E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

More on the Russian Battle-cruiser "about to explode"
In another blow to Russia’s beleaguered military, the navy’s commanding admiral ordered a nuclear-powered battle cruiser to return to port Tuesday for fear that ’’it could explode at any moment,’’ a statement he retracted hours later.
I guess it didn't explode, huh?
Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov said the Peter the Great, the flagship of the Northern Fleet, had become unseaworthy and dangerous. During a recent inspection he found the cruiser to be poorly maintained, including ``the contents of the [on-board] nuclear reactor.’’ But three hours later, he backtracked, saying that the ship’s safety is ’’in line with existing norms,’’ according to The Associated Press.
Define "existing norms" in the Russian navy...
The issue, however, points up problems in the Russian navy, both in hardware and leadership.
No doubt his retraction is a "sugestion" from the Russian Admiralty
Snip
His order for all repairs to be finished within three weeks apparently still stands. He also said the crew would have to take another training course before putting out to sea again. The Peter the Great is worthy of the adjective: It displaces 28,000 tons, stretches the length of three football fields and carries a crew of 610. It reportedly can carry 20 nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. But the ship has had a troubled history. During testing in 1996, an explosion in a steam pipeline killed five sailors. The vessel was commissioned in March 1998 -- 12 years after construction started --
maybe the Ruski’s hired a french national firm for the construction?
but by that June it was back in port for repairs. Military analysts in Moscow said Kuroyedov’s unexpected docking of the cruiser could be part of a personal feud with the ship’s commander, Vladimir Kasatonov. The two officers are said not to like each other, and the admiral blamed Kasatonov personally Tuesday for the shoddy conditions. President Vladimir Putin has made military reform and modernization a priority, although little has improved. Putin’s own military chief of staff has called the situation ``beyond critical’’... Putin was embarrassed last month when he attended the launch of two ballistic missiles from a Northern Fleet submarine. The missiles never got out of their tubes.
the ruskis were claiming it was an "administrative launch" at the time
Kuroyedov said Tuesday that the expiration date on the missiles had been exceeded by nearly a decade.
i did not know that untill today
Posted by: Evert Visser in NL 2004-03-24
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=28938