Russia's Only Aircraft Carrier Is on Fire
Russia has only one aircraft carrier, the Cold War-era Admiral Kuznetsov.
The ship is currently on fire at dock, after a fire sparked during work on the propulsion system.
If the fire damage is serious enough the carrier will likely never sail again.
Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, is on fire and might well never sail again. The trouble-stricken ship, which has seen fires, plane crashes, and narrowly escaped the loss of its drydock, is in flames. The fire reportedly covers the majority of the ship, and at this point it seems distinctly possible Russia’s largest ship will never sail again.
The incident took place this morning, while the big ship was dockside at the 35th Ship Repair Plant in Murmansk. According to Russian state media, the fire broke out during “repair works in the first power unit” by workers of the Zvyozdochka Ship Repair Center. A large plume of black smoke was visible from the upper deck.
RIA Novosti reports, “the cause of the fire was that the spark fell into the hold during welding, and the remains of fuel oil caught fire there.” The fire then spread to an area of 120 square meters. As of nine hours ago, the fire had reportedly spread to 600 meters, with the ship’s diesel fuel on fire.
The fire had largely been put out by mid-afternoon local time, with “open flames” doused. The extent of damage to the ship is unknown. The Russian Northern Fleet stated there were no weapons or ammunition onboard the carrier at the time of the incident.
TASS reports that 12 people were injured, “mostly poisoned by combustion products.” Six of the injured are in intensive care, with “just one in satisfactory condition.” Several of the injured are reportedly firefighters that responded to the fire. RIA Novosti reports the body of a service member was found, and two other persons are reported missing.
Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov, or Admiral Kuznetsov for short, is approximately 1,000 feet long and displaces up to 58,000 tons fully loaded. The ship is built to accommodate an air wing of up to 24 fighters, including Su-33 Flanker D and MiG-29K fighter jets, plus an additional six helicopters. In reality it generally sorties with fewer aircraft than that—in 2016 it sortied with just 10 Su-33s and 5 MiG-29s. By comparison, an American Nimitz-class aircraft carrier goes to sea with 44 F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
The tragic saga of Admiral Kuznetsov started in 1981, when the ship began construction in what is now Ukraine. After an unusually long construction period, the ship was commissioned in 1990, days before the breakup of the Soviet Union. The ship was inherited by Russia, but the poor state of the Russian economy meant it was rarely used. Between 1991 and 2015, it completed just six patrols at sea and underwent just one refit.
In 2009, off the coast of Turkey, a problem with the electrical system resulted in a fire that killed one crewman. In 2012 Kuznetsov broke down off the coast of France and had to be towed by the Russian Navy tug Nikolay Chiker. In 2016, while conducting air operations off the coast of Syria, Kuznetsov lost two airplanes in two weeks, both reportedly due to faulty arresting wires during the aircraft recovery process.
In October 2018, Kuznetsov was at the PD-50 drydock undergoing an overhaul when the drydock began flooding with water. The massive PD-50 drydock sank to the bottom of the ocean, but not before a heavy lift crane smashed a 16-foot hole into the side of the ship. The incident injured four shipyard workers and killed a fifth. The ship was towed to the nearby 35th Ship Repair Plant, where this morning’s fire took place.
It’s not clear how badly today’s fire hurt the big ship. The fire is out, but it did burn for hours, Furthermore reports suggest the fire took place near the ship’s propulsion systems. The ship's upgrade was supposed to involve replacing four of the eight turbo-pressurized boilers and refurbishing the remainder. If those were damaged or destroyed the ship’s in-service date could be pushed back even further.
If the damage is bad enough, the ship may never sail again.
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