Strategic submarine “Kursk” that sank in 2000 was sunk by the Americans. This theory discussed in Russia and abroad was once again raised by the Polish Wprost, referring to the information allegedly received from the Russian General Staff officer, “Lt. Col. Andrei.” According to the authors, the restraint of the Russians made it possible to avoid a full-scale nuclear war.

The fact that “Kursk” perished as a result of the torpedo explosion was adopted as the official theory in Russia. The report of the Prosecutor General of Russia of 2002 stated that the torpedo was a drill one, and it exploded on its own followed by a detonation of the ammunition.

Almost immediately after the accident a few admirals and officials claimed that “Kursk” was torpedoed by a U.S. submarine stationed in the area of the exercise. Also, some military officials declared that Russian nuclear submarine collided with a foreign submarine.

The first information of any unexpected event that subsequently gets an official legend, as a rule, is the closest to the truth.

The same theory was also developed by French director Jean-Michel Carré in the movie “Kursk”: “Submarine in turbid waters,” (2005). According to the movie, the Russian submarine was watched by two American submarines “Memphis” and “Toledo.” “Toledo” came dangerously close. To prevent an attack of the Russian submarine at “Toledo”, “Memphis” allegedly fired Mk-48 torpedo at “Kursk”.

According to the Canadian History TV Channel, in the course of surveillance of “Kursk”, “Toledo” tried to come closer, but by chance ran into the Russian nuclear submarine that was likely performing a maneuver. The captain of “Memphis”, thinking that “Kursk” attacked “Toledo” (presumably receiving an acoustic signal to open the torpedo locks), fired at the Russian submarine.

According to “Lieutenant Colonel Andrei”, “small submarine AS-15 (apparently, “Kashalot” (Project 1910) – Ed.) quickly discovered “Kursk” after the accident. However, there was no decision on rescue operations – though, as the source claims, there were  divers on board able to operate at depths up to 200 meters. “Kursk” was lying at a depth of 108 meters.

“Kashalots” are among the most secret Russian Navy submarines. To this day, it is unknown whether they obey the Navy command. At least until 1986 (at the time the first submarine of this type was used for three years), they were registered with the GRU.

“We thought that the crew was killed, there was no contact with them,” continued lieutenant colonel. “The phone rang, Korabelnikov picked up, listed, turned pale, and murmured:”The U.S. (…) sunk the ship, there will be a war!” Supposedly said Korabelnikov.

Of course, the American side rejected both theories. Against this background, the presence of a British boat “Splendid” in the area was forgotten. In 1986 it encountered a Soviet submarine “Simbirsk” and in 1999 struck at Serbia, and was supposedly scared by “Kursk” surfaced in the Mediterranean.

After the explosion at “Kursk” submarine, it left for repairs at NATO bases.

The presence of two boats in the area of the crash, along with the harmonization of positions on the force majeure between Moscow, Washington and London, as expected, could cause delays in the rescue operation of the Russian sailors.

Interestingly, it was possible to track down the route of the Americans after the incident, but the situation with the British nuclear submarine has not been clarified.

The idea of a possible involvement of “Splendid” in the death of “Kursk” concerns the British. The British “Wikipedia” on the page devoted to this boat, made a very voluminous retreat. It argues that the British submarine had nothing to do with the death of the Russian submarine.

“Although the charges were unfounded, the conspiracy theorists have developed them in different directions for a long time,” said “Wikipedia”.

Indeed, back in 2000, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” published an opinion of one of the captain divers, according to which “Splendid” submarine found rest next to “Kursk” on the bottom of the Barents Sea, and was blown up during an operation aimed to raise the Russian submarine. The author suggests that we will soon hear of the death or retirement of this submarine.

In October of 2000, according to BBC, 12 nuclear submarines (including all submarines “Swiftsure”) were removed from combat duty because of a leak in the cooling system of a nuclear reactor in a boat of Trafalgar class. It is unknown how many boats later returned to the system.

According to “Jane” catalog, the boat was written off in 2004. Although it was the last and the newest boat of project “Swiftsure” (a total of six), it was the first one to be sent to scraps.

It seems that back in 2003 this boat, according to British sources based solely on two small reports of the BBC, “worked” against targets in Iraq. Incidentally, one of these materials clearly presented an interesting image: a sailor taking pictures of “Jolly Roger” from the clearly crumpled “Splendid.”

Another dark and tragic story is connected to the absence or presence of the submarine in the Persian Gulf during the war against Iraq.

In the morning of October 4th, 2003, James Forlong, a former journalist and broadcaster of Sky News, was found dead at his home in East Sussex.

He was dismissed from the news service Sky TV after he prepared a false material on the participation of Splendid submarine in combat in Iraq. Attentive staff of the BBC discovered that Splendid submarine at the time allegedly was at the docks, and Forlong used a video from the archive.

Use of archival shots is usual for television. But this time, Forlong, apparently, was very upset and decided to end his life. He never told why he had prepared a fake video of participation of Splendid in the Iraq war.

Anatoly Miranovsky

Pravda.Ru

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