Russia’s only aircraft carrier experiences fire

| December 23, 2022

Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is currently drydocked, recently experienced a shipboard fire. No injuries were reported and 20 people were evacuated. According to the shipyard, the damage control system worked quickly.

This ship appears to have been poorly designed, with the subsequent construction resulting in a ship not living up to what the designers intended. It experienced many “hick-ups” that had contributed to the need for plenty of maintenance and refurbishment actions taken on it.

From The Daily Mail:

Armageddon-like flames shot into the sky from the giant blaze at the Markovskoye condensate treatment unit in the biting -22C cold.

Dramatic footage shows the scene from hell caused by the ‘jet fire’ in the east Siberian district of Ust-Kut, Irkutsk region.

At least seven people suffered injuries in the blast at Angarsk which was in the same region as a blast three days earlier that was compared to an earthquake or plane crash for its force.

Separately, a huge explosion hit a major Russian gas pipeline some 560 miles from the Ukrainian border.

The cause was unclear but videos showed a huge fireball burning in Chuvashia republic.

The Admiral Kuznetsov is set to be relaunched after renovations in 2024 after undergoing major repair work.

The vessel has been plagued by breakdowns and setbacks since its launch in 1985.

In December 2019, a fire broke out on board which killed two people and left 11 people injured. The ship was severely damaged.

The inferno covered at least 4,305 square feet.

The blaze erupted during welding work and spread quickly through the carrier’s internal compartments.

That fire followed a 70-ton crane crashing on to the Admiral Kuznetsov’s deck in October 2018 when a mammoth floating dock holding the ship sank.

The crane left a hole of 215 square feet, and the loss of the dock significantly slowed down repairs on the carrier since the navy lacked another of comparable size.

Today’s fire will further push back the work to fit the ship with modern control systems and new weapons.

The aircraft carrier had been undergoing repairs for more than five years in Murmansk.

The Daily Mail has more on this story.

YouTube user “Infographics Show” provides an account of the Admiral Kuznetsov’s misfortunes stemming from its design and construction:

Going without hot water, or any of the other basic quality of life services is not something that people normally look forward to. Military.com provides an article focusing on the events surrounding the USS George Washington suicides. Some of the descriptions in the article partly address the negative impacts to quality of life that not having basic services could have.

Category: Navy, Russia

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Deckie

Well, I mean come on, look at that pic… when you burn tires for propulsion something bad is bound to happen…

Hack Stone

What can you expect when you have All Points Logistics as a subcontractor?

A Proud Infidel®™

I bet they even bought outdated Red Hat Software from some Woman-owned biz-ness HQ’ed in Maryland, heard that rumor somewhere, or do they even have anything that good?

KoB

All the more reason(s) to be a dirt digging doggy.

Wonder if Ivan’s nukes work as “well” as the rest of his military…or ours?

A Proud Infidel®™

Probably not, remember one of their missiles going *Ka-BOOM!* aboard the Kursk? I wonder if any of them can even leave their silo without self-destructing?

26Limabeans

The heat was so intense it made the hull curl up in the front.

Sapper3307

The cursed carrier.

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AT1 ret

Maybe SECDEF,SECNAV, COMPAC can go over and learn teaching damage control work better than what pronouns to use as the ship burns to the waterline.

5JC

No better way to hide the disappearance of repair funds than a good old fashioned fire. This might be the third or fourth time this has happened.

So far as the other mysterious explosions around the country in factories, shopping malls and petro facilities, well they had it coming….

NHSparky

And I thought hot racking on Spec Op sucked.

jeff LPH 3 63-66

They don’t believe in fire watches while welding/cutting?????????????

MCPO USN

Glenn Defense Marine standing by for contracts.

Anonymous

Another one? That ship has lots of fires and accidents.

FuzeVT

Oh yeah! An aircraft carrier burning down in the yard?! What buffoons!! Only some hack navy would have an aircraft carrier burn down in the yard. . . . Oh. . . wait. Never mind.

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MustangCPT

Yeah, we’re probably not too far behind. This is what happens when your Navy forgets how to Navy.

STSC(SW/SS)

They used to say American carriers were followed by a Charlie class SSGN ready to sink it with multiple missles. We follow the K with a dingy loaded with spitballs.

AW1Ed

Even more interesting was the contact on the sonobuoy after the carrier and Charles had CPA’ed.
“TACCO, our friends are here.”
“STFU unless you want to sign non-disclosure forms in the brig.”
*grin*

A Proud Infidel®™

I’m surprised that rusty tub hasn’t sank all by itself, remember that it was always followed by Tugs for WHEN it lost propulsion!

pookysgirl, WC wife

Read the article on the USS GW and it was depressing how familiar it all was-the civilian mental health contractors overwhelmed, these same contractors not really understanding the process for discharging someone, the USS GW’s command structure wanting to look good on paper no matter the cost, etc.

At least the article pointed out more than once that the report was letting the USS GW’s command off the hook, and strongly hinted that this was the incorrect conclusion.