Soviet destroyer Otvazhny (1964)

On 30 August 1974, Otvazhny, commanded by Captain 2nd Rank I. P. Vinnik, left Sevastopol to participate in exercises of the Black Sea Fleet. The Chief of Staff of the Black Sea Fleet, Kontr-Admiral Saakyan, was on board, as well as several other staff officers. The ship reached the designated area for the exercises at 9.55 and the captain signaled their readiness to begin exercises.^[9]

At around 10.00, the engine of one of the missiles in the aft M1 Volna (SA-N-1) missile complex spontaneously ignited. ^[4] This started a fire, and shortly after led to the detonation of the warheads of the other missiles stored in the magazine.^[10]

Water entered the ship due to hull damage suffered in the explosion, and Otvazhny took on a 12° list to starboard. ^[11] The fire could not be extinguished, and attempts to flood the ship’s magazines to prevent further detonations were unsuccessful.

Ships were immediately dispatched from Sevastopol to assist the damaged ship. The destroyer Soznatelny was the first to arrive and took Otvazhny in tow at around 10.50. The destroyers Bedovy, Komsomolets Ukrainy, as well as the rescue ship Beshtau, assisted in controlling the fire and evacuating wounded crew members.^[12]

At around 11.45, Soznatelny stopped towing Otvazhny. This has been reported as either due to the tow line snapping,^[13] or Soznatelny confusing orders and following a command intended for Bedovy ^{[4] [14]}. Bedovy then took Otvazhny under tow again at 12.49 pm. Otvazhny’s list to starboard continued to increase as water used to fight the fire accumulated in empty compartments. ^[15]

At 14.47, a further ammunition explosion occurred in Otvazhny’s stern, causing her list to increase sharply to 27°. The ship lost all power, and the order to abandon ship was given at 15.10. Otvazhny began to sink by the stern, and at around 15.40 Bedovy stopped towing. Otvazhny finally sank at 15.57. ^{[4] [16]} Of the 287 crew on board at the time of the disaster, 24 were killed.^[17]

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław, eds. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.

• Kostrichenko, V. V; Prostokishin, A. A (1999). "«Поющие фрегаты». Большие противолодочные корабли проекта 61" [“Singing Frigates”. Large anti-submarine ships of Project 61]. Морская коллекция (in Russian). Moscow: Моделист- Конструктор.

• Karzhavin, Boris A. (1994). Гибель «Отважного» [The Death of “Otvazhny”] (in Russian). St Petersburg: Корвет. ISBN 5-88100-005-6.

• INRO Staff (1992). "The Loss of the Project 61 Class Antisubmarine Warfare Ship Otvazhnyi". Warship International. XXIX (3): 256–266. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Pavlov, A. S. (1997). Warships of the USSR and Russia, 1945-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-671-X.