will begin immediately. This is a competitive award under a Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) multiple award contract.
Due to delays in modernizing the ship, the availability has been extended until fall of 2008. The Toledo is expected to return to Groton, CT upon completion of sea trials after the shipyard period.
Kursk conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theorists claim that the Russian submarine, Kursk which sunk in Barents Strait of the Barents Sea was accidentally crashed into by the USS Toledo and possibly torpedoed by the USS Memphis which were claimed to be spying on Kursk which was conducting weapon practice in the region. Conspiracy theorists support their thesis by the two circular holes on Kursk's wreck (claimed to be the proof Kursk being torpedoed by a submarine) and USS Toledo's being sent to Norway for repairs on 15th of August, 3 days after the incident.
Although there were officially declared Norwegian and American submarines in the region USS Toledo wasn't among them and it is quite peculiar for a nuclear submarine like USS Toledo to be sent for repairs three days after the incident took place. Nuclear submarines are known for their endurance and durability. Despite what theorists believe, the Russian government's stated official cause for the Russian submarine Kursk explosion was due to a torpedo detonation.

Information regarding the sinking of the Kursk:
The Sinking Of The Russian Sub Kursk!

LATEST UPDATES AT BOTTOM!


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On August 14, 2000, Russian authorities announced that one of their newest cruise missile submarines, the Kursk, had sunk with all hands. The Kursk is a cruise missile submarine, called the type 949a "Antey" class by the Russians, code named the Oscar II by NATO. It is not a ballistic missile submarine, but is intended to attack and destroy an aircraft carrier battle group using torpedos and short range sea skimming cruise missiles.

The Kursk, sailing out from Severomorsk.

Almost immediatly, Russian naval authorities reported that sonar used to locate Kursk as it lay on the bottom showed not one, but two submarines lying on the sea floor. While the Russians worked on the Kursk itself, the second unknown submarine slowly moved off.

CBS news then broke the story that the United States had three ships in the vicinity observing the naval exercise that Kursk was taking part in, possibly a test of a new ultra-high speed torpedo. Two of the three ships were submarines, later determined to be USS Memphis and USS Toledo, type 688 Los Angeles class fast attack submarines which are often used for covert intelligence gathering.

USS Memphis, reported by Norway to be undergoing repairs at a Norwegian naval yard.


USS Toledo, reported by Scottish media to have also been in the area of the Kursk sinking, followed by a visit to Faslane.

The third ship was USNS Loyal, a Victorious Class Surveillence Towed Array Sensor Ship, or SURTASS, also used as an intelligence gatherng platform.



A Victorius Class SURTASS ship, similar to USNS Loyal, also in the area of the Kursk sinking.

This was immediatly followed by an announcement from the Pentagon that one of the two submarines which had been spying on the Kursk was late in establishing radio contact. A few days later, the Pentagon reported that the submarine had finally checked in, and it was at this time that the United States government took the official position that the Kursk had sunk because of a torpedo explosion. The Russians, however, while agreeing that there was one or more torpedo explosions on Kursk, insisted that the explosions were the result of a collision involving a foreign submarine.

Water is an excellent conductor of sound energy, as any sonar operator will tell you, and so it came as little surprise that the events surrounding the sinking of the Kursk had registered not only on the sensors of the two American subs and SURTASS but on seismographs located hundreds of miles away.

Almost at once, data from Norway was made public.



The above is the first seismic trace from Norway showing the main explosion from what appears to be a torpedo warhead, and preceding it by two minutes, another smaller event. Although labled as an explosion, the waveform is not that of an explosive event but a long grinding sound.



More recently, Norwegian seismologists have released more data from their seismographs. Note that the first event is no longer described as an explosion.

The issue became even more contentious when the Russians announced that an actual physical piece of the mystery submarine had been located close to the wreckage of Kursk. Not yet brought to the surface, the piece is described as the "fairwater" from the top of a submarine's sail.

The Russians then announced that they had identified the submarine that had collided with Kursk, then lay on the bottom before slowly moving away, as USS Memphis. Radio amatuers had reported overhearing a US Navy submarine asking for emergancy permission to enter a Norwegain port, and the Norwegian embassy in Moscow informed the Russians that USS Memphis had required emergancy repairs of an unspecified nature. This report was later retracted with the excuse that the Norwegian embassy in Moscow does not employ people who speak fluent Russian, and that the word for "food" had been confused with the word for "repair". The Norwegians then reversed their story again, admitting that USS Memphis was undergoing repairs and that Norwegian journalists had actually seen the damage. Russia officially requested a report on the damage to USS Memphis from the Norwegian government.



Diagram based on the reports of Norwegian divers assisting the Russians.



Detail from the above diagram based on the reports of Norwegian divers assisting the Russians. Note that in addition to the obvious blow out from the torpedo room, a gash runs up across the top of the hull into the sail. Inside the sail was an escape pod which could have carried the entire Kursk crew to safety, but it was disabled by the damage to the sail.



Diagram of the interior of the Kursk, showing how many bulkheads had to be penetrated by the gash across the upper hull and into the sail.


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NEW!
As a counter to the Russian claims of a collision, a story has appeared in a German newspaper and then been picked up by a British newspaper claiming that the Russian cruiser Peter The Great was using rocket propelled torpedos (equivilent to the ASROC) and that one of these sank the Kursk.

Source: Independent News (UK) EXCERPTED
Published: September 15 2000 Author: Patrick Cockburn


A misdirected missile from a Russian cruiser caused the disaster of the
Kursk nuclear powered submarine during a training exercise, says a
member of a Russian parliamentary team investigating the disaster.


Sergei Zhikov, a deputy and a former submariner, said yesterday that the Kursk and the Peter the Great, a Russian cruiser, were on an exercise in the Barents Sea in which "the cruiser acted as an enemy aircraft carrier and the submarine was expected to attack it". He said the Peter the Great fired five anti-submarine missiles at the Kursk but only four could be found afterwards. "It looks like the submarine was hit by the missing [anti-submarine] missile," Mr Zhikov told the Interfax newsagency.The Kursk then tried to rise to the surface in an emergency but had hit the bottom of the Peter the Great. The cause of the sinking of the Kursk and the death of its 118 crew is an episode that President Vladimir Putin wants to put behind him. The Kremlin now says that nobody survived the initial explosion and that tapping sounds from inside the hull, which the Russian navy said showed that some sailors were alive 48 hours after the disaster, were made by automatic machinery. The claim by Mr Zhikov is similar to a report in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper last week, which said that an investigation by the Russian Federal Security Service had concluded that the Kursk had been sunk by a Granit missile fired by the Peter the Great. It said that the Granit had travelled 12 miles underwater before exploding close to the Kursk. Russian officers have hotly denied that the Kursk could have been sunk by one of their own ships, but have been unable to explain exactly what happened. The Pentagon said that there were two explosions in the vicinity of the Kursk at 7.28am and 7.30am on 12 August. The second was 45 to 50 times bigger than the first, suggesting that one or more of the Kursk's own torpedoes had exploded. That appears to be confirmed by the extent of the damage to the forward part of the submarine, but the cause of the first explosion is still unknown.


END EXCERPT

But this story is a hoax. The use of such a weapon would have left a clear and unequivocal trace on the sonar records of the two 688 subs and SURTASS boat the US had spying on the exercise. More to the point, the Russians, like every other nation, have special training weapons which do not carry live warheads. In the case of torpedos, both for the Russian and US, the training torpedos are designed only to get to within a certain distance of the target then surface to be recovered. Training torpedos do NOT actually hit their targets.

Finally note that the story claims that the torpedo fired by Peter The Great supposedly traveled 12 miles underwater to reach Kursk, then it claims Kursk struck Peter The Great while trying to do an emergancy surface after being hit. How is Kursk supposed to have gone from being 12 miles away from Peter the Great to being right underneath it in just a few seconds?


Excerpts from Various Articles
Debris found near Kursk linked to British and US submarines

Source: Guardian
Published: Tuesday September 5, 2000 Author: Ian Traynor in Moscow

Special report: Russia's stricken submarine

Russian salvage teams at the scene of the Kursk submarine disaster have
found an object resembling part of the conning tower of a British or
American nuclear submarine, a senior Russian officer said yesterday.
Reiterating the Russian navy line that the most likely explanation for the
sudden sinking of the Kursk on August 12 was a collision with a foreign
vessel, Colonel General Valery Manilov, the deputy chief of the general
staff, told a press conference in Moscow that the object was lying at the
bottom of the Barents sea, off the coast of Murmansk, and was being guarded
by Russian warships.

The Russian top brass continued to believe that the likeliest cause of the
Kursk disaster was a collision with "an other large underwater object", Gen
Manilov declared.

[...]



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From a Russian magazine report.
.......The American nuclear submarine SSN 691 Memphis, Los-Angeles class, is currently located at the Norwegian port in Bergen. A representative of the Norwegian embassy in Moscow told the Russian RIA "Novosti" news agency that the 'Memphis' entered the Norwegian port "for repairs." Initially the Norwegian embassy refused to say when the American submarine requested entry to and entered the Norwegian base. Shortly after publishing this information, RIA "Novosti" was contacted by another representative of the Norwegian embassy, Ule Hopestad, who said that his colleague, who gave the initial interview to the news agency, provided "incorrect information" due to his "problems with the Russian language. According to Ule Hopestad, the 'Memphis' entered the Norwegian port in Bergen on August 18 not for repairs but to replenish its supplies of food and to allow its crew to rest. Norwegian officials say that 'Memphis' was scheduled to arrive to Bergen almost two months in advance.

According to the Russian Defense Minister, Igor Sergeyev, Russian experts are studying satellite photos of the area where "Kursk" sank. 'Memphis' was detected by satellites when it surfaced and was traveling at a very low speed away from the general area of the "Kursk" accident toward Norway. Later the American submarine accelerated to around 8-9 knots (16-17 km/h) and proceeded along the Norwegian coast toward Bergen (roughly 1,900 km from the site of the "Kursk" accident along the Norwegian coastline). The submarine was generally identified as a Los-Angeles class and later was determined to be the SSN 691 'Memphis'. The unidentified foreign submarine was initially detected by the Russian nuclear cruiser "Peter the Great" after it intercepted a NATO radio distress signal originated by the submarine, requesting emergency entry to one of Norwegian naval bases.

Representatives of the Norwegian embassy in Moscow told RIA "Novosti" that the American submarine was seen by Norwegian journalists. However, attempts on the part of the Russian news agency to locate these journalists have failed.....



This snapshot was made by the Russian intelligence satellite on August 19, 2000 from the altitude of 40 thousand meters. This is the Norwegian naval base Haakonsvern, arranged on the coast of a Grimstad-fiord in a province Hordalan, in nine kilometers to the southwest from Bergen. Geographical coordinates of base are 60-20-20 N, 5-13-53 E, ? = +20?. Naval base Haakonsvern is used by the small and medium ships - up to frigate class, but not for for submarines.

On the August, 19 the nuclear submarine of the Los Angeles class has come into Haakonsvern and moored in the piers close to the frigate of Oslo class. A submarine moored in the piers, instead of dock, because the docks in Haakonsvern, we have to repeat, are not assigned for submarines, especially nuclear. We presume that the name of this boat is Memphis or Toledo. Both of them are of Los Angeles class submarines. The submarines of this class are of 109,7 meters length, 10,1 meters high and 9,9 meters width. Displacement is of 6000 tons.



The boat coming for the repair had considerable damages in the bow, and that was captured by the means of optical-electronic reconnaissance. The thick rubber-ceramic skin of the submarine was torn off, as a peel from a banana. Obviously the steel inner hall was also damaged.

The boat has been repaired for 8 days. On the August, 27 in second half of day she left the base and has departed to the coast of Britain. The boat doubled the British islands in the east, entered Southampton on the southern coast of England and became on repair in closed dock.


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The following is a brief review of all available facts relevant to the accident aboard "Kursk":

"Kursk" is the flagship submarine of Russia's Northern Fleet. It sailed for the first time in 1994 and entered active service in 1995. It is one of the newest Russian submarines and an important element of Russia's national defense.


The submarine's standard crew is 107 men. "Kursk" sank with 118 men aboard. Apparently, the 11 "extra" crew were various Navy officials present onboard to observe training exercises. The complete list of the sub's standard crew was published by the Russian press.


The submarine sank in shallow waters approximately 135 km from the shore. Currently, "Kursk" is resting at the depth of only 108 meters, at a 25-deg nose-down pitch and a 60-deg roll to the right. The sub is located in the middle of an extremely strong localized underwater current.


The rescue buoy was not released. The escape capsule was not used.


The submarine has a large hole along the right side in the forward sections. Scratch marks extend to the fin, which also has some impact damage. The fin never touched the seabed.


Large pieces of the sub's hull are scattered across the seabed.


The submarine left a relatively long trail on the seabed.


All the external masts and the periscope were extended. These systems are extended only when the sub is surfaced, surfacing, or traveling at the periscope depth of about 10 meters. Before the sub dives all masts are retracted inside the hull. This is done even during an rapid emergency dive.


At least five of the nine and perhaps all of the sub's compartments are believed to be flooded. Norwegian divers confirmed that the entire submarine is flooded.


The official Russian government commission concluded that the sub sank because of a powerful explosion onboard. The cause of the explosion is believed to be a collision with an unidentified massive external body with approximate displacement of 7,000-8,000 metric tons traveling at over 6 knots (faster than "Kursk") at the depth of 20-25 meters. The impact was at a 20-30-degree angle between the velocity vectors of "Kursk" and the unidentified external object.


Russian media reports indicate that the external object, which hit "Kursk" was attempting to steer away to the left and down from the Russian submarine in the last moments before the collision.


At the time of the accident, Russian heavy nuclear cruiser "Peter the Great" detected a powerful hydro acoustic compression wave, which may indicate an underwater explosion. The signal's location was calculated, which later allowed to locate "Kursk."


"Peter the Great" also detected green-and-white rescue buoys, which later disappeared. The Russian Navy uses only red-and-white rescue buoys. Green-and-white ones are used by the US, UK, and Norwegian navies.


After locating "Kursk", the cruiser detected a second large object on the bottom of the sea, which was identified as a foreign submarine. Two NATO "Orion" naval reconnaissance aircraft were detected by "Peter the Great" in the area shortly after the accident.


According to unnamed Russian Navy officials quoted by the Russian press, a coded NATO radio communication was intercepted after the explosion aboard "Kursk" was detected. The radio message, addressed to the Norwegian Navy, originated from a NATO submarine, and requested an emergency entry to one of the Norwegian naval bases for a five-day stay.


Russian reconnaissance satellites detected a surfaced Los Angeles class submarine moving toward Norwegian coast at a very low speed. According to unnamed Russian Navy officials, the submarine was later identified as possibly being the SSN 691 Memphis.


The United States government and military officials confirmed that two of their submarines and a reconnaissance vessel, the "Loyal", were observing Russian naval exercises. Americans denied that any of their submarines were involved in the accident with "Kursk."


Vladimir Putin had a lengthy conversation with Bill Clinton about "Kursk," after which he gave the "go ahead" for the Russian Navy to seek foreign help. Putin ordered Russian Navy officials to travel to the NATO headquarter in Brussels and to evaluate NATO's ability to assist with the rescue operation. Russia has officially accepted help offers from the UK and Norway.


On August 17 the head of the CIA, George Tennet, secretly arrived to Moscow from Sofia, Bulgaria. Shortly after Russian journalists became aware of the visit. Bulgarian officials made no secret of the matter and confirmed that the head of the CIA went to Moscow. When confronted by the journalists, Russian officials stated that the unusual visit was related to the situation in Yugoslavia, and not to the accident aboard "Kursk." On the same day Russian reconnaissance satellites confirmed that a US Los Angeles class submarine entered a naval base in Norway.


On May 11, the Russian Military News Agency (AVN) reported that in July-August of 2000 the Northern Fleet will be conducted a training rescue operation. As a part of the operation, one of the Northern Fleet's nuclear submarines was supposed to lay on the seabed at the depth of about 100 meters. The rescue vessel to perform the training rescue mission was identified as "Rudnitsky."


"Mikhail Rudnitsky" rescue vessel was among the first ships to arrive at the site of the accident.


Norway and the United States confirmed that the Los Angeles class submarine SSN 691 Memphis entered a Norwegian naval base for repairs on August 17-18. Americans refused to say when the 'Memphis' requested entry to the base or whether these were planned repairs or an emergency situation.


Russian Federation has officially requested a technical report from Norway detailing the nature of repairs carried out on Memphis.


The head of the Russian parliamentary national security committee, Dmitry Rogozin, said that an international group of experts will investigate a possibility of a collision between "Kursk" and a foreign submarine. Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov, confirmed this information.


The crash site of "Kursk" is being heavily guarded by several surface vessels and attack submarines of the Northern Fleet. Two research vessels equipped with advances hydro-acoustic systems are mapping the seabed and underwater currents in the area of the accident.


Some Russian regional administration officials from Murmansk area stated that there were two civilian torpedo experts from a military research organization aboard "Kursk" supervising a test-launch of an experimental torpedo that uses liquid propellant.


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A Brief History Of US/Russian submarine collisions
Here's a short list of known collisions.

1961 USS Swordfish (SSN-579) is on a spy mission in Soviet waters when a Soviet sub surfaces underneath it.

196? A US sub, possibly USS Skipjack, on a spy mission in Soviet waters, collides with a destroyer. Finally made public in a New York Times article in 1975.

July 1965. USS Medregal rams a Greek freighter.

March 1966. USS Barbel rams a freighter near North Vietnam.

December 1967. USS George C. Marshall (SSBN-654) is grazed by a Russian sub.

October 9, 1968. This appears to be the historical precedent for the Kursk sinking. A Russian sub operating normally collided with an unknown sub in the Barents sea, leaving a sizable hole in the Russian sub. Russian intelligence notes the arrival of a damaged sub in a Norwegian port a few days later.

November 1969. USS Gato's sail hits the hull of a soviet sub.

March 14, 1970. USS Sturgeon bashes her sonar dome against a Russian sub's sail.

June 1970. USS Tautog is rammed by Black Lila. It is erroneously assumed at the time that Black Lila sank.

March 1971. An unnamed US sub operating 12 miles off of the Soviet coast collides with a Russian sub. Reported in the New York Times in 1975.

Mid-1971. USS Dace hits a Russian sub in the Mediterranean.

Late 1971 or early 1972. USS Puffer is trailing a Soviet sub when the Soviet sub unexpectedly dives, bumping into Puffer.

March 1974. USS Pintado rams a Soviet missile boat while on a spy mission in Soviet waters near Petropavlovsk. Reported in the San Diego Evening Tribune in 1975.

November 3rd, 1974. USS James Madison hits an unknown Russian Victor class attack sub in the North Sea. Reported by columnist Jack Anderson.

1981. HMS Sceptre is trailing a Russian sub and rear-ends it.

October 1986. USS Augusta, while testing a new computer sonar system to make detecting enemy subs easier, rams a Soviet sub. The Augusta claims they rammed a Delta class. Others report it was a Yankee missile boat that subsequently sank.

December 24, 1986. HMS Splendid and a Soviet sub were trying to dodge out of each other's way when they collided. HMS Splendid's towed sonar array became tangled in the other sub and was lost.

February 11, 1992. USS Baton Rouge hits a Soviet sub near Murmansk. For the first time, and in response to Yeltsin's demands, the US Navy publicly acknowledges the collision.

March 20, 1993. USS Grayling with a Russian sub in the Barent's Sea.


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Collisions between US surface ships and Russian submarines
The above list does NOT include the numerous times that US surface ships have been involved in collisions with Russian submarines.

Click for full size image

The above photo is of a Russian Echo II submarine wallowing with its sail awash following a collision with USS Voge on August 28, 1976. The photo and descrpition is from Jane's Defense.



The above photo is an overhead photo, also from Jane's Defense, of a Russian Echo II submarine running on the surface.

Click for full size image

The above photo is a close up on the sail of the Echo II submarine.


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Click for full size image.

Photo of submarines in dry dock.


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NEW! MOre excerpts from news reports.
Russian vice-premier: US government concealed Kursk/US sub collision due to US election..

Chaos keeps secrets of Kursk on hold

AMONG those keenest to see the United States election result declared are Russian leaders, with a deputy prime minister saying he then expects the US to come clean about involvement in the sinking of the submarine Kursk.

The Russian vice-premier, Ilia Klebanov, said divers searching the submarine, which went down with all hands in the summer, had found new evidence that it collided with a foreign submarine.

But Mr Klebanov told the Russian media that the US government had been concealing that fact over fears that it would upset the election campaign.

"It was concealed because the United States was preparing for elections. In several days further there will be more information. It was clear it was another submarine - 80 per cent [sure] it was American."

Mr Klebanov is the most senior figure to echo the navy?s insistence that a foreign sub, rather than incompetence, was the reason the Kursk blew up.

[...]

Chris Stephen In St Petersburg

Saturday, 11th November 2000 The Scotsman


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MOSCOW, Nov 8 (AFP) - Russia has "serious" proof that the Kursk nuclear submarine sank after colliding with another submarine, Interfax cited a top minister leading an investigation into the disaster as saying Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said after a government meeting on the accident that investigators had collected "serious video proof" that the Kursk went down after smashing into another submarine.

[...]


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Russia claims part of foreign sub found near Kursk


MOSCOW, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Russian military sources are claiming that a
fragment of railing from a foreign submarine's conning tower was found
Monday on the seabed 1,100 feet away from the wreck of the sunken submarine
Kursk, the official Itar-Tass and Interfax news agencies reported Monday.

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The Dossier of the Kursk Murderer Foreign Affairs News Keywords: RUSSIA, KURSK Source: Russia Today Published: August 21, 2000 Posted on 08/21/2000 20:59:43 PDT by Sawdring

Summary

On Saturday night, commanders of the Russian Navy confirmed officially that there is not anyone alive on board of Kursk submarine, that sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea a week before. In fact, they have known this since Wednesday ? Segodnya wrote, - but have feared to admit this.

One of the possible versions of the shipwreck is as follows. On the night of August 12, according to the plan of military exercise, Kursk was to carry out a night torpedo attack on a training military target from the periscope depth. At the depth of 25 meters, when the submarine was going up, it hit a large underwater object, which was moving at much higher speed at the same depth or a little higher. The moving object has been identified as "foreign nuclear multi-purpose submarine".

The two submarines were aware about the presence of each other, but could have had problems with hydro-acoustic signals at that very moment, because they were both near the surface of water. According to the preliminary observations, the two submarines collided at the angle of 20 to 30 degrees. The dynamic blow was the equivalent of a 100 to 150 kilogram trotil explosion and was registered by Norwegian seismologists. The blow hit a place on Kursk where its two largest modules were connected ? the first torpedo module and the second command module. The combat alarm was sounded at Kursk before the explosion and the crew was at its posts, according to combat schedules. This means that around forty crew members who were in the first and in the second modules died immediately.

In the meantime, the killer submarine continued its destruction of Kursk. Moving very tightly to Kursk, it must have opened its light shell up to the sixth module, and the strong shell ? up to the fourth module. It operated like a can opener with its right horizontal stabilizer on the side of Kursk.

The situation at Kursk was desperate, as the water flooded the first module in no time, drowning the power supply. The submarine became de-energized and its nuclear engine was turned off by its protection system. The

submarine started to fall on the sea bottom at a 45 degree trim by the bow.

The killer-submarine must have had large injuries as well. There could be parts of its light shell on board the Kursk and on the sea bottom. Still, its energy system continued to operate, and this enabled the crew to liquidate the leak and to move away from the catastrophe zone, hiding in the hydro-acoustic shades of Russian ships.

Monday, August 21, Segodnya.