On Thursday 12th December a fire broke out aboard Russia’s only aircraft carrier ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV 063 , with a death toll of 2 amongst 10 injured naval personnel and threatening to put the vessel out of commission, the latest in a string of disasters that have raised questions about the state of the Navy and President Vladimir Putin’s plans to modernise the armed forces.
The massive blaze erupted as she was undergoing major repairs and started under the flight deck and soon spread to the engine room. The fire was the carrier third accident aboard the ship in just over three years. The aircraft carrier was due to be returned to the navy by the end of 2022
The ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV was used in a display of military might off the coast of Syria in late 2016, and more than 100 sorties were flown from the ship, striking targets in Idlib, Homs and other rebel strongholds. Critics however judged its mission largely a tactical failure after two aircraft were lost during carrier landings. In early 2017, the air group was moved off the ship and onto Russia’s Hmeimim base near Latakia, Syria’s main port city, according to a report from CNA, a nonprofit military research and analysis organization based in Virginia.
Meanwhile early morning of Sunday 15th December the 1941 commissioned Naval Floating dock PD-16 with diesel submarine RFS GORGORVSKIY KOMSOMOLETS B 380 inside her sank in Sevastopol, Russian Navy Base, Black sea.
Both naval assets were decommissioned in 2016 and later submarine surface in sank dock.
B 380 is a Russian Navy Tango class diesel submarine , Project 641B known as the Som (Catfish) and commissioned in 1982.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Wednesday 18th December 2019