[HandyDandy]

What if it was sitting on the sea floor when it imploded? Would that influence the size of the debris field?

[Spktyr]

It would be a single debris field if it had been on the bottom - per the press conference, they didn’t make it to the bottom, but they were (relatively) near it. It will probably take computer modeling to figure out how far above the ocean floor they were.

[Lou L]

That's an interesting question. The closer it was to the bottom, I would think the wreckage would be more contained (enough to actually produce a debris field.)

I'm thinking the Navy likely heard the implosion with SOSUS gear. Knowing when the vessel imploded will be an important piece of evidence while reconstructing the accident.