Russian Missile Ship Damaged by Fire in Baltic Sea

The Russian Serpukhov small missile ship, deployed in the Baltic Sea, was damaged by a fire on board.

The press service of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine reported on this.

The ministry stated that on April 7, 2024, the Serpukhov missile ship was put out of commission as a result of a fire at the Russian naval base in Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region.

The fire inside the missile ship completely destroyed its communications and automation equipment. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) stated that it would take a long time to restore the ship’s combat capability.

The DIU released footage of one of the compartments on the ship where the fire started.

In addition, the DIU also presented a fragment of the structural plan of a Project 21631 Buyan-M small missile ship, which belongs to the same class as the Serpukhov ship, indicating the source of the fire. It originated in a cabin opposite the compartment of the 3S-14 launching system.

Serpukhov small missile ship

The Serpukhov small missile ship is the fifth vessel in Project 21631 Buyan-M. After its launch in 2015, it was assigned to the Sevastopol Navy, but in 2017, it was redeployed to the Baltic Fleet.

It was the last in the series to receive the power plant provided for in the original design, consisting of four German MTU 16V4000M90 diesel engines and ZF gearboxes. All subsequent ships were equipped with Russian counterparts due to sanctions.

The ship’s displacement is 949 tons with a length of 75 meters and a beam of 11 meters. The maximum speed is 25 knots.

With an endurance of 10 days, the ship’s range is about 2500 miles. The crew consists of 36 (up to 52) people.

The ship’s armament consists of a 100-mm A-190 artillery system, Gibka launchers for Igla anti-aircraft missiles, and the AK-630-2 Duet CIWS.

However, the ship’s main weapon is its universal launcher, which is designed to vertically launch 8 Kalibr cruise missiles or Oniks supersonic anti-ship missiles.