View source for MS Vereshchagino

{{Short description|Former Ukrainian soviet medium Vasily Yakovenko class ship}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = MV Vereshchagino, missile impact April 2000.JPG
| Ship caption = Missile impact point in the superstructure, with marks made by main wings, [[Stabilizer (aircraft)|stabilizers]] and bottom-mounted air intake.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = [[Ukraine]]
| Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Ukraine}}
| Ship name = '''Vereshchagino'''
| Ship namesake = 
| Ship owner = 
| Ship operator = Marine Hydrophysic Institute ([[National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine]])<ref name=photos>[http://fleetphoto.ru/ship/5089/ Vereshchagino]. Fleetphoto.ru</ref>
| Ship registry = 
| Ship route = 
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = [[Leninska Kuznya]], [[Kyiv]]
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 1450
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 
| Ship sponsor = 
| Ship christened = 
| Ship completed = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship commissioned = 1978
| Ship recommissioned = 
| Ship decommissioned = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship reclassified = 
| Ship refit = 
| Ship struck = 
| Ship reinstated = 
| Ship homeport = [[Illichivsk]]
| Ship identification = {{IMO|7733826}}
| Ship motto = 
| Ship nickname = 
| Ship honours = 
| Ship honors = 
| Ship captured = 
| Ship fate = 
| Ship status = 
| Ship notes = 
| Ship badge = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = 
| Ship type = 
| Ship tonnage = *1,220 gross
*400 deadweight
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|54.8|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|9.80|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = {{convert|4.32|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
| Ship draft = 
| Ship depth = 
| Ship hold depth = 
| Ship decks = 
| Ship deck clearance = 
| Ship ramps = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship power = *Propulsion: Diesel, 1×852 kW (1160 hp)
*Total: Diesel, 1512 kW (2060 h.p.)
| Ship propulsion = 
| Ship sail plan = 
| Ship speed = {{convert|11.6|kn|km/h}}
| Ship range = 
| Ship endurance = 28 days
| Ship test depth = 
| Ship boats = 
| Ship capacity = 207 metric tons (as built)
| Ship troops = 
| Ship complement = 
| Ship crew = 31
| Ship time to activate = 
| Ship sensors = 
| Ship EW = 
| Ship notes = <ref name=VA>''[http://korabli.qdg.ru/sudno8/view/9/1/?art_id=25 СРТМ типа "Василий Яковенко" (пр.502ЭМ) (Vasily Yakovenko class specifications, in Russian)]''. korabli.qdg.ru. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>
}}
|}

'''MV ''Vereshchagino''''' is a [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]], former Soviet [[Fishing trawler|medium trawler]] (seiner<ref>Tribushna, L. ''[http://fakty.ua/113397-prinyav-ukrainskij-teplohod-quot-verecshagino-quot-za-uchebnuyu-cel-rossijskie-voennye-nakryli-ego-raketoj Accepted the Ukrainian motor vessel "Vereshchagino" for a training target, the Russian military sent at it a missile (Приняв украинский теплоход «верещагино» за учебную цель, российские военные накрыли его ракетой)].'' Fakty.ua. 5 May 2000</ref> to be exact), built in 1978 and later converted to coastal passenger shipping.<ref>Aksaniuk, M. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170319040206/http://gazeta.zn.ua/LAW/mozhet_li_povtoritsya_raketnaya_ataka_vereschagino.html Could the missile attack on Vereshchagino happen again? (МОЖЕТ ЛИ ПОВТОРИТЬСЯ РАКЕТНАЯ АТАКА «ВЕРЕЩАГИНО»? )]'' [[Mirror Weekly]]. 21 July 2000</ref> It was one of 345 ships of ''Vasily Yakovenko'' (project 502EM) class, which was built in [[Kyiv]] from 1971 to 2000.<ref>''[http://korabli.qdg.ru/sudno8/view/9/1/ List of Vasily Yakovenko class ships, in Russian)]''. korabli.qdg.ru. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>  On April 24, 2000, ''Vereshchagino'' survived a direct hit by a [[P-5 Pyatyorka|P-35 Progress]] [[anti-ship missile]] fired by Russian Navy from [[Sevastopol]]. There were no fatalities, one seaman was wounded by splinters.

==Class overview==

In 1968, [[Leninska Kuznya]] in [[Kyiv]] launched ''Zhelezny Potok'', the lead ship of what became one of the most numerous ship classes in the former Soviet Union and independent Ukraine. In four seasons, 1968 to 1971, Leninskaya Kuznitsa built 40 ships to the original Project 502E specification (''Zhelezny Potok'' sub-class). Eash trawler had gross displacement of 1,192 tons, a 735&nbsp;kW (1000&nbsp;hp) main engine for propulsion and an additional 440&nbsp;kW (600&nbsp;hp) engine to power on-board freezers, which were capable of deep-freezing 12 tons of fish daily.<ref name=VZ>''[http://korabli.qdg.ru/sudno8/view/9/1/?art_id=24 СРТМ типа "Железный поток" (пр.502Э) (Zhelezny Potok class specifications, in Russian)]''. korabli.qdg.ru. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>

In 1971, the class was modernized to Project 502EM (''Vasily Yakovenko'' sub-class). Engine power increased to 852&nbsp;kW (1160&nbsp;hp), total installed power to 1512&nbsp;kW (2060 h.p.), daily fish freezing capacity to 22 metric tons. The hull remained unchanged, displacement increased to 1,220 tons. From 1971 to 2000 Leninskaya Kuznitsa built 345 ships of this subclass.<ref name=VA /> ''Vereshchagino'', hull number 1450, was commissioned in 1978.<ref name=VA /> As of 2010, it sails under its original name, which is still transliterated into Latin alphabet from Russian, rather than [[Ukrainian language]] (cf. ''Vereshchahyn'' mentioned in the BBC article<ref name=BB />). In the 1990s ''Vereshchagino'' abandoned fishing business and switched to shipping small general cargoes from [[Turkey]] to Ukrainian ports. Independent Ukrainian media alleged that the owners of ''Vereshchagino'' are running a [[smuggling]] operation; ''Sarata'', another ship of the same company, was involved in large-scale smuggling of [[ephedrine]].<ref>Savransky, Gennady (2007, in Russian). ''[http://www.kommersant.ua/doc.html?DocID=778363&IssueId=41336 Пограничника настиг гаражный рок (Pogranichnika nastig garazhny rok)]''. [[Kommersant]] (Odesa edition), June 26, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>

A third subclass of 16 ships, ''Issledovatel Baltiki'', was built in 1984-1987. These trawlers, designed to search for fish and lead fishing flotillas, had standard ''Vasily Yakovenko'' engines and refrigeration equipment. In Soviet service they were classified in a distinct class of ''fish search vessels'' (RPS).<ref name=VA50>''[http://korabli.qdg.ru/sudno8/view/9//?art_id=50 РПС типа "Исследователь Балтики" (на базе пр.502ЭМ) (Issledovatel Baltiki class specifications, in Russian)]''. korabli.qdg.ru. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>

==Missile incident==

[[File:P-500 bazalt sketch.svg|thumb|left|P-500 Bazalt, similar in outline to older P-35 Progress. The length of P-35 marginally exceeds the [[Beam (nautical)|beam]] of ''Vereshchagino''.]]

On April 14, 2000, the Russian Black Sea Fleet command informed Ukrainian naval and maritime agencies in [[Odesa]] about a planned naval exercise.<ref name=S275 /> The captain of ''Vereshchagino'', which was heading from [[Istanbul]] to [[Skadovsk]],<ref name=BB /> ignored the advice to stay outside of the exercise area.<ref name=S275 /> ''Vereshchagino'' entered the exercise area, 30 miles off [[Donuzlav]] in Western [[Crimea]], on April 24.<ref name=S275>Alexander Shirokorad (2004, in Russian). ''Флот, который уничтожил Хрущёв (Flot, kotoryi unichtozhil Khruschev)''. AST publishers, {{ISBN|5-9602-0027-9}}. p. 275.</ref>

On that day the Russian Navy base in [[Sevastopol]] ran an anti-ship missile exercise. The [[P-5 Pyatyorka|P-35 Progress]] missile that hit ''Vereshchagino'' was fired from a stationary launcher, operated by the [[Black Sea Fleet]], on Cape Khersones; the missile itself and the crew which fired it actually belonged to the [[Baltic Fleet]].<ref name=S275 /> The missile carried a dummy warhead.<ref name=S275 /> Russian sources did not disclose the intended target of the exercise.<ref name=S275 /> Instead of the target, the missile locked onto ''Vereshchagino'' and pierced through the middle of its [[superstructure]], leaving telltale inverted-eight entry and exit holes and destroying the captain's quarters and the ship's [[radio shack]].<ref name=S275 /> There was no fire.<ref>Past experience has shown that fire from rocket fuel alone can destroy ships larger than ''Vereshchagino''.</ref> At the time of impact all crewmembers were dining in the mess, far from impact point, and survived imminent death. One seaman was injured by splinters.<ref name=S275 />

The ''Vereshchagino'' incident occurred shortly after two other incidents with post-Soviet missiles. On April 20, an [[OTR-21 Tochka]] missile, fired during a routine exercise of [[Military of Ukraine|Ukrainian armed forces]], rammed an apartment block in [[Brovary]], {{convert|130|km|mi|abbr=on}} from its launch site. Three people were killed, five injured, around a hundred lost their homes. On April 21, a Russian missile crashed in [[Kazakhstan]].<ref name=BB>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/724929.stm Russian missile hits Ukrainian ship]''. BBC. April 24, 2000. Retrieved November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref><ref>Moore, Jeanne (2000). ''[https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/25/world/world-briefing.html?scp=4&sq=ukraine+missile&st=nyt World Briefing]''. The New York Times, April 25, 2000. Retrieved November 24, 2010.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo_search.php?query=Vereshchagino&andor=null&category=-99 Photographs of ''Vereshchagino'' on shipspotters.com]

{{2000 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vereshchagino}}
[[Category:Ships built at Kuznya na Rybalskomu]]
[[Category:Ships of Ukraine]]
[[Category:1978 ships]]
[[Category:Trawlers]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 2000]]
[[Category:Non-combat naval accidents]]
[[Category:Passenger ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union]]