Posted on 04/14/2022 6:02:09 AM PDT by Red Badger
RTS Moskva (121). Russian MoD Photo via TASS
The Russian Navy’s Black Sea flagship has suffered major damage and the crew has abandoned the ship, state media said late Tuesday in reports following Ukrainian claims of hitting the ship with a missile strike.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the mishap on RTS Moskva (121), a ship in the country’s Black Sea Fleet, according to state-run outlet TASS.
The crew of the Moskva the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet was severely damaged and the crew abandoned ship, the Russian Defense Ministry told TASS.
A fire broke out on the ship, causing ammunition to detonate, according to TASS. State media did not elaborate on the cause of the fire.
Ukrainian officials claimed that shore-based anti-ship guided missiles hit Moskva which had been operating from the Black Sea Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea.
“It has been confirmed that the missile cruiser Moskva today went exactly where it was sent by our border guards on Snake Island!” Odesa governor Maksym Marchenko said in a Telegram message on Tuesday. “Neptune missiles guarding the Black Sea caused very serious damage to the Russian ship.”
Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. Ukraine MoD Photo
Neptunes, first fielded in 2021, are based on the Soviet AS-20 ‘Kayak’anti-ship missile which is similar to the U.S.-built Harpoon missile.
Moskva was commissioned into the Soviet Navy in 1982 and is one of three Slava-class guided-missile cruisers.
The three 11,500-ton Slavas were designed around launchers that can hold 16 SS-N-12 Sandbox anti-ship cruise missiles – each about the size of a telephone pole. Developed in the 1970s, the Slavas and the Sandboxes were designed to take on U.S. and NATO aircraft carriers by overwhelming them with a barrage of high-speed cruise missiles to sink ships.
The two other Slavas are RTS Marshal Ustinov (055) and RFS Varyag (011) have been operating in the Mediterranian.
Moskva is not the first Russian warship to be damaged in the nearly 50-day invasion of Ukraine. A landing ship sank off the port of Ukrainian city Berdiansk after being attacked by Ukrainian forces, USNI News previously reported.
The ship’s fire ultimately damaged a merchant ship at port in Berdiansk, causing damage.
Russia says fire on the Moskva missile cruiser is contained:
No, that ship reflects a faulty assumption of 50 years ago. Their navy is complete garbage now.
I've seen several tests go like the one below.
“ The response should worry sane people. Especially if it seems like NATO did this in reality and called it a Ukrainian action. This could get nasty.”
The Ukrainians said, months ago, they were building cruise missiles that would be ready by April.
Maybe true, maybe months old disinformation, either way plausible deniability for NATO.
Looks like she burns Number 6 oil...
If the Russians are admitting that the ship was “abandoned” then you can assume it has now sunk. You don’t abandon a seaworthy vessel unless sinking is imminent.
Smells like Number 2.
It burns a type of oil that smokes when starting
Honestly, I expected better of Russian SAMs and point defense.
Even if it didn't sink and doesn't sink, once abandoned to the fire if/when it is reclaimed it is going to spend years in dry dock getting repaired and refitted. All the wiring in affected areas will have to be replaced - probably the entire run because splices are just asking for trouble. If they feared ammunition cook-off from the fires they probably flooded the magazines to prevent it (only reason it isn't at the bottom). That means lots of salt water in places that really shouldn't have salt water in them.
This is basic stuff for a modern navy. You have to have good designs and firefighting procedures. You have to be able to defend your high value assets. The Russian navy, similar to the Russian army, appears to be failing at the fundamentals.
link please
First they say the crew abandoned ship. Now they say the crew has extinguished the fires...Thats a neat trick.
It looks like we’re headed for World War III.
Nah, it’s just that Russia is getting waxed by Ukraine.
Not too stealthy. You would expect to see John Wayne in the Wheelhouse like In Harms Way.
Too funny!😆
ISWYDT....................
So did the Russians............................
Davy Jones is the greatest firefighter in the navy. He’s never faced a shipboard fire that he couldn’t extinguish.
Haven’t been able to locate post action sat photos. Last one found was from April 12 2022...that’s been published in msm.
Both Russian and US DefSec’s PR releases say ship is under own power proceeding to port.
US says their overhead indicates “sizeable explosion”. Which leads one to question Russian claim all 510 crew “rescued”. How is that possible given the sizeable explosion?
Fog of war and smoke generators operating at max all around.
Then there is still the Morse code distress signals captured early on. Translation indicated ship was rolling in it’s side...could be translation error describing listing?????
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