The actions of the sailors of the large anti-submarine ship "Vice Admiral Kulakov" to rescue the container ship "Lucia" from a pirate raid in the Gulf of Guinea will certainly be studied by the military. The commander of the detachment of warships of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Navy, Captain I rank Stanislav Varik, revealed some details of the operation.
Those who received a message of help from the Russian military first had to defeat the elements. The pilots of the Ka-27PS helicopter had to operate in the most difficult weather conditions - there was a heavy tropical downpour.
"The distance to the vessel was more than 80 kilometers. Arriving in the area of the incident, the helicopter crew found a high-speed high-speed boat that was maneuvering along the side," Stanislav Varik told Krasnaya Zvezda.
Hearing the rumble of the engines of the approaching Ka-27, the pirates decided to flee.
"At the time of the helicopter's approach, they (eight people) were already loaded into a boat, which, maneuvering sharply, at high speed - over 30 knots, began to move away from the vessel, which continued to drift without movement," the commander of the operation said.
A large anti-submarine ship arrived at the scene two and a half hours later.
"Since at that time nothing was known about the fate of the crew, besides, one of the pirates could have stayed on board, the approach to the ship was carried out in compliance with all precautions." - says the captain of the I rank.
A drone was launched for reconnaissance and monitoring, and a helicopter covered the assault group from the air. The Marines combed the container ship, but they did not find the pirates, and only after that they allowed the crew of the Lucia to come out of hiding. 22 sailors from Romania, Ukraine and Russia warmly welcomed the Marines and thanked them for their rescue.
Help "RG"
The large anti-submarine ship Vice Admiral Kulakov joined the fleet on February 9, 1982. Displacement 7620 tons. The speed is 30 knots. The cruising range is 6350 nautical miles. The crew is 275 people. The main armament is an artillery 100-mm AK-100 installation, rocket armament - 40 missiles of various classes and 96 depth charges. Carries two Ka-27 helicopters.
Nikolay Grishchenko
