Russian Navy Confirms Severe Damage to Black Sea Cruiser Moskva, Crew Abandoned Ship

By: Heather Mongilio April 13, 2022 8:35 PM

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.

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.

https://news.usni.org/2022/04/13/russian-navy-confirms-severe-damage-to-black-sea-cruiser-moskva-crew-abandoned-ship

>>16072138 (me)

Second Sauce

Ammo Blast Cripples Russian Navy Flagship Says Defense Minister

by David Ljunggren (Reuters) The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, was badly damaged when ammunition on board blew

3 hours ago

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the Moskva missile cruiser, was badly damaged when ammunition on board blew up, Interfax news agency quoted the defense ministry as saying on Thursday.

Interfax said the crew had been evacuated. It blamed the blast on a fire and said the cause was being investigated.

A Ukrainian official earlier said the Moskva had been hit by two missiles but did not give any evidence.

The 12,500 tonne ship has a crew of around 500. Russian news agencies said the Moskva was armed with 16 anti-ship “Vulkan” cruise missiles, which have a range of at least 700 km (440 miles).

“As the result of a fire on the Moskva missile cruiser, ammunition detonated. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “The crew was completely evacuated.”

No footage or photos, but this is the sort of thing that will be obvious within a few hours if it is true (or not).

Russia's in-theater naval vessels are irreplaceable. https://t.co/gF7qRnlqHk

— Peter Zeihan (@PeterZeihan) April 13, 2022

Interfax did not give more details.

Maksym Marchenko, governor of the region around the Black Sea port of Odesa, earlier said in an online post that two anti-ship missiles had hit the cruiser, but did not provide evidence.

Last month Ukraine said it had destroyed a large Russian landing support ship, the Orsk, on the smaller Sea of Azov to the northeast of the Black Sea. Moscow has not commented on what had happened to the ship.

Why nailing Moskva was vital to the Ukrainian airpower in the South & Black Sea.

Via DM:

"She carries 64 S-300's, she's basically a massive area denial asset for Ukrainian aviation in the south. If she's down, they're going to swarm that front with air support."

1/ https://t.co/kuaXp7GOAS

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) April 13, 2022

https://gcaptain.com/ammo-blast-russian-navy-flagship/

>>16072169

USNI says Ukraine claims it was Neptune anti-ship missiles

Russian MOD (via gcaptain/Reuters) says fire broke out onboard, ammo cooked off

Either way, major weapons platform out of action

>>16072177

Probably that landing ship USNI mentioned, a Slava-class is not a small ship

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.

>>16072215

>>16072270

USS Maine, a second-class battleship built between 1888 and 1895, was sent to Havana in January 1898 to protect American interests during the long-standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. In the evening of 15 February 1898, Maine sank when her forward gunpowder magazines exploded. Nearly three-quarters of the battleship's crew died as a result of the explosion.

While the cause of this great tragedy is still unsettled, contemporary American popular opinion blamed Spain, and war followed within a few months. Maine's wreck was raised in 1912 to clear the harbor and to facilitate an investigation into the cause of her sinking. Her remains were subsequently scuttled in deep waters north of Havana.

https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/spanish-american-war/sinking-of-uss-maine.html

>>16072297

HMS Vanguard explosion

Shortly before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, Vanguard suffered a series of magazine explosions. She sank almost instantly, killing 843 of the 845 men aboard. The wreck was heavily salvaged after the war, but was eventually protected as a war grave in 1984.

https://www.royalmarineshistory.com/post/hms-vanguard-explosion

IJN Mutsu

On 8 June 1943 Mutsu was moored to the buoy for the flagship near Hashirajima. At about 1210 she was shaken by a major explosion in the after part of the ship. The hull was severed abaft the No 3 main gun turret by the force of the explosion. The fore part capsized to starboard and sank. The stern section rose out of the water and sank more slowly. Four hours after the explosion Mutsu had disappeared beneath the waves.

A later investigation by divers found that the third main gun turret and its barbette had been separated from the hull and was damaged. This discovery served to confirm the assumption that the explosion had taken place in the powder magazine below No 3 main gun turret. However, the true cause of the explosion could not be established and is still unknown; again, arson or decomposition of the propellant were suspected.

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2019/06/18/explosion-and-loss-of-the-battleship-mutsu/

>>16072322

Fires and other accidents happen, ships get damaged or lost. Going down to the Sea in ships has never been the safest of things to do

>>16072390

I have no doubts Hearst wanted the war with Spain.

I seem to vaguely remember an article from many years ago, maybe an old Sea Classics, that said a hard-hat diver was sent to survey the damage to MAINE and stated the hull plates below the waterline were bent outwards indicating the explosion originated within the hull. Mines would have bent the plates inwards

>>16072356

When you have a chance to look around the net and you tube videos check out a "swamp cooler"

Many DIY forms of the things

>>16072504

So same demoralization shill trying ineffective tactics yet again, even though those tactics have failed for the past four years, maybe this time by playbook says so and playbook was written by "experts"

>>16072473

Have you seen the ones with a bilge pump or aquarium pump providing a water curtain?

Cools nicely, low power, cheap materials, no welding

>>16072530

Apuwithicedteaandtowel.png

>>16072562

Leyden Jar capacitors?

>>16072570

I have one around here somewhere, 12V and quieter than an aquarium pump