Word: torpedoes
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...noon, the Kursk had successfully completed a torpedo-firing run and was preparing for another. Lyachin, 45, one of Russia's most experienced submarine officers, radioed the task-force commander for permission to fire. The transmission was monitored by the American surveillance ship U.S.N.S. Loyal, lurking about 186 miles west-northwest of the Kursk, as was the commander's "permission granted." But instead of the sounds of torpedoes being blown from launch tubes, sonar operators aboard U.S. submarines working with the Loyal heard two explosions, one short and sharp, the second an enormous, thundering boom. A Norwegian seismic institute also...
Looking like a submerged locomotive, the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley poked stealthily toward the Union ships blockading Charleston harbor on the night of Feb. 17, 1864, and rammed a harpoon-like torpedo into the U.S.S. Housatonic. Then, as the Hunley backed away under the power of its hand-cranked propeller, it triggered the torpedo's charge, sinking the Yankee warship in about three minutes. It was the first enemy ship ever lost to a submarine. But Rebel jubilation was fleeting. Minutes later the Hunley unexpectedly sank, creating a mystery that has endured to this...
...theory to explain the Hunley's sinking is that the torpedo was detonated prematurely, popping rivets. "Rivet technology wasn't very well developed in the 19th century," says team director Robert Neyland, the U.S. Navy's chief underwater archaeologist. It may have been hit by Union fire. Or maybe it got stuck on the bottom and the crew opened the sea cocks in a suicide pact. Even if the mystery is never solved, however, the multimillion-dollar recovery will be deemed worthwhile. "This was the first successful submarine in warfare," says Neyland, "and it was the prototype for subs that...
Clinton faces tough opposition on two more fronts. This week he flies to Moscow, where President Vladimir Putin stands firmly against amending the abm Treaty, even though he would love to get deeper cuts in strategic missiles. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans threaten to torpedo any arms agreement Clinton might reach...
...eight-level domain ranges from the officers' staterooms above to the sailors' berthing areas to the laundry down below. When the going gets tough--which it often did on a recent training voyage in the Pacific--McGrath buzzes up and down the Jarrett's ladders like a streamlined torpedo. She barks orders on the bridge, offers praise to sailors in the lower decks and sometimes snatches a few minutes alone in her stateroom to practice Haydn's Military Symphony on the violin. Her days often begin before 6 a.m. and stretch until "mid-rats"--midnight rations--are served to sailors...