Novorossiysk: The WORST *Peacetime* Disaster in Russian Naval History

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Thank you all for watching everyone! Hopefully you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think about the Novorossiysk and the new microphone. I for one think I sound a lot more clear and that it actually sounds like me.

[@allandavis8201]

Not sure if it sounds like you as I have only heard your voice watching your channel, but I definitely think that your narration is far better for having the new microphone 🎤.

[@Crazypants-j9z]

Great video bud, narrated very nicely. Look forward to more videos.

[@willtipton100]

😊

[@willtipton100]

😊😊😊

[@carrienelson7039]

Can you provide an email address for an inquiry?

[@jpd4627]

Its a risky job being the Black Sea Flag Ship. They apparently have issues staying afloat

[@JasonMcCord-qk3yb]

Especially if it gets the title: “Flagship of the Black Sea Fleet”. That’s practically a death sentence! You better know how to swim!

[@andrewemery4272]

Unlike NATO ships, the crews know what Gender they are l😂

[@ganndeber1621]

Does that help them when they have to swim to shore?@@andrewemery4272

[@ConradAinger]

Do you know which ship was the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet in the period 1941 - 44? This was when the Soviets lost Krimea to the Germans. But then won it back again. It might be instructive if you read a history of those events.

[@lordski1981]

​@@andrewemery4272at least they are alive to wonder this, and have a ship afloat to do so on ..... Your bigotry and transphobia is showing..... damn Russian bots.....

[@MSMW23]

The hull damage seems way too significant for frogman attack, noting the photos of the damage to HMS Queen Elizabeth's hull from Italian frogman. And unswept german mines from WWII still turn up to this day, so very easy for the Soviets to miss one during sweeping operations.

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

According to the video, they apparently missed 9 others. As for batteries, I recently found a 6 volt farm radio battery that hadn't been used for at least 70 years still holding 5 volts.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@wintersbattleofbands1144 Life-sustaining stuff decay quickly (unless in 🇦🇶) while 💀-giving gadgets last several human lifetimes : ww1 explosive shells are found to be still active to this day.

[@JessieRed]

First time I ever seen a channel tell us some info about the pictures…nice touch 👌🏻

[@hauk65000]

As always, a sparkling and well-made documentary from Importen History! Hope you continue with perhaps an in-depth documentary about Hood. Keep up your good work.

[@johntrottier1162]

A well done video. I appreciate you noting many photos are prior to the transfer to Russia. You did a fine job with the material available and there was enough photo evidence to show whatever the source of the explosion, it was from outside the hull. As many have noted, the Russian Navy does not seem to put a high priority on damage control. Thank you for making it clear that this was not a new problem for the Russian Navy. I was not aware of the fact that the Moscova was not the first flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to become a submarine.

[@SCjunk]

The mine theory was known in general historical books such as Anthony Prestons Battleships of WW1 which recounts that Novorossiysk was either sunk by a mine in the Black Sea in 1955 or it was broken up around that time, (effectively both were correct, but those in the West were probably expecting a ship to be sunk by a mine while underway not in harbour) so that is fairly damning considering Prestons book was published in 1971 at the height of the cold war, so little general information on what happened was available in the West. As to the Decima X frogmen, very unlikely if not preposterous the Decima X would be by this time elderly with regard to combat diving, Divers rarely are fit for service into their 40s or officers 50s. Junio Borghese was 50 years old by the time of the loss of Novorossiysk and he had been imprisoned by the Italians for his Fascist Activism after the Italian surrender, and the division of Italy he was released in 1949 after 4 years in jail. So okay as a commander but certainly not as an active commander. The RMH explosive device could well have remained in operative off Sevastopol well into 1955 -possibly the reason it had not been triggered at that particular mooring was most likely down to the local conditions, (rather than being disabled and then coming back to life), in many ways similar to the Baltic (low salt) but marginally warmer which would not drain the batteries as readily as 9 years in the freezing Baltic where they were designed, but conversely being designed in the Baltic the magnetic influence may well have been different, but chances are no ship of the size of Novorossiysk had been moored at that spot - ship size would influence the magnetic field and I doubt Novorossiysk would have effective degussing equipment, and it may have been moving around it's mooring being the reason for the tripping of the mechanism, -no appreciable tide in Black Sea. And BTW "IMPORTANT HISTORY" just because you don't have a degree doesn't mean you can't be a good historian, I can actually say I've assisted people doing PhDs and have read PhD dissertations (for criticism prior to publication) and several are very wanting. So all power to you.

[@mikebrase5161]

I worked in a Military Museum. The smartest people in their field dont have Degree's in my personal experience. People with a passion for a specific subject dont need a degree and oftentimes as in my case found the pursuit of one a complete waste of time.

[@richardcutts196]

Actually it was a time traveling Ukrainian drone. lol

[@Pilvenuga]

sea mines were incredibly resilient, up into the 1980's you'd have "sea mine seasons" where the autumn storms would wash sea mines onto the shore, live and waiting for adventurous boys to climb them annual demining operations were still a thing like a decade ago even

[@mikebrase5161]

@@Pilvenuga I saw a Mark Felton video awhile back where they blew one in a small town they had found. The Germans had found a way to drop them as super big bombs.

[@TheAnxiousAardvark]

@@mikebrase5161 Many discoveries have been made by talented amateurs who have enthusiasm and inquisitive minds. Often these individuals will publish in minor journals and casual notes from organizations. Vastly underrated resources.

[@anthonybush607]

I appreciate the fact you note where the film clips and photos are from. The first thing that causes me to stop watching a documentary is when they try to pawn off video from other battles implying they are from the topic being discussed. I would rather some sort of graphic or photo rather than a video of Marines on Okinawa being used in a documentary on Guadalcanal. Thank you for being accurate and clear on your videos.

[@michaelgallagher2663]

Amazing!! I Had Never Been Aware Of This. Thank You.

[@theallseeingmaster]

A very well produced, well researched, interesting video. I am so glad I am subscribed.

[@gordoncarass2360]

In response to your comment about not being a professional historian. I find your videos interesting and informative. In other words, top notch!

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Professional historians with no dearth of means of research, sometimes forbid facts to bother their degree of scholarcheap.

[@CliveN-yr1gv]

I'm not an historian and I don't have a degree, he said. With the former I would disagree. With the latter, based on the thorough and detailed narrative coupled with excellent illustrations, I would suggest a degree is irrelevant. Which is my pro Liz way of saying thank you and well done in producing another excellent and informative video. Bravo 👏

[@LordMondegrene]

Always good to meet a new historian in the making. Subscribed.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Thank you! Always nice to have a new face aboard!

[@LordMondegrene]

@@ImportantNavalHistory I appreciate the difficulty in finding primary sources, I'm a journalist with an interest in science and history. One of the best sources I have found is old people. Talk with every geezer you can find. They KNOW stuff, because they were THERE.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to speak to veterans of all wars, and several gentlemen who were Marines in the Pacific. Their stories were some of the most fascinating things I’ve ever heard. One of the gentleman was on Tarawa and man I can only wish I had a recorder. But, I’m sure my teacher spoke to him afterwards. In regard to this video, finding any source was difficult. However, the ones I did find are reputable which is the only reason why this video exists.

[@LordMondegrene]

@@ImportantNavalHistory After college, I met a neighbor who had worked for Benito Mussolini, back when Il Duce was a Socialist. Told me stuff about his old boss that I was later able to verify. Crazy shit that is still not publicly known. I filed a FOIA to get the pictures, which got me investigated by the FBI. That's how I verified it. If the bureau launched an illegal bootstrap investigation to shut down a story, that confirms it.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@LordMondegrene And especially NOT to the smartalecknowhateveritall who with their so-called degrees & without being there, lecture the witnesses on what they saw & what they didn’t see.

[@paullaw1438]

Many thanks for this very informative and well-presented video😁

[@jmrico1979]

liking these longer in depth videos

[@Jedi.Toby.M]

Another fantastic upload mate! (To please the algorithm I'll watch this a few more times)

[@richardcutts196]

In a twist, it could have been Italian frogmen placing a German wartime mine, with a time delay mechanism so they could escape, under the ship. There both theories in one explanation.

[@lyedavide]

Thanks for another informative video about Soviet Era warships.

[@talpark8796]

tyvm for another interesting tale

[@bigsarge2085]

I learned something new!

[@hirisk761]

great video!

[@robertsolomielke5134]

It was the ghosts of the Wilhelm Gustloff.

[@panzerschliffehohenzollern4863]

Then wouldn't it take revenge on the submarine fleet rather than the surface force?

[@mjfan653]

If they find a 3000 member soviet/russian submarine. It will go down, and stay there.

[@maximkretsch7134]

Crazy that a battleship was transferred from Italy to the Soviet Union after the Cold War had started.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@maximkretsch7134 Of the Cavour class, & by the British no less, who in ww2 sunk or badly damaged the Mussolinian battleship Cavour. Poor Cavour who in the 19th Century 1st half, as an unconditional Anglophile, had always wetdreamt of 🇬🇧 to be the liberator of 🇮🇹 from Austria.

[@liyang6059]

Andrei, you’ve lost another flagship?

[@justin3415]

Very good video. Thank you very much.

[@gchampi2]

The Kamchatka strikes again! More seriously, Russia (in all its forms) has never been any good at naval matters. It is entirely consistent with this to assume that their minesweeping efforts were somewhat ineffective, leading to the Novorossiysk striking an unexploded mine. As to why the mine didn't go off for any of the ships moored in that location previously, it could easily be a situation of the draft of the Novorossiysk was greater than any of the prior ships, leading to a greater peturbation of the magnetic sensor on the mine. Heck, it could even be as simple as the ship being deep enough to physically strike the mine...

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Remember during the CW how many mishaps occurred sometimes in view of Western warships in the Mediterranean. There was for instance the blowing up by itself of a sov missile destroyer in the Med circa 1972 reported by a Royal Navy ship. That didn’t prevent the sovs from bad manners at sea including firing a missile at a Royal Navy frigate, in 1980 still in the Med, as a roguish gesture only, because the missile fell short.

[@aoife1122]

"Qualified naval personnel" really cracked me up... as if such a thing is even possible in the Rooskie navy.

[@richardcleveland8549]

Yep . . . despite Tsushima! Reminds one of the old diss of the Bourbons: "They have learned nothing, and they have forgotten nothing."

[@brookeshenfield7156]

Fyodor Ushakov proves you wrong, among others.

[@Marcos-ms1ij]

​@@brookeshenfield7156 They werent sufficient to make the russian naval history actually good or really greate like others... Ah poo Rossisvensky (I probably got his name wrong, but it's the man from the russo japanese war, the only really capable commander of that navy) and poor Aurora... I really want to give that man and ship a hug!

[@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson]

The Kamchatka just reported sightings of Japanese torpedo boats.

[@alessandronatoli6748]

@@Marcos-ms1ij Another good Admiral was Stepan Osipovič Makarov the only man able to turn the tables in the Russian Japanase war, but he met his fate when the battleship Petropavlovsk hit a naval mine and sunk within minutes.

[@grahamkearnon6682]

I see the rich Russian tradition of caring less for the service personel Liv on. Damage control, I remember the experience on a British RN minehunter doing a 2 week war exercise in Scotland early 1985, while the engineering teams were overwhelmed with fake fires and, floods etc the rest of the crew just sat about uninvolved, this really pissed off the engineering department so much so they went to their mess & locked the door on strike. It just shows how backward the wardroom class were.

[@dougerrohmer]

So they blamed Admiral Kuznetsov, the CIC of the Soviet Navy, and then named Old Smokey after him? I'll bet it's more embarrassing to have that hunk of junk named after you than to be disciplined for the sinking of the Moskva precursor. 🤣

[@mikoto7693]

My initial thought was “dayum, all that refit and replacement work for it to hit a mine and be lost.” My second thought was mingled with regret that everyone had plenty of time to escape had the Soviets not kept them aboard.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Truly a tragic loss of life for those sailors.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Propaganda FIRST Safety LAST Even Good Old Harold Lloyd would have been overcome.

[@BHuang92]

It seems Russia has some very bad luck or poor maintenance in having battleships.......

[@cactuslietuva]

i dont get it. moskva is not a battleship but missile cruiser. Novorossiysk was lost due to mine

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@cactuslietuva Times change, so do means.

[@matthewconnors8503]

I think you do a good job at getting the facts straight. Just so you know👍

[@sirsmeal3192]

Opening 150 meters of the hull would have been beyond the scope of 1000 lbs of TNT in a mine. 150 meters is longer than a football field including the end zones.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

According to McLaughlin (who used the Soviet report) the hole was 150 meters squared. Obviously we have to take that with a grain of salt, and I'm not going to sit here and pretend like I know exactly what an enhanced TNT charge would do to the ship and all that went down. All I did was quote a reputable source, and I'm glad the comments exist so it can be discussed freely.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@ImportantNavalHistory According to data, as comparison, USS Nevada received a torpedo that left a hole 9m long & 3m high, above the waterline, which would make 27squared meters.

[@Karle94]

@@minhthunguyendang9900 Not a fair comparison. That was a plane-dropped torpedo being launched from a single-engined plane, being far smaller than a large mine being dropped either from a 2, or a 4-engined plane, or launched by barges or large ships.

[@brookeshenfield7156]

The USS Maine and “blame the Spanish!” comes to mind. That was likely a magazine or coal dust explosion. I suspect in this case it was Italian frogmen defending the honor of Italy.

[@alessandronatoli6748]

Admiral Gino Birindelli was interviewed if the Italian Navy frogmen were responsible of this sinking. He firmly denied any involvement about this event, but underscored with a very sad voice, "I wish i would that our frogmen had done that, at least the honor of our navy would have been partially restored"

[@brookeshenfield7156]

@@alessandronatoli6748 I hope that the Admiral was conveniently left with plausible deniability, yet enough hints from sources that he could smile to himself after that interview. It is the romantic in me, I guess. The pragmatic me says a mine.

[@alessandronatoli6748]

@@brookeshenfield7156 yep mate. I agree completely. Magnetic naval mine. Btw. If you want, you can find the life of Admiral Gino Birindelli on Wikipedia. My father said that he was a great commander and a man with great humanity. But with strong temper especially against the incompetence of certain officers or politicians. He will never have a ship or academy with his name. Too much adamant for those accustomed to swim in murky waters.

[@7thsealord888]

Well-presented video. So, the Italians cunningly let the Giulio stay in Soviet hands for several years (presumably waiting for the Soviets to lower their guard) before taking revenge. Nope, not buying it.

[@AdurianJ]

They did blow up a battleship after WW1 using sabotage so its not completely baseless to suspect sabotage

[@Karle94]

@@AdurianJ The Italians ordered the sinking of the Viribus Unitis before the war ended (and before the Austro-Hungarians transferred their entire navy to the Croats, Serbs and Slovenes), but were unable to cancel it before it was too late. So not really a good example of "Italian revenge"

[@waynemurphy4542]

Very sad that 600 + sailors perished when there was ample opportunity to get them out if harm's way.

[@admiralcraddock464]

About par for the course where Russia is concerned, and that goes for civilian life too.

[@alessandronatoli6748]

The safety of crewmembers and civilian workers was not a priority for the admiral Parkhomenko, the major responsible for this huge human loss.

[@cactuslietuva]

i dont really understand why most of the sailors didn't swim to shore, they were close to the harbour anyway.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@cactuslietuva Order had not yet been given.

[@cactuslietuva]

@@minhthunguyendang9900 you dont need order to swim

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

5:25 Especially vexing for the Italians is that Cavour was an Anglophile of the First Magnitude who had always wetdreamt of 🇬🇧as the power to help 🇮🇹 attain independence from Austria 🇦🇹 & the Royal Navy kept sending the ships named Cavour to the scrapyard.

[@remittanceman4685]

I don't doubt that there were many Italians keen to get revenge and the Decima Mas was very good, the question remains, "how would they get themselves plus their kit plus a suitably sized charge into a naval base and up to the Novorossiysk?" Bearing in mind they would only have a short time to do so after she anchored. Also bearing in mind it would need to be a pretty sizeable charge. Battleships, even ones in poor shape, are big and designed to take serious damage and survive. Given that the Sovs would have made great play of "sabotage" if they could I suspect the mine theory is the most likely. Failing any conclusive revelations otherwise, that's the explanation I'd plump for.

[@allandavis8201]

You do not need a degree to be a historian, all you need is an enquiring mind and a passion to learn about the past, a degree just means you spent four years (approximately) studying history and passing a few exams (and going to the student bars for £1 a pint night), history is about learning the truth about historical events, but society as a whole in the past, and I for one think you do a great job. Thanks you for sharing your knowledge,research and opinions. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇺🇦 If the Italian 🇮🇹 fleet was NOT war “booty” then what was it?, I do feel sorry for the Italian people who were against Mussolini and his “black shirts” but when they were winning the war they were not complaining, and when they realised that Mussolini had taken them into a war they couldn’t win it was only then they decided to get rid of him and swap allegiance to the allies, did the Italian government of that time think that because Italy had swapped sides that they would get away without any consequences?, because if they did then more fool them, maybe the average Italian 🇮🇹 person would think that they should not have to pay for the actions of their leadership but unfortunately war doesn’t work like that. If the Axis powers had won WWII you can bet your last penny that they would have demanded reparations from the allies, and I would imagine that those reparations would have been severe to say the least, but I doubt they would have got much from the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 we were on the verge of bankruptcy at the end of the war, and if we had lost then we would definitely have been bankrupt, so whatever reparations we, the United Kingdom 🇬🇧, received from the Italian government/people it was a mere drop in the ocean 🌊 of what it cost us in material goods, but nothing would ever, or could ever, make up for the loss of lives we sustained or the people left permanently scarred, both physically and mentally, by the most bloody conflict in modern history, and WHO was to blame?………….THE AXIS POWERS AND THEIR MILITARY, and to a lesser extent the citizens of those countries for allowing the fascist regime to take control of their own countries. If the size of the hole in the hull was, and I have no reason to doubt you, 150M Square then I am surprised that she stayed afloat as long as she did, that is one GINORMOUS hole that even modern pumps would have trouble pumping out the water. One thing that could have delayed the inevitable would have been to get all nonessential personnel of the ship, even so I reckon that she was doomed, maybe they could have scuttled her so she settled on the sea 🌊 🛌 at a favourable position to allow her to be salvaged, I don’t know the answer to that as I am not a marine engineer/salvage expert. @ 18:46 I was just about to ask the question about the possibility of their being an alternate cause of the explosion besides a long forgotten mine, I was pondering the possibility that it was an Italian mini submarine/chariot attack, during WWII the Italian navy had become very adept at using mini subs/chariots for covert attacks on allied vessels, maybe the depth of feeling about giving up a battleship to their enemy was to much to bare for either the Italian government or veteran naval personnel?. If the Italian 🇮🇹 government or veteran navy personnel were behind the sinking I would have thought that they would have also gone after other vessels given over in reparations, especially if an attack had been successful in sinking the Novorossiysk, but whatever the truth is I doubt it would ever be revealed, on purpose or by accident, the Russians would not want to publicise how weak naval port defences were, and I doubt the Italian government would want it known that they committed an act of aggression that broke the terms of the peace treaty they signed, and if it was a veteran led attack they would want it kept repressed because they would just have painted a bullseye 🎯 on their own backs, the KGB (probably led by Putin) would not have stopped trying to find the people responsible and ensure that they would never again be able to carry out such an act against the mighty Russian/USSR military.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Degree professional historians sometimes forbid facts to come & bother their scholarcheaps.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Mr. allandavis8201, This generation spoiled since the depraved mid-1960s have reversed the moral values and turned to accuse the aggressed of the crime of resisting the aggressor.

[@Robban.D.Jonsson.]

Seems like they could have removed the number of dead sailors from their daily purge quotas

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Mr. Important Naval History, there’s Royal Navy Commander Lionel Craab disparition case in 1956 at the time of the visit to London of 2 most recent soviet navy cruisers, with an apparently fantastic maneuver system, unmatched by anything in the Western navies at the time. Can you make a video on this troubling affair ? Thank you !

[@gluteusmaximus1657]

Ah - the famous Russian Navy. Famous for the abilities under water. From Moskva to Novorossiysk to Novocherrkask. Seems like a naval tradition.

[@alessandronatoli6748]

Not to mention Battleship Petropavlovsk sunk by a mine at the very entrance of Port Arthur in 1904/1905 Russian-Japanese war

[@noneofyourbusiness2997]

Could it have been old munitions poorly stored and exploding?

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

I think that is a real possibility. The condition that she was in when the Italians handed here over was appalling. With the lack of documentation for the damage control stations, it was hard. Still, we’ll never know. Terrible loss of life.

[@joseluissalguero6478]

😮 este buque fue presuntamente víctima de un ataque que hicieron miembros de la antigua decima más dirigidos por el príncipe borguese ,exiliado junto con su familia en españa y ex comandante y responsable de la décima más indignado de 😮😮que un acorazado de la antigua regia marina fuera entregado a los rusos y utilizado por ellos esto esta publicado en un libro en españa hace pocos años 😮

[@richardcutts196]

As far as I'm concerned the Giulio Cesare and the other converted old BBs became battle cruisers because while they had extensive armor they were not well protected enough to be battleships anymore.

[@jedimasterdraco6950]

Except battlecruiser implies a speed that older battleships definitely did not possess. They were outdated, pure and simple.

[@slimeydon]

The Russians lost the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet? Where have I heard that before?

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Very recently

[@rogerrendzak8055]

'Divied'?? You possibly mean di•vīd’•ed (as it was spelled, that way)??? But the word 'div'•ied' does exist, and it's actually slang, in the US Navy☺️. Interesting documentary, on a ship I haven't heard of before.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Oops. Made a mistake while reading the script.

[@CliveN-yr1gv]

The microphone is fine!

[@Malbeefance]

"The CNC was told there was about 1200 tons of water in the ship but the amount was closer to 3200." This is the usual result of using socialist math instead of actual real math.

[@jedimasterdraco6950]

2+2=5 Comrade. And suddenly the issues in the American education system make so much more sense.

[@mjfan653]

What? The least socialist nation? Like, every other nation makes fun of americans for loving money to a freaky degree, for not having a healthcare system that cares for health, just more money matters, for being so stingy that they cant pay serveris a living wage and make them beg the customer… I could go on for ever about what a dystopian shithole america seems like to any european. And even a lot of asian (not china) and south american nations have working socialist policies. I see none from america.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Lobatshevsky anti-Euclidian Geometry with crooked angles.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

@@jedimasterdraco6950 Read Helen McInnes’ 1951 «Neither Five Nor Three»

[@Ocrilat]

The frogman theory is just ridiculous, especially with zero evidence pointing to it. As far as the mine goes, being the largest ship in the Black Sea fleet, it would be reasonable that it would trigger an old mine because of that size. The mine make the most sense. The thing to remember too is, the Conte Di Cavour-class battleship was not a great design to begin with. They were known to be fragile, had a only 6000 tons of armor and were structurally weak. They also had sub-par subdivision (though it was better than before the 1930s refit). During the war, a single torpedo sunk the Conte Di Cavour, while at anchor). The ships also had the Pugliese torpedo defense system added during the 1930s refit...an Italian innovation, but almost certainly poorly understood by the Soviets and not maintained properly. Another sister ship, the Leonardo da Vinci, blew itself up from an accidental magazine explosion in 1916. There is another clue in the details...the Novorossiysk was the Black Sea flagship AND a training ship? That doesn't make much sense unless the ship was just considered a propaganda asset. So the Soviets would have expended effort to make the ship look good but not worry overmuch about it's battle condition...making an already fragile ship even more vulnerable.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

An interesting thing to note about where the mine blew up was in the area of where the new raked oceanic bow was attached during the 1930s reconstruction. I too think the frogmen theory is outlandish, but I would be doing the story a disservice if I didn’t address it. Another thing that comes to mind is the lack of documentation on the ship the Soviets had access to in the damage control center. Because the Italians didn’t give them proper documentation. Being flagship and a training ship makes sense for her since she was so old and in poor condition.

[@Ocrilat]

@@ImportantNavalHistory I didn't criticize your mentioning the frogman theory...I just think it's silly. The location of the hit would have just been dumb luck. Sure there may have been a weakness there, but for a ship with a wheelbarrow full of weaknesses, it might not have mattered. The entire class had a reputation for fragility, even when they weren't more than 40 years old. On the supposed lack of documentation, if the ship was being used as a 'Potemkin-village' naval asset, then the documentation would not be seen as needed. Plus, the Soviets had her for a long time, and had made various modifications to her by the time of her sinking. They had plenty of time to secure any documentation from the Italians or to create what they needed themselves. It's a weird omission after possessing a warship for seven years. And while the ship is sinking is a bit late to be reading the owners manual for the first time. To my ear the documentation complaint sounds like an attempt to blame others for the disaster (at least others that are less embarrassing). An unswept German mine is embarrassing because the damage was caused by Germany...and implies incompetent Soviet mine sweeping. Italy not sending documentation sounds better. Italian frogmen too would at least be the perfidious west making an attack against the 'peaceful' Soviets.

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

I didn’t think you were criticizing me, I just thought I’d clarify my reasoning and some other things about the video. Have a good day :)

[@Karle94]

@@ImportantNavalHistory That's an interesting thing to note, that location. The new bow section (which was rather huge) was simply grafted over the old bow. It's doubtful some of these void spaces could be made fully water-tight. You could separate the flooding from the old bow, but it's possible the new bow could flood in areas where they could not make it watertight, hence her rapid sinking. Another thing to note was the weak underwater protection, they did have Pugliese tubes installed, but the width of the ship was too narrow for the system to be properly useful. Protection-wise they'd be better off with external bulges, like RN and USN battleships.

[@jayvissers5301]

The same Gorshkov who headed the Russian navy in the Cold War 1980s?

[@TheDgamesD]

Such a beautiful Italian Vessel, such a sad fate she had under Russian service.

[@berndlinnecke5738]

Welches Schiff soll das sein?

[@alexzenz760]

Ex italienische guilio cesare

[@PersimmonHurmo]

The Russian navy is an endless source of comedy. That's pretty much the only thing they're capable of producing.

[@martinswiney2192]

Do you know why the new Black Sea fleet has glass bottom boats?

[@lachbullen8014]

If you're looking to do research on certain ship I would just recommend that you look for a book on or a book I wouldn't recommend Wikipedia it's nothing but dodgy information and anyone can basically edit and manipulate information on there..

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

I mean I literally cite all the sources I used in the description and I quote from them frequently throughout the video, so no I don’t use Wikipedia.

[@NatashaBadenov-k1d]

Sir, Thank you for the nice videobut please listen to the pronunciation of "Toronto" Italy. Its not "Terento" or "Tirento".

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Considering I’ve been told by Italians that it’s Taranto broken phonetically into Tar-en-toh I’ll stick with the way I’ve been pronouncing it. However, I’m curious why comment about it? I’m not trying to be rude, I’m just am trying to understand why people feel the need to comment on pronunciation so much.

[@NatashaBadenov-k1d]

Because I like to be helpful. I doubt that Italians told you to pronounce the first syllable with something like "teh". Not wanting to not pick here but you asked. Have a nice day. @@ImportantNavalHistory

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Appreciate your response. I’ll be sure to note it in the future. Listening back to the original audio, it is correct there. However, what you guys here gets stretched by 4% in the audio software to make sure I’m slower and more understandable causing things like this to occur. Have a wonderful rest of your day, and I really appreciate you trying to be helpful and not combative, you’d be surprised the hate things like this get.

[@jimtaylor294]

Knowing how the Italian pronunciation is interesting, though for me Ta-ran-to is perfectly valid in English speaking company. (a bit like how we don't pronounce Lancia the same way)

[@viper592]

To understand the sinking of the Novorossiysk, one must go back 1600 years in History... aka Ask Putin :)

[@ME262MKI]

This video just shows ruzzia's ship building and handling capabilities

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

Some baba yaga must have put a jinx on the Black Sea Float

[@brookeshenfield7156]

The USS Maine and “blame the Spanish!” comes to mind. I suspect it was Italian frogmen defending the honor of Italy.

[@ruthlesslyefficient4294]

RIP giulio cesare

[@brownwrench]

Good job not sweeping up mines 10 years after the end of the war.

[@matthewrowe9903]

They turn up to this day all over the world mine clearance is never total not even from WW1

[@davidelliott5843]

The sinking sounds like a carbon copy of the Moskva recently sunk by Ukraine missiles. Oh hang on - this was 70+ years ago.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

You wonder if the Germans actually buried the mine deep in the mud and a combination of low tide and very big ship, was what they were hoping for.

[@russdority6295]

I don't think there is a tide in the Black Sea.

[@realtsarbomba]

​@@russdority6295 There is but it's negligible with only about 20 cm difference between low and high tide.

[@agoodfilter7139]

An Italian ship. Need I say more.

[@iskandartaib]

Ah... Giulio Cesare = Julius Caesar.

[@paladin0654]

I guess this was the FIRST Baltic Flagship the Russians lost!

[@markgarin6355]

Moral sacrifice?

[@jasonhare8540]

So it seems the Italians got the last laugh after all ....

[@Taketimeout3]

Paint and rust. How apt The symbol of the Soviet Union.

[@--Dani]

Don't necessarily have to have a history degree to be a Historian sir...👍

[@aldenconsolver3428]

Well the Italians are welcome to be angry but the spoils of war do not traditionally go to the losers. Also, being sunk by a single mine is a pretty clear indication that this ship was in the scrap category and really the Russians were given scrap iron.

[@jasonvazquez2563]

It’s weird how all the Black Sea fleet flag ships tend to find themselves at the bottom of the Black Sea lmao

[@jp-um2fr]

UK What's a booee ?

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Buoy’s are floating devices that are used to guide boats on the water and provide important navigational information.

[@thomasm9384]

Russia can screw up way better than this. They just won't ever tell.

[@RandomTrinidadian]

"Qualified Naval Personnel" Does such a thing even exist in the Russian navy? I mean, Ukraine has no navy and they have sunk more ships than the Russians. 😅

[@jamesbugbee9026]

X Mas

[@blitzy3244]

How does water cause an explosion?

[@realtsarbomba]

Careless smoking

[@realtsarbomba]

Careless smoking.

[@WasNotWas999]

By enquiry you mean the usual Russian cover up...

[@oceanhome2023]

A transfer from one non Maritime Country to another non Maritime Country ! What could go wrong ?!?

[@alphax4785]

Italy had the fourth largest fleet in the world after the US, UK and Japan prior to WW2, they were very much a naval power.

[@SeveralWeezelsInaTrenchcoat]

Italy is literally in the middle of the Mediterrean.

[@giorgiopolloni7936]

And a major NATO modern navy. Try some research before making absurd statements.

[@oceanhome2023]

@@alphax4785 A paper tiger ! A house of cards that collapses after first contact with the enemy . They make cool cars and especially great food though !

[@lolloblue9646]

​@@oceanhome2023tell me you know nothing without telling me you know nothing. I *wish* Italy had stayed out of WW2, just to see the Royal Navy slap the shit out of the Kriegsmarine in one fell swoop.

[@frankcherry3810]

As a Vietnam era Mine man, my thinking is this ship was destroyed by Sappers. Thankfully, America has used anti-ship munitions that self- sterilize since before me

[@alessandronatoli6748]

My father was under the command of the future Admiral and CINCNAVSOUTH Gino Birindelli (ex frogman captured during an assault on Gibraltar in 1940) during his tour of duty on Raimondo Montecuccoli Light Cruiser in 1956 and its impossible that men near their fifties like him were able to accomplish a mission so dangerous like that. Moreover Gino Birindelli had a serious problem to a lung. Exposing our best divers of the G.O.I.-Gruppo Operativo Incursori (the equivalent of U.S. Navy Seals) to a worthless mission where there was a lot to loose and no real gains for sinking a 44 years old Battleship prey of war was a pure philosophic speculation. Anyway Gino Birindelli said in an interwiev that he wished that our frogmen had done a job like that, but that unfortunately it was not true.

[@FelipeScheuermann1982]

Well, judging by what we know of 2024 russian navy i would suspect of Ivan smoking on main guns ammo storage... its what they say when their black sea fleet ships get hit by ukranian missiles or drones. Or if its an aircraft, then its hit by their own ant aircraft systems, soooo 😂

[@mrwhips3623]

America did the same thing in Iraq war🤡

[@FelipeScheuermann1982]

@@mrwhips3623 i dont have a clue of what you refering to, care to elaborate?

[@RectalRooter]

comment

[@joehayward2631]

Has anyone else notice Russias Navy has always have the worse time with their ships. Im not joking.

[@klausjohansen150]

Pronaunce Toranto right........ u are an Amarican !

[@ImportantNavalHistory]

Taranto? In any case Klaus I do pronounce it correctly.

[@starlight2098]

@@ImportantNavalHistoryThe funny thing here is that they seem to have mixed up Toronto in Canada and Taranto in Italy, which implies that they think the Italian Navy managed to occupy part of Canada in WW2. An exciting alt-history to be sure... ^.^

[@BronxBastard730]

At least that russian ship wasn't overrun with angry drunken spider monkeys ...

[@ResultofFailedbirthcontrol]

Every day is the biggest disaster in Russian navy history LOL