DeTomaso Mailing List: September 2000, Message #5

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------C5A827650388C853B8FA0828
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Of interest ....
--------------C5A827650388C853B8FA0828
Content-Type: message/rfc822
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline

Received: from mail.rdc2.occa.home.com (ha1.rdc2.occa.home.com [24.2.8.66])
	by emu.prod.itd.earthlink.net (8.9.3-EL_1_3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id UAA17085;
	Thu, 31 Aug 2000 20:35:07 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from [24.11.204.49] by mail.rdc2.occa.home.com
          (InterMail vM.4.01.03.00 201-229-121) with ESMTP
          id <20000901033505.LKFF11948.mail.rdc2.occa.home.com@[24.11.204.49]>;
          Thu, 31 Aug 2000 20:35:05 -0700
Message-ID: <39AF231C.A733BFF0@home.com>
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 2000 20:31:41 -0700
From: Byron Evans <atmos01@home.com>
Reply-To: atmos01@home.com
Organization: ATMOS
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.72 (Macintosh; I; PPC)
X-Accept-Language: en,pdf
MIME-Version: 1.0
Subject: FW: Kursk sinking
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
 boundary="------------3C0902A68F80EB1F054C6CEE"
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000


--------------3C0902A68F80EB1F054C6CEE
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit





Thought you would like to know.....

The Kursk's dark mission

K-141 is down. The Kursk, an Antyey type 949A  nuclear attack submarine,
was lost in the Barents Sea. The Kursk, one of eight active Oscar II
class submarines, was the pride of the Russian navy and the leading edge
of the new Northern Fleet. Commissioned in 1995, the Kursk was the
Northern Fleet's most powerful weapon. It made a high-profile voyage to
the Mediterranean in September 1999 and was due to return later this
year as part of a planned Russian nuclear task group deployment to the
Middle East.

The August Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea was designed to
provide the West with good reason to remember the Kursk. Reports now
show the exercise was intended to showcase the Kursk as she performed
her two primary  roles, killing American carriers and submarines. The
Russian navy exercise also drew a small crowd of  interested observers
in the form of two U.S. Los Angeles attack submarines, loitering in the
shallow polar sea over 50 miles from the Kursk That fateful morning the
Kursk reportedly completed a successful firing of her main killer, the
Chelomey Granitmissile, NATO code-named SS-N-19 Shipwreck. The Kursk and
her sister boats carry 24 Shipwreck missiles. The missiles are stored on
each side of the huge submarine in banks of 12, hidden between the
layers of the boat's thick twin hull skin. The Shipwreck missiles are
stored in launching tubes external to the inner pressure hull where the
118 crewmembers worked and lived.

The Shipwreck missile fired by the Kursk  that Saturday  morning
contained a 1,600-pound conventional warhead.  It reportedly scored a
direct hit against a Russian hulk target over 200 miles away. The
Shipwreck is intended to strike U.S. carriers but can also be targeted
against U.S. cities. Russian naval sources indicate that the Shipwreck
missile can be armed with an H-bomb warhead equal to one half million
tons of TNT, more than enough to flatten Los Angeles or New York City.

That fateful August Saturday, in the dim afternoon light of  the arctic
summer sun, the Kursk began her last performance, the simulated
destruction of a U.S. submarine using the 100-RU Veder missile. The
Veder, NATO code-named SS-N-16A Stallion, is a rocket-boosted torpedo.
The Stallion is launched from  the huge 26-inch diameter torpedo tubes
installed on each Oscar II class submarine. The Stallion is so secret
that no picture of the weapon has ever been published. The Stallion is
fired from the submarine's torpedo tube but flies like a missile. The
Stallion rocket booster ignites underwater once the weapon is clear of
the submarine, sending the missile to  the surface.

The missile then flies to the target under rocket power where it finally
ejects a lightweight  torpedo at supersonic speed. The mini-torpedo then
uses its own little parachute, slowing to drop gently into the water
directly above the  target. The mini-torpedo then homes in on the
target  submarine for the final kill. The conventional Stallion fired by
the Kursk was armed with a mini-220 pound  explosive warhead. Jane's
Defense reports that the missile can also be armed with a mini-nuclear
warhead  equal to 200,000 tons of TNT.

According to Jane's, the last moments of the Kursk  were recorded as she
prepared to fire the Stallion. Seismologists in Norway told Jane's that
a monitoring  station registered two explosions at the time the  Kursk
sank. The first registered 1.5 on the Richter scale. A second, stronger
explosion measuring 3.5 on the  Richter scale equivalent to one to two
tons of TNT was  recorded  just over two minutes later. The Stallion
rocket motor may have ignited inside the sealed torpedo tube just before
firing. The Stallion may have jammed itself inside the torpedo tube as
it was fired.  In any event, the underwater rocket appears to have
ignited inside the inner manned pressure hull. The force of the Stallion
rocket motor would have twisted the huge torpedo tube, melting through
the metal  walls within seconds. Just enough time for alarms to sound
and men to die. Then the small 220-pound warhead exploded, blowing a
gaping hole in the twisted skin of the attack submarine.

The submarine immediately fell forward as the icy water rushed to fill
the forward weapon bay. The last moments of the Kursk and most of her
crew were filled with fire and ice as the vessel plunged into the cold
arctic depths. The rush of cold water did not extinguish the fire since
the Stallion rocket booster was designed to burn without air. The
exploding warhead would have sent huge flaming chunks of the rocket
booster into the forward weapon control room. The force of the
14,000-ton submarine striking the bottom on the damaged torpedo bay was
the final  blow, detonating one of the many weapons inside upon impact.
The force of the explosion inside the twin hull submarine ripped the
starboard side open back to the sail. The manned areas forward of the
reactor compartment, including the control room and living quarters,
rapidly flooded, leaving no time for personnel in those compartments to
escape. This may not be the end of the story.

There are now suggestions that the West should help Russia raise the
Kursk. Yet, despite being broke, Russia continues to build and deploy
the Oscar II submarine force. There are seven active Oscar II class
boats. The latest, K-530 the Belgorod, is still under construction at
the Severodvinsk Shipyard.  Budget cutbacks have slowed progress on the
boat to a standstill but construction continues. There are rumors that
China is interested in buying K-530. The Kursk sailed the Mediterranean
in late 1999 as a show of flag to Russian allies such as Syria, Libya
and Serbia.  At the same time the Kursk was touring the Mediterranean in
1999, a Pacific Fleet Oscar II submarine was quietly cruising the
western seaboard of the United States, within missile range of
California, Oregon and Washington. While we all mourn the passing of
K-141 and her crew, we should also reflect on exactly what her mission
was.

Charles Smith is a national security and defense reporter for
WorldNetDaily.



--------------3C0902A68F80EB1F054C6CEE
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
 
<br> 
<br> 
<p>Thought you would like to know.....
<p>The Kursk's dark mission
<p>K-141 is down. The Kursk, an Antyey type 949A  nuclear attack submarine,
was lost in the Barents Sea. The Kursk, one of eight active Oscar II class
submarines, was the pride of the Russian navy and the leading edge of the
new Northern Fleet. Commissioned in 1995, the Kursk was the Northern Fleet's
most powerful weapon. It made a high-profile voyage to the Mediterranean
in September 1999 and was due to return later this year as part of a planned
Russian nuclear task group deployment to the Middle East.
<p>The August Russian naval exercise in the Barents Sea was designed to
provide the West with good reason to remember the Kursk. Reports now show
the exercise was intended to showcase the Kursk as she performed her two
primary  roles, killing American carriers and submarines. The Russian
navy exercise also drew a small crowd of  interested observers in
the form of two U.S. Los Angeles attack submarines, loitering in the shallow
polar sea over 50 miles from the Kursk That fateful morning the Kursk reportedly
completed a successful firing of her main killer, the Chelomey Granitmissile,
NATO code-named SS-N-19 Shipwreck. The Kursk and her sister boats carry
24 Shipwreck missiles. The missiles are stored on each side of the huge
submarine in banks of 12, hidden between the layers of the boat's thick
twin hull skin. The Shipwreck missiles are  stored in launching tubes
external to the inner pressure hull where the 118 crewmembers worked and
lived.
<p>The Shipwreck missile fired by the Kursk  that Saturday  morning
contained a 1,600-pound conventional warhead.  It reportedly scored
a direct hit against a Russian hulk target over 200 miles away. The Shipwreck
is intended to strike U.S. carriers but can also be targeted against U.S.
cities. Russian naval sources indicate that the Shipwreck missile can be
armed with an H-bomb warhead equal to one half million tons of TNT, more
than enough to flatten Los Angeles or New York City.
<p>That fateful August Saturday, in the dim afternoon light of  the
arctic summer sun, the Kursk began her last performance, the simulated
destruction of a U.S. submarine using the 100-RU Veder missile. The Veder,
NATO code-named SS-N-16A Stallion, is a rocket-boosted torpedo. The Stallion
is launched from  the huge 26-inch diameter torpedo tubes installed
on each Oscar II class submarine. The Stallion is so secret that no picture
of the weapon has ever been published. The Stallion is fired from the submarine's
torpedo tube but flies like a missile. The  Stallion rocket booster
ignites underwater once the weapon is clear of the submarine, sending the
missile to  the surface.
<p>The missile then flies to the target under rocket power where it finally
ejects a lightweight  torpedo at supersonic speed. The mini-torpedo
then uses its own little parachute, slowing to drop gently into the water
directly above the  target. The mini-torpedo then homes in on the
target  submarine for the final kill. The conventional Stallion fired
by the Kursk was armed with a mini-220 pound  explosive warhead. Jane's
Defense reports that the missile can also be armed with a mini-nuclear
warhead  equal to 200,000 tons of TNT.
<p>According to Jane's, the last moments of the Kursk  were recorded
as she prepared to fire the Stallion. Seismologists in Norway told Jane's
that a monitoring  station registered two explosions at the time the 
Kursk sank. The first registered 1.5 on the Richter scale. A second, stronger
explosion measuring 3.5 on the  Richter scale equivalent to one to
two tons of TNT was  recorded  just over two minutes later. The
Stallion rocket motor may have ignited inside the sealed torpedo tube just
before firing. The Stallion may have jammed itself inside the torpedo tube
as it was fired.  In any event, the underwater rocket appears to have
ignited inside the inner manned pressure hull. The force of the Stallion
rocket motor would have twisted the huge torpedo tube, melting through
the metal  walls within seconds. Just enough time for alarms to sound
and men to die. Then the small 220-pound warhead exploded, blowing a gaping
hole in the twisted skin of the attack submarine.
<p>The submarine immediately fell forward as the icy water rushed to fill
the forward weapon bay. The last moments of the Kursk and most of her crew
were filled with fire and ice as the vessel plunged into the cold arctic
depths. The rush of cold water did not extinguish the fire since the Stallion
rocket booster was designed to burn without air. The exploding warhead
would have sent huge flaming chunks of the rocket booster into the forward
weapon control room. The force of the 14,000-ton submarine striking the
bottom on the damaged torpedo bay was the final  blow, detonating
one of the many weapons inside upon impact. The force of the explosion
inside the twin hull submarine ripped the starboard side open back to the
sail. The manned areas forward of the reactor compartment, including the
control room and living quarters, rapidly flooded, leaving no time for
personnel in those compartments to escape. This may not be the end of the
story.
<p>There are now suggestions that the West should help Russia raise the
Kursk. Yet, despite being broke, Russia continues to build and deploy the
Oscar II submarine force. There are seven active Oscar II class boats.
The latest, K-530 the Belgorod, is still under construction at the Severodvinsk
Shipyard.  Budget cutbacks have slowed progress on the boat to a standstill
but construction continues. There are rumors that China is interested in
buying K-530. The Kursk sailed the Mediterranean in late 1999 as a show
of flag to Russian allies such as Syria, Libya and Serbia.  At the
same time the Kursk was touring the Mediterranean in 1999, a Pacific Fleet
Oscar II submarine was quietly cruising the western seaboard of the United
States, within missile range of California, Oregon and Washington. While
we all mourn the passing of K-141 and her crew, we should also reflect
on exactly what her mission was.
<p>Charles Smith is a national security and defense reporter for WorldNetDaily.
<br> 
<br> 

--------------3C0902A68F80EB1F054C6CEE--



--------------C5A827650388C853B8FA0828--