In early August of the year 2000, reports began to surface about a disabled submarine stranded beneath the Barents Sea.

Multiple rescue attempts were quickly organized afterward, but when divers finally managed to enter the vessel,

they uncovered a profoundly disturbing scene.

As always, viewer discretion is advised.

August 12, 2000 was set to be a milestone day in Russian military history. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country's navy hadn't conducted a major military exercise,

but that was about

to change with an ambitious display that would garner the attention of the geopolitical world.

A military exercise is essentially a combat simulation using real-world scenarios and dummy targets

to assess things like operational readiness, test strategies, and prepare military personnel

for the pressures and nuances of battle.

And with the rise of the newly elected Russian president, this event was expected to be a statement

that Russia had supposedly reclaimed its place as having one of the world's elite navies.

In addition to the 30 warships taking part in the exercise, the centerpiece of it all was a submarine

with an almost mythical reputation.

At 505 feet or 154 meters long and 60 feet or 18 meters wide, the Kursk, as it was called,

was one of the largest nuclear-powered attack submarines ever built, boasting cutting-edge technology

and superior firepower. And with a water displacement of nearly 2,400 tons when submerged, the Kursk was also one of the largest submarines in the world,

second only to the Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarines that were also built by Russia.

The Kursk, though, belonged to the Oscar 2 class of submarines, which were designed during the Cold War in response to the growing power of Western naval forces.

And submarines of this class weren't just built to be formidable instruments of war.

They were also displays of engineering and technological superiority.

The Kursk's double hull construction was a hallmark of Soviet-era submarine design

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