'How the hell did you allow the Moskva to be sunk?': TV anchor dubbed 'Putin's voice' rages at Russian navy over flagship's loss as Kremlin still refuses to say how many sailors died

Daily Mail ^ | 4/18/2022 | Will Stewart

[marcusmaximus]

A leading Russian TV presenter known as 'Putin’s voice' has expressed cold fury at the sinking of the Black Sea flagship Moskva.

-snip-

'I am furious about what happened to the Black Sea Fleet’s flagship, Moskva,' said the state TV anchor, sanctioned for his links to Putin.

'I am simply furious.'

'And yes, we say it was quite old, and went through repairs and, yes, this series of ships has vulnerabilities.

'I get it.

'But tell me this: how did you manage to lose it Explain me, why the hell you were in that particular area of the Black Sea, at that time?'

-snip-

Solovyov raged: 'And I don’t care what exactly happened - if indeed [it was] the two Neptune missiles as the Ukrainians said.

'Anyway, since when was a combat ship scared of a missile strike, since it has a defence system?

'So, was something not activated?

'Okay. Even if it was hit with two missiles, and it ignited the ammunition…

'What happened to your fire fighting system?'

[alexander_busek]

It appears that the ship wasn't in tip top shape. Was that one of their best?

It was the FLAGSHIP of the frickin' Black Sea Fleet!

Regards,

[one guy in new jersey]

Armor is listed as “splinter plating”, no thickness given, at least where I looked.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

I hope most of the crew made it off. Drowning at sea is a terrible fate.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

There doesn’t seem to be damage below the waterline. Though there is much damage to the superstructure. It is possible that good damage control could have saved the ship. We won’t be getting any accurate information so it’s all just conjecture.

The U.S. Navy has fought in major naval engagements for a very long time, and has developed exceptional damage control processes and procedures that have been incorporated into ship design, training etc.. The modern Russian Navy has no such experience and has been built largely for show. Their seamanship is massively inferior to ours.

I'd seriously question both the design of their ships from a damage-control perspective, as well as the training of those crews.

[Afterguard]

These old SLAVA class guided missile cruisers have been around a long time... I remember flying ELINT surveillance in their presence during my time in the Navy into the late ‘80s. They were very impressive and quite feared by the US and ally battle groups. During the cold war the USSR relied on quantity of offensive weapons much more than they cared about quality.

I don’t recall how many ships there were of this class but there were enough that the Sovs didn’t seem to worry much about their life span, only that they would attack a BG and run away if they could. I recently read that this one was one of only three that remained. It seems to have fulfilled its role as sacrificial asset. Maybe the remaining two will sink at the pier.

[ferret_airlift]

No problem with it’s beam. Decisions must be made. If your ship is longer in relation to beam, it’s easier to make it go faster. Shorter and thicker makes it more maneuverable, and gives more stability when damaged.

That said, the pictures I saw did not look like critical damage, so I would think that there might have been issues with damage control. Perhaps they neglected counter-flooding while firefighting. Oops.

It did however appear to have taken a hit square in the superstructure, which is certainly consistent with a radar-guided missile: It struck in the center of the radar cross section. Given that hit, it may have decapitated command and control, and sped the decision to abandon ship.

[BenLurkin]

This must be the Russian version of Jimmy Kimmel.

[buwaya]

It was the best armed large ship in the Black Sea Fleet. There are a few more modern ships, notably the three large frigates of the Admiral Grigorovich class, but they are armed with the naval version of the Buk missile, not the S300 the Moskva had.
Not so useful to defend a group of amphibious ships from cruise missiles.

[Herakles]

Ever been near 16 1000 lb bombs and their fuel detonate at the same time? If u were within 300 feet u would not be answering this question

[Avalon Memories]

In this higher quality version of the photo making the rounds, you can see what appears to be a crack in the hull amidships. She is listing heavily to port such that the water is almost up to the gunwale near the stairs to the lower deck. Due to the smoke forward, we can't see any damage except around the superstructure. You can see the orange color of flames in the smoke above the superstructure. She is not all that rusty. Her decks are painted red because the Russians do not put a grey top coat over the anti-rust red coat.

[buwaya]

The others aren’t in the Black Sea.

The really interesting ship is the Kirov class “battlecruisers” Admiral Nakhimov and Pyotr Velikiy.

Those things are more than twice as large as the Slava class (28,000 tons vs 12,000) and even more heavily armed. But those two arent in the Black Sea either.

[ferret_airlift]

Haven’t seen that one yet. Yes, if that’s a crack, that might indicate a wrenched keel

[sarge83]

You ever see pictures of the USS Belknap after it collided with the USS John Kennedy aircraft carrier? The Belknap looks like someone took a knife and sliced most of the superstructure off the top.

The Brits paid for aluminum in their ships in the Falklands air/sea battles where they lost several ships to exocet missiles.

[alexander_busek]

It was the best armed large ship in the Black Sea Fleet. There are a few more modern ships, notably the three large frigates of the Admiral Grigorovich class, but they are armed with the naval version of the Buk missile, not the S300 the Moskva had.

buwaya: I believe that you meant to direct that at 1Old Pro. He was the one who inquired about the Moskva's standing, not I.

Regards,

[MercyFlush]

>>> Armor is listed as “splinter plating” <<<

No argument that the armor splintered!

[buwaya]

Ooops. Sorry.

[toddausauras]

The ghost of Hans Rudel?

[ro_dreaming]

When asked about the superiority of the German tanks during WWII Stalin replied “Quantity has a quality of its own”.

[ontap]

The only thing that separates Russia from a third world country is their nukes!!!!

[JimRed]

The U.S. Navy has fought in major naval engagements for a very long time, and has developed exceptional damage control processes and procedures that have been incorporated into ship design, training etc.

Damage control and firefighting drills were a regular occurrence on our ship, in port or at sea. If needed almost any of the ship's company could step in to assist with either, and most petty officers were capable of leading the efforts if DC/FF specialists were unavailable.