What happened in February 1988?
Something similar happened at that distant time, only the reaction of our sailors was more severe. The borders of the state in the Crimea, in the Black Sea waters, were violated by two US ships. One of them is the Keron, a destroyer, the second is the Yorktown, a missile cruiser. This incident is known under the name "Red Ram". After meeting with the Soviet patrol vessels "Bezzavetny" and SKR-6, the Americans lost their desire to visit the territorial waters of the USSR for a long time.
1. How it all began
The beginning of the above events should be considered 1982. and the adoption of a law in the USSR on the state border. The document states that the twelve-mile coastal zone belongs to Soviet territorial waters. But the West did not agree with such a law. For the first time, both already named American ships appeared near the Crimean coast precisely in 1982. Their radars were turned on, indicating that a reconnaissance operation was underway. Naturally, they were monitored by our patrol vessels. But more active actions on their part were not taken.
During perestroika, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union became warmer, even though the Pentagon did not want to end the Cold War. This is understandable, because a number of specific individuals received a considerable income due to the fact that enormous amounts of budgetary funds were poured into the defense industry. In this regard, they decided to arrange a provocation for the deterioration of relations between the two states.
2. deja vu
About the repetition of the situation with the same ships, but already in 1988, in the winter, the Soviet military personnel were aware in advance and, accordingly, had time to prepare properly. "Guests" were met in neutral waters by patrol ships. Radio communication was established between the sailors of different states, allowing them to communicate peacefully with each other. Our sailors simply watched as the Americans fought their battle as part of the training program. And on February 12 at 10:15 Moscow time, both American ships quickly got up one after the other and quickly headed towards the Soviet border.
Naturally, our crews demanded, on completely legal grounds, to leave their territory, but the American side replied that it did not allow violations. At the same time, their course of movement remained the same. The warnings were not taken seriously. The American crews understood that they would not open fire, since this was already a war, and no one wanted to start it.
But the sailors of the United States, to some extent, were mistaken in the reaction of their adversary. The sailors of the Soviet ships took the risk. They decided to stop the visitors in bulk - that is, to touch their ship, the ship of the enemy. The task was not easy. After all, the teams of both one and the second Soviet military courts were well aware that this attack could cost them their lives.
American self-confidence skyrocketed. Their ships were indeed much more powerful. The superiority in displacement of the Yorktown and Keron over the Selfless was colossal. The first outnumbered him three times, and the second nine times. Naturally, no one expected such a reaction there. The Yorktown sailors, as if on cue, all ended up on deck and even took photographs, joked, and so on. But as soon as the "Selfless" tangentially touched their side, they stopped laughing.
And then the two strongest powers almost turned out to be opponents in a real war. The collision provoked the fact that the nose of the Soviet ship turned sharply to the left, and the rear part went strictly to the stern of the enemy cruiser, to where he had a torpedo launcher, and the Americans had missiles called "Harpoon". If they had collided, the explosion would have been colossal.
Bogdashin, the commander of the Soviet ship, brought him out of the skid. The radio station on the Bezzavetny "gives the order" to cancel the bulk, but this does not really bother anyone. There is no other way out. After he brought the ship out of the skid, he began to look directly at the American side. Naturally, "Selfless" crashed into the American side.
As a result, the US cruiser suffered huge losses. After the collision, the USSR patrol boat gradually began to slide into the water, while everything that was in its path was simply crushed. The anchor, which was raised in advance, became a kind of mace weighing several tons. He not only inflicted damage to the skin of the American cruiser, but also completely destroyed the command boat and the platform for the helicopter. At the moment the ships parted, the anchor chain broke and the anchor fell on the other side of the "American" across the entire deck, destroying everything that he had to face.
There was one more moment. While the two ships were moving in parallel, grappling, the midshipman of the "Selfless" tried to hook the container with missiles on board the cruiser with a cable. Then it was the newest secret American weapon, but it didn’t work out as planned, but it turned out very well to destroy the rocket launcher.
The small SKR-6, although it was nine times smaller than the Keron, fell on its side. Of course, he did not cause serious damage to the enemy, although he slightly distracted the team. Nevertheless, "Keron" went to the aid of his "comrade". IN. Bogdashin realized that if nothing was done, then two ships would simply crush their small ship between them. Therefore, he gave the order to bring bombers called "Smerch-2" into combat condition. The threat is serious and the Americans had no choice but to change course, which they did.
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At Yorktown, they tried to lift helicopters into the air, but received a warning that they would be immediately shot down. From the Soviet side, aviation was sent to help the ships. As soon as MI-24s appeared in the sky, the Americans returned to neutral waters. In this fight, "Yorktown" was seriously damaged. It took $3,000,000 and three months of work to repair it. It turns out that there was also a fire, but this became known from media materials published years later.
Vladimir Bogdashin was summoned to Moscow, where he received a reprimand for the anchor he had lost, and was sent to go through a series of commissions. As a result, they could not decide for a long time whether to punish the commander or reward him. The choice fell on the second. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star.
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A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/031121/61131/