Photo: YouTube/Pireas Piraeus
A year ago, we were reporting about the old Russian missile cruiser Moskva (“Moscow”) firing missiles after a long period of inactivity. That was just an exercise, but one year later, things got shockingly real. And this included the sinking of this famous military ship by the Ukrainian military as part of the ongoing war. Its sister ship lives on, and U.S. destroyers are keeping their eyes on it.
Back in February, before the war broke out, three Slava-class cruisers of the Russian Navy left their homeports. For the Navy’s flagship, the famous RTS Moskva (121), it would be the last time. Just a few months later, in April, it sank after being hit by two anti-ship missiles.
RTS Marshal Ustinov (055) has stayed in the Mediterranean for the past six months, but it abruptly left a couple of days ago. According to USNI (United States Naval Institute), ship spotters noticed that it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Also, as soon as it entered the Atlantic, two U.S. guided-missile destroyers were seen following it. These were USS Cole and USS Bainbridge, part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, in charge of U.S. operations in the area.
According to USNI News, the reason behind this sudden departure might have to do with logistics. Unlike the American Navy, Russia doesn’t have strong refueling and maintenance resources in the area, which probably became an issue for the RTS Marshal Ustinov after such a long period of being stationed there. But there’s no certainty at the moment about what the Russian warship will do next.
Commissioned in 1982, the 611.7-foot (186.5 meters) RTS Marshal Ustinov was initially named Admiral Flota Lobov. A combination of four 31,250 HP gas turbines and two 12,000 HP gas turbines enable it to cruise as fast as 34 knots (39 mph/62.9 kph) in addition to a maximum range of 9,000 nautical miles (10,000 miles/16,668 km). Like its sister Slava-class ships, it was modernized with Vulcan anti-ship missiles, which replaced the original P-500 Bazalt missiles.
RTS Marshal Ustinov (055) has stayed in the Mediterranean for the past six months, but it abruptly left a couple of days ago. According to USNI (United States Naval Institute), ship spotters noticed that it passed through the Strait of Gibraltar.
Also, as soon as it entered the Atlantic, two U.S. guided-missile destroyers were seen following it. These were USS Cole and USS Bainbridge, part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, in charge of U.S. operations in the area.
According to USNI News, the reason behind this sudden departure might have to do with logistics. Unlike the American Navy, Russia doesn’t have strong refueling and maintenance resources in the area, which probably became an issue for the RTS Marshal Ustinov after such a long period of being stationed there. But there’s no certainty at the moment about what the Russian warship will do next.
Commissioned in 1982, the 611.7-foot (186.5 meters) RTS Marshal Ustinov was initially named Admiral Flota Lobov. A combination of four 31,250 HP gas turbines and two 12,000 HP gas turbines enable it to cruise as fast as 34 knots (39 mph/62.9 kph) in addition to a maximum range of 9,000 nautical miles (10,000 miles/16,668 km). Like its sister Slava-class ships, it was modernized with Vulcan anti-ship missiles, which replaced the original P-500 Bazalt missiles.
USS COLE DDG67 & USS BAINBRIDGE DDG96 heading west through the Strait of Gibraltar this afternoon #shipsinpics #ships #shipping #shipspotting @air_intel @The_Lookout_N@YorukIsik @WarshipCam @seawaves_mag@NavyLookout @arleighburke511 #USNavy pic.twitter.com/pXKAxiuhVL
— Daniel Ferro (@Gibdan1) August 24, 2022
Google News