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History Channel: History of the Kursk

Kursk sailed out to sea to perform an exercise of firing dummy torpedoes at the Pyotr Velikiy, a Kirov class battlecruiser. On August 12, 2000 at 11:28 local time (07:28 UTC), there was an explosion while preparing to fire the torpedoes. The only credible report to date is that this was due to the failure and explosion of one of the Kursk"s hydrogen peroxide-fueled supercavitating torpedoes. It is believed that HTP, a form of highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide used as propellant for the torpedo, seeped through rust in the torpedo casing. A similar incident was responsible for the loss of HMS Sidon in 1955.

The chemical explosion detonated with the force of 100-250 kg of TNT and registered 2.2 on the Richter scale. The submarine sank in relatively shallow water at a depth of 108 metres (354 ft), about 135 km (85 miles) from Severomorsk, at 69°40"N 37°35"E? / ?69.667°N 37.583°E? / 69.667; 37.583. A second explosion 135 seconds after the initial event measured between 3.5 and 4.4 on the Richter scale, equivalent to 3-7 tons of TNT.[2] One of those explosions blew large pieces of debris back through the submarine.

The length of Kursk exceeded the depth at which it sank by 46 metres (151 ft).

screen included, filename: Kursk-contact sheet.jpg

Thanks to FuzzyCritter :)