The Russian Wreck

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The Russian Wreck

PETER COLLINGS I NT ERNATIONAL AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, PHOTOGRAPHER & WRECK HUNT ER

Is it a trawler? Is it a fishing boat? Is it a cargo ship?........

Follow our journey through this cold war museum

Celebrating 30 years of publishing Forward by John Womack

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A SPY SHIP

???????????

“The silence of the Bantinites, Part 2”

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CONTENTS

T HE E –BOOK CONCEPT

page 4

INT RODUCTION

page 7

A RE A MAP

page 11

MO MA CLASS (Project 861)

page 12

S PE CIFICATIONS

page15

COLD WAR HISTORY

page16

ZA BAGAD ISLAND

page 18

T HE WRECK TODAY

page 20

INDEPENDENT REPORT

page 23

BIBL IOGRAPHY

page26

2009 EXPEDITION REPORT

page 30

A NOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

page 31

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FORWARD by JOHN WOMACK I am John Womack Snr, BSAC First Class Diver, Advanced Instructor & owner of Otter Dry suits in Yorkshire, having dived the Britannic, Prince of Wales, Repulse and the Victoria plus many more over the last 40 years I would not go anywhere in the Red Sea without one of Peter's guide books. I have been on numerous successful trips of Peter's including wreck searching in Truk Lagoon.

Peter's new book is awesome, there are so many wrecks and to give detailed descriptions of all the wrecks themselves is great, it makes you feel like you have dived them already. I remember doing a night dive on the Thistlegorm which was just fantastic it was pitch black with pin points of light from fellow divers lights. In the south, Peter, Tom and myself went looking for the wreck of the M aidan on Rocky Island, we followed the debris trail down to 65mtrs and there before us was the huge shadow of the wreck hanging over the abyss starting at 80 mtrs. We could only look down in wonder, but we had found what we were looking for after 10 years.

Peter's trips are a must and very much like his trips his books are a must read, Peter is a walking encyclopaedia on all things diving and ship wrecks. A lot of great ships were made in the North East and it comes as no surprise to me that this is where Peter came from too, we have been friends/fellow wreck divers a lot of years and hope to be sharing experiences and books for many more years to come.

John Womack MD Otter Watersports Yorkshire.March 2018 Otter Drysuits, UK This series of guides is respectfully dedicated to this great man. I am proud to have called him friend and shared his last dive.

JOHN MICHAEL WOMACK 23 MARCH 1943- 30TH NOV.2018

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THE E BOOK CONCEPT The idea of the E BOOK series came about after seeing so many incorrect publicatio ns q uo tin g the wrong identity o f the Tile Wreck at Abu Nuhas in the Red Se a. Despite a plethora o f undenia ble facts presented by m yself and m embers of the Red Sea Wreck Academy, self pro claiming experts still, for reaso ns kno wn o nly to them selves, co ntinued to quote the MARCUS a s the CHRISO ULA K. It was archive photographs from Howard Ro senstien and the lo ca ti o n o f t he ships bell, which added weight to Stephan Jablonski’s accounts of the sinkings’. Thi s n e w m ateri al gave us enough to pro duce the first E book in 2008.

Being free from restrictions it soon found its way around the world and was passed on fro m d i ve r t o diver. It had the desired effect-Now more and more reports carry the correct identity.

Its success lead to more titles being pro duced and published .Initially with a n E gypti a n t he m e, the Thistle gorm, Rosalie Mo ller and the Russian warranted a vo lume to themselves. Tourist autho riti es have noticed the importance of their assets. Wrecks are living underwater museums, and commis sio ns have flo o ded in from Leros, Egypt, Truk, Palau,Sri Lanka Subic Bay, and Busuanga, to name b ut a few.

Prom o ting tourism through shipwrecks” has become our m ission statement, and by the end of 2015 we will have co mpleted 20 titles in the series. We intend to upda te the guides annually-all free in readable form at (72dpi) and in hi res, printable versions from the deeplens website for a small fee.

So now we have a total of 20 titles available, (and more o n the way), yours to enjoy a nd p as s o n-to anyone who ma y be interested- with m y compliments and don’t forget we run regular expedit i o ns a nd safaris to all these featured Wrecks…The pro ject has o nly just begun….

PETER COLLINGS SSI PRO 5000

MY THANKS TO: The stalwart members of the Red Sea Wreck Academy fo r their help o ver the years. Their suppo rt has been a vital part o f o ur continued success! Thanks also to all o ur sponsors. My s pe c ia l t ha nks also to Simon for publishing the facts.

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INTRODUCTION This is a fascinating shipwreck and has been the centre o f much debate since we located he r b ac k i n 1994. While running the BSAC expeditions, mapping and charting many of the well known s i te s i n So uthern Egypt we found several wrecks.

This o ne was quite by accident. We had gone to explo re Zabagad, actually lo o king for the MAIDEN and needed a place to stay for the night. As we pulled into the bay I noticed lifeboats o n the shore - o ne at each end of the bay.

As I snorkelled o ver to o ne of them I ca me across the RUSSIAN WRECK. It was a natura l , b ut wrong co nclusion, that the lifeboats had come from this wreck. They were in fact too big!

We were later to again stumble across a wreck in 70m trs and which we believe is the TAIWAN. The life bo ats, English in origin may have come from her.

The initial dives on the small “cargo” ship revealed some strange facts and I pro claimed tha t i t wa s a spy ship. Other team members remained unconvinced.

During the late 90’s the wreck became a regular feature in our Southern Wreck itinera ry a nd m o re and mo re clues were found strengthening m y identification.

In the o riginal publicatio n o f SHIPWRECKS OF THE EGYPTIAN RED SEA she rem ained unidentified until the reprint in 2006 when her full story was revealed.

By 2000 much o f m y research and publications were being plagiarised by a self pro c lai m in g e xpe rt who hadn’t even dived most of these wrecks. This “expert” blagged his wa y o nto a l i ve abo ard a nd dem anded to be taken to the wreck to prove to the world I was wrong and that it was m erely a f i s hi ng trawler.

The dive m aster happened to be as good friend of mine and the m anner o f the “expert” g o t r i ght up his Egyptian nose. Instead of going to Zabagad, the “expert” was taken to another Island where there was indeed (and still is) a fishing trawler……………

Still not satisfied o ur “expert” dem anded the m agazine e ditors e xpose m e a s a fraud, claim ing I “invented” wrecks to fill my safaris! One editor by chance was o n board a liveaboard with m e a nd we 7

www.deeplens.com went to the RUSSIAN WRECK. I had o n bo ard a team o f experts ranging from m ilitary co m munications, electronic engineers, even a retired aircraft ca rrier “driver”, as he described himself.

Our o bjective was simple! Get to the bottom of this m ystery. Our esteemed guest and edito r o f the now defunct Dive Magazine, Mr Simon Ro gerson, was enthralled by the m ission and that was echoed in his editorial preceding the publication of the feature “The Riddle of The Russian Wreck” in Di ve March 2006.

During o ur visit Dave went m issing. He had follo wed the HT cable a shore and it led him to a grounding plate. He informed us this would have been use d as a satellite uplink base. Dave also to o k great interest in the m ultico re ca bles running up the co m m s m ast. Ano ther Dave, this tim e an electronics expert was taken into the battery room. He took great interest in the ci rcui t s c hem ati cs po sted at the end of each row.

From this info rmation he was able to confirm the purpose of so many batteries (we estimated 200+).

The po st dive briefings given by Dave o ur Army communications expert a nd i nd eed h i s f o l lo w up repo rt left us in little doubt as to the purpose o f this vessel.

A rece nt theo ry put forward by another scribbler suggests that she was a ca rgo s hip , s ervi c in g t he Egyptian Military base on the island. Well she sank before the base was established and she doesn’ t have any ca rgo holds……………

So judge for yourself, the facts are all there, o ne thing is for certain, this vessel was NEVER us e d for fishing, well not for ca tching fish anyway……………..

Better still jo in us on our next So uthern Wreck Safari.

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Througho ut the vessel there are m any badges like this one, co nfirm ing the nationality o f the vessel. Several of these have been translated, and verify the findings of o ut experts. This is ce rtainly not a vessel used to ca tch fish!

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Map designed by Mike Fenney of dive-logs.com

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THE RUSSIAN WRECK - MOMA CLASS PROJECT 861M

A diver hovers over the stern of the Momar class Surveillance vessel at Zabagad Island .The damage from the explosion can clearly be seen in the starboard hull. On the aft de c k are the wi nc he s fo r towing the sonar arrays.

THE DISCOVERY During the early BSAC expeditions to Southern Egypt, one of o ur main targets was to locate the wreck o f the MAIDAN, as well as explo ring the undived sites o f the so uth. Cruising around Zabagad we found two lifeboats lying o n the shore. We thought they m ight be from the MA ID EN and spent the next day diving the o uter reefs o f St John’s or Zabagad island. Encountering a school o f ham merheads we noticed a large freighter in deep water (70mtrs) below us. Beyond our r e m it , we co uld only speculate that this m ight be the MAIDEN, indeed we now kno w she i s l ik el y t o b e the TAIWAN. We decided to check out 2 lifeboats, English pump action type, lying on the shore a nd in do ing so stumbled across a cargo ship, her radio and comms mast just below the surface. At first we thought the lifeboa ts were fro m this ship, but again we were to be pro ved wrong.

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www.deeplens.com The initial dive was a hurrie d o ne being the last day of that year’s expedition. The initial appearanc e o f the ship was that she was simply a small ca rgo vessel which had run aground quite recently, not much co ral and indeed a painted emblem on her funnel.

Electro nic equipment lay all around the ship, much more than the usual array o f masts coils and cables.

Russia n lettering on no tice plates were everywhere, her compass originating from Denmark. An intact helm and bridge pro vided a fascinating dive. If anyone had been here before they had left her undisturbed.

As we sailed away we were all excited at the find and speculated o ver t he t wo wre ck s wi th l o ts o f unanswere d questions. My suggestion that this little cargo ship was indeed a Russi an s py s hip wa s m et with ridicule. I was told I watched too many Bo nd films. My instincts wouldn’t let go.

I returned to the wreck whenever o ur schedule allowed. The more I diver her, the more convinced I wa s abo ut m y theory. On 8th June o f 2003, the day after John Wo mack (Otter W a ter S po rts) a nd m yself found the Maiden, I took an electronics expert deep into the Russian wreck s ho wi ng h i m t he racks o f batteries and the schematics at the end of each row. Although I c o ul d n’ t und e rstand h i s technica l jargon through his mouthpiece I got the gist o f what he was getting at. Al l t he se b a tteri es co uld o nly m ean o ne thing. The ship needed a clean po wer so urce fo r her purpo se. Her usual generators would give o ff radiation and transmitted noise batteries wouldn’t. He trac ed t he c able s, so m e ended where a piece of equipment had been removed through an access panel in the hull. Othe r ca bles ran forward and we were not to discover their destination for another year. Davi d y o u s ee i s “rotund” and couldn’t quite squeeze through the ducting! .We eventually had to drag him away from “all that electro nic stuff”. I became an expert in electronic jargon after that d i ve ; “ s wit c h m o d e”, “ m ulti phase”, “dirty” and “clean” power.

Ano ther co nvert for my theory.

The undenia ble clues:-Throughout the ship we found evidence o f electronic surveillance equipm ent. One room, located below behind the bridge was a communications ce ntre. Desks packed with electronic gauges, dials, knobs and switches-desks for 6 -10 personnel. The switches were all labelled in Russia n, some examples on the left with their translations. The word TYRE has 3 meanings in Russia; a car tyre, a surgical splint and an electric buss or distributio n board, sometimes known as a buzz bar. The battery room contained over 200 batteries in 4 sections, each with a schematic at each end. The ca bles traced back into the co m ms room. The HT lead running ashore was armoured and multi cored leading to a solid base o n the island,no doubt for a fixed array. The Comms mast had huge multcore cables running through it, far m o re than a coastal vessel or a trawler would need. Several directional finding antenna were also located close by.

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S YNCHRONIZATION 1 T YRES 1G 2 TYRES 3G 3 EL ECT RICA L

CUT

O UT 4 S 5 TYRES 2G

T ENS IO N

&

F REQUENCY S.P.B 1 EL ECT RICA L O UT

CUT

2 T YRE AS 3T YRE VS 4T YRE AB

INS T A L L A T IO N

&

MA INTAINANCE FOR S HIELD

NA VIGA T IO N

The Mom a (Project 861) was and is a costal survey ship. They are also used as buoy tenders.

The co nverted Mom a (Proje ct 861M) is an Electro nic Intelligence (EL INT) gathering ship co nverted fro m Moma class survey ship/buoy tenders. These ships ca rry SSV (Co m muni c ati o ns Vessel) numbers on the bow

The plate opposite was located on the winch-and when translated revealed som e crucial evidence.

Machinery Code (pos. index) 6-4 An ch or Cable 31mm works no. 155 date of m anufacture 1973 actual weight 3200 kg (O TK) mechanical control

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www.deeplens.com A s trakhan SSZ im. 10-iy God. Oktyabrskoy Revolyutsii, Astrakhan

The ‘Mo m a’ class electronic surveillance ship (Project 861M)

SPECIFICATIONRussia n Designation: SSV (Communications Ship) Builder:

Sto cznia Po lnocna, Gdansk (Po land)

Ro le:

E.L.I.N.T

Year ado pted:

1967

Number in Cla ss:

28 ships total (production from 1968 – 1974)

Operational Status:

Russia: Still in active service

Displacement: Length: 73.3 m eters.

1,580 tons full load Draught: 3.8 meters.Beam:10.8 meters

Crew:

41 – 120 Officers and Sailors (depending o n the mission)

Engine:

2 x Zgo da/Sulzer 6 TD 48 diesel engines delivering 3,600 hp

Max Speed:

17 Knots Range: 8,700 Nautical miles at 11 knots

Se nso r Suite:

2 x Do n-2 navigational radars

So nar:

Bronza arrays Electronic Warfare: Intercept and DF arrays

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www.deeplens.com COLD WAR RUSSIAN E.L.I.N.T. HISTORY Nearly all ship's registered under the Russia n flag would have carried a "Zam po lit" , o r Po litica l Officer o nboard who was in regular contact with Moscow which wo uld give the a ppea rance o f a ny vessel o f the Russian fleet, commercial o r otherwise, of that o f a spy ship. Although the Russia ns d i d use co mmercial vessels for the gathering of information from othe r c o untri es us i ng S . I. G. I. N.T .

(Signals Intelligence Gathering), and E.L.I.N.T. (Electro nic Signals Intelligence) as well.

The ship in question here has an " SSV" designation (Sudno Svyazyy, or communicati o ns ve s se l) lo ca ted on its hull which positively identifies it as a MOMA (Project 861M) Class ship, a m o di fi ed 861-class survey/buoy tender.

During the early years of the Cold War (late 1940's-early 1950's) Russia did not have an extens ive netwo rk of o verseas listening po sts. In the early 1950's the Russian government began to d e ve lo p a versatile and affordable alternative to land-based surveillance o utposts in the form of using commercial ships. The common fishing trawler quickly became the favoured vessel for conducting survei l la nce o f foreign go vernments. These vessels were affordable to operate and maintain, ha d g o o d s ea-go i ng ca pabilities, and had cargo holds which co uld be easily be modified to carry SIGINT and E L INT equipm ent discretely o ut o f sight. Additionally, they were portable, which allowed them to be placed in internatio nal waters o ff the coasts of almost any co untry in the world in order to conduct survei l lanc e with m inimal harassment. As the development o f these "spy ships" evo lved, Russia began constructin g purpose-built EL INT platforms.

The wreck of the ship lies in 24 m eters of water in the western bay of Zabargad Is l and . T he s hip s presence in the southern Red Sea should not surprise anyone that follows world politics and m il it ary events. The Russians had established a FAPSI-GRU surveillance facili ty i n 1 971 o n S o co tra Island at Yemen's Ras Karm Military Airbase. Use o f the facility continued until the break-up of the So vie t

Unio n

in

1991.

So co tra Island is strategically important because it lies at the m outh o f the Gul f o f A d en a nd t he Indian Oce an. Control o f this island effectively allows for an unlimited ability to conduct monitoring of shipping, bo th commercial and military, entering and leaving the Red Sea. So a Russian "spy ship " i n the

so uthern

Red

Se a

should

co m e

as

no

surprise

to

anyone.

The MOMA-class ships were originally designed as survey ships and buoy tenders. To the average o bserver, a survey ship moored at Zabargad Island would not raise too many questions as the i sl and has had numerous geo lo gical surveys co nducted o n it o ver the ye ars due to its lo ca tio n alo ng a tecto nic rift. Additionally, a gem known as "Peridot" (Chrysolite) was mined on the island from at least the Ptolo m aic era until well into the 20th ce ntury.

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One of many cable junction boxes found throughout the ship. Note the use of English headings and Russian lettering. Evidence of both were found throughout the vessel.Some legends had been painted over, suggesting a refit and change of mission during her career.

DID SHE HAVE A NAME ?

Research shows that m any o f these vessels did in fact ca rry m o re than just a co de number.

AND ROMEDA saw service in the Baltic, while ANTARES and A NT A RKT IDA we re o perating in the Pacific, with KRIL’O N and MARS wo rking o ff No rway.

The Russia ns were operating out o f the Dallak Islands (Eritria) during the cold war After Ethi o pi a allie d itself with the So viet Unio n during the Cold War, following the rise of the Derg, t he D ahlak Archipe lago was the location o f a Sovie t Navy base[1]. In 1990, Ethio pia lost control o f the Dahl ak Archipe lago and the northern Eritrean coast to the Eritrean independence movement EPL F and by 1991 Ethio pia had lo st co ntrol o f all o f Eritrea. Fo llo wing the internatio nal re co gnitio n o f Eritrean independence in 1993, the Dahlak Archipelago became a part of Eritrea.

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www.deeplens.com This photograph was taken by American surveillance aircraft in the Southern Red Sea during the Ethioptian /Eritrean war, a year prior to the sinking of the wreck. The letters on the name board are in English and read RIBACHI. Our team are currently investigating this vessels details to compare with the wreck If we can confirm engine numbers we will have identified the wreck!

The wreck has m any intruding aspects for the wreck detective to examine. We have found no evidence anywhere to suggest she was involved in fishing of any kind!

ZABAGAD ISLAND

S t. John's Island (also known as Zagbargad, Zebirget, Topazios) covers an area of 4.50 sq.Km. Its highest po int is 235mtrs.

The island is a fragment of the sub-Red Sea lithosphere. Rocks on the island are m ainly lower crustal m etamorphic rocks.. The island comprises three missives of peridotite, which are rich in the gemstone perido te ( olivine). This gem makes the island notable as it is believed to be the first discovered source o f perido t, which was called topazios in ancient tim es, hence the Greek name for the island, Topazios.

Layers of spinel-lherzolites with anhydrous Al-diopside pyroxenites and hydro us Cr-diopside pyro xenites can be found too on the island. The presence of all of these minerals has led to mining o n the island which dates back as early as ancient times. The strata’s ca n be clearly seen, especially as the sun dro ps Transparent o livine is sometimes used as a gemstone called peridot, the French word for olivine. It is also called chrysolite, from the Greek words for gold and stone. Some of the finest gem-quality olivine has been o btained from a bo dy o f mantle rocks o n Zabargad island .It was here that the ship was anchored before her sinking, tucked away in a quite l ago o n und e r the shado w o f mountains.

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www.deeplens.com The Island is also the location o f at least o ne other wreck- the S.S. TAIWAN, which was sighted in deep water during our early BSAC e xpeditions, when we were looking for t he MA ID A N. T he lifebo ats which were once located on the beach, did not come from the Russian wreck. They ma y have o riginated from one o f the other ships. We may never know. They have disappeared over the years.

Clo se by is Ro cky Island, its reefs are a stark contrast to those of Zabagad and it tends t o a ttra c t m o st of the visiting divers. Its walls and shark encounters are world class. The fabulous wre ck o f t he Maidan lie s there too in very deep water. These assets have helped keep the “Russian wreck� o ut o f the spo tlight The Island comes under the Marine Parks and can be visited without pro blem, provided the livaboard has the co rrect permissions .Suggestions elsewhere that the area is off limits is totally incorrect

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www.deeplens.com THE WRECK TODAY

Tucked away inside a lagoon under the mountains of Zabagad Island, the wreck sits upright in shallow clear water, her second comms m ast almost reaching the surface Her engine room and bridge are am ongst the m any areas which we have explored.

The wreck lies upright in 24 m trs in the western bay o f Zabagad Island. Her bo w and small hold h ave bro ken o ff and lie over to port, full o f the obligatory glassfish. There is no evidence of any ca rgo. She is o therwise intact, with a stern superstructure and engine room. Acce ss to her bridge, complete wi th instruments, engine room and galley along with co mpanionway swim-throughs is easy and exciting.

WAS SHE DELIBERATELY SUNK? Left; Engine room hatch covers deliberately removed and all the hinges on the water tight doors have bee cut with a burning torch. A side panel in the port side has also been removed and equipment withdrawn from 4 mounting posts The vessel was left in such a way as to prevent it ever being raised.

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www.deeplens.com Her instrument panel and helm are located in the bridge behind which is a navigation room and s tai rs do wn into the accommodation and galley areas. Evidence of beds, tool boxes and every day items ar e sca ttere d throughout the interior. Large diameter corrugated hoses lie in h e r s tern a nd h e r s i ngle forward ho ld. All her deck fittings

are visible, and intact including the empty lifeboat davits, stern winch, cable drum s for the towed arrays and “to adstool� ventilator tops. Her ce ntral comms m ast almost breaks the surface. Compass p o s ts sit at each side of the flying bridge. Access to the engine room and her accommodation a rea c a n b e gained fro m doors situated on the rear deck. The rear section of the ship can also be explo re d fro m the large holes in her hull. It is po ssible with ca re to enter the engine room this way and then exit via the rear do orways o r her skylights. In front o f the wheelhouse is a control room for wha t a ppears t o b e piping and valves for liquid fuel. The lack of depth (max 24 m trs) means the wreck is usually bathed i n strong sunlight, the clearer water being the upper levels as the sandy bed o ften becomes c l o ud y i f a swell is present. The stern sitting bo lt upright is an impressive sight and is very photogenic.

The bo w section lies over to starboard, the bow itself hard into the r e ef, a nd t he c e ntral r a i sed walkway having bro ken o f from the m ain sectio n by the deckhouse . Near the winch is a n upright structure po ssibly a crane o f some kind and access to the hold is open o r though o ne o f t wo s ervi c e hatches o n the deck o r fo r the less a dventurous through a gash in her starbo ard side. From the walkway a fo rward comms mast runs out almost horizontal and is home to many small r e ef f i s hes a nd so ft co rals.

Sm all coral growths have now established themselves on the wreck and antheas adorn the funnel along with several lionfish. The surro unding area is littered with DF m asts and several antenna, a nd ra d io sets lie off towards the shore amongst the corals- all distinctly Russian

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www.deeplens.com PO ST DIVE FINDINGS A n independent report Our survey o f the ship was greatly enhanced by the input o f Dave. our Army comms expert. Below is his repo rt

Introductio n It was clear on the first dive that this ship was no trawler. The first thing that gave it away f o r m e wa s the am o unt o f antenna mountings fitted to the m asts and the Narrow Band Direction Finding ( D F) antenna lying next to the ship.

It was also clear when entering the ship thro ugh the obvious salvage ho le that somebody had remove d a lo t o f equipment in a hurry. This equipment was almost all ele ct ro ni c a s t he t e ll t a l e p o we r a nd co ntrol cables were either cut o r physically ripped from what ever o wned them. Whatever equi pm ents they were also needed a lot o f power due to the size o f the power distrib utio n p a nel s a nd b atte ry banks. The equipm ents are detailed later in the repo rt. Whatever this ship was and why it was o perating in this area is yet to be seen but whoever o wned it did not want it to be identifie d o r salvaged. The ca ble co nnecting the ship to shore was a strange o ne. Why wo uld a ship have a n umbilical to shore, my theory later o n in the report.

The use o f a fishing trawler to disguise the true identity o f a ships intensions was big business duri ng the Cold War. It was not o nly the So vie ts that were at it, there was also a lo t o f co ntroversy surrounding the British Intelligence Com m unity using them and then the Russia ns sinking them .

Pictured belo w is a Russian trawler converted for surveillance use. I think you will agree tha t i t l o o k s quite sim ilar to the one lying at twenty odd m eters albeit a smaller version. This got m e researching and asking a few questions into what the Russians had and have. I ca me up with a few po ssible targets but the style and size of the ship did not m atch. Then I heard about the Moma through a co ntac t, whi c h utilised the fact that it did resemble a trawler to the untrained eye. The following report i s b as ed o n m y findings with a little educated guess work.

The ‘Mo m a’ class electronic surveillance ship (Project 861M) Introductio n The Mom a (Project 861) was and is a costal survey ship. They are also used as buo y tenders.

This class has been extensively exported and converted for other uses, both in the USSR/Rus s i a and abroad. There are believed to be 6 in reserve and o thers have been discarded. T he c o nve rted 23

www.deeplens.com Mom a (Project 861M) is an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) gathering ship converted from Mo m a class survey ship/buoy tenders. Only two units have undergone major conversions, wit h o ther uni ts having m ino r conversions. These ships ca rry SSV (Communications Vessel) numbers o n the bow.

Equipm ent Electro nic Intelligence Gathering Equipment These ships carry a wide spread amount o f surveillance equipment. This varies from Directi o n Finding to Electronic Surveillance equipments. The equipment car ri ed wo uld b e a ble t o s upply co verage from 5MHz up to 500MHz. This co vers the HF, VHF a nd UHF bands a nd would depend on the m ission or targets required. Modern day equipments are able to us e o ne m ulti band antenna with a m ultiplexer, to allow the o perator to scan through the required frequency spectrum and DF using o nly one antenna and one rack o f equipment. In the early days, co l d wa r e ra, t he re we re separate receivers and DF equipment for HF, VHF and UHF. In turn this would r e q ui re a l o t o f antennas, power requirements and operators.

Electro nic surveillance is a relatively basic operation. It consists o f a receiver and an antenna .

The rece iver wo uld be of the require d type i.e. HF, VHF or UHF. The receivers would have b ee n roughly 19� square and the depth of a normal video player. These then would be mounted in racks and stacked on top of each other. These would then be connected to the required ante nna vi a a p a tch panel o f some sort. This is not like connecting your TV. The antenna has to be made to rece i ve t he required frequency range. With this, different types of antenna will rece ive s i gnal s f ro m a g re ater distance than others. There would also have been the pro vision to record the intercepted signa ls f o r later analysis.

Dire ction Finding however is not so basic. A basic system wo uld comprise o f t wo r e ce ive rs .

One rece iver is fo r monitoring o nly and the other for DF. The DF receiver would then be connected to so me sort o f processor. All this is connected to the antenna itself. The antenna receives the signal and passes it to the processor in the form of vo ltages. There is a lot o f maths done in the p ro ce sso r which gives you the bearing to the target. The antennas used can be seen clearly o n the photographs belo w:

The ship would have carried two of these antennas, one o n the fore m ast and o ne m o unted o n t he m ast above the bridge area.

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The DF Array can be clearly seen mounted on the top of the mast

Other antennas carried on the ship would vary from ship to ship, ship to shore and long range com munications antennas .

Als o with thes e it would have carried various types of receiving antenna for the different frequency ranges. The am ount of antennas carried can be clearly seen on the photograph below:

2 2 3 1 4

The antennas vary from (1) so m e form o f UHF antenna, (2) DF antenna, (3) HF antenna suspended between the two masts. This could be either communications or an intelligence ga the rin g antenna. Also (4) some form of intelligence gathering antenna.

So nar Array As previo usly mentioned, these ships are Hydrographic survey ships that have been conve rted i nto so m ething a little more sinister. As seen on the wreck there are three l arge c abl e d rum s t ha t we re po ssibly use d to stow a towed sonar array. There are two possibilities o f the sonar type:

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www.deeplens.com Passive Sonar Passive sonar or listeni ng sonar’s, use sound related (usually involuntaril y) by the target. In this case, only one way transmission is invo l ve d a n d t h e system centres around the hydrophone array, used to listen to the target sounds. T hese arrays are towed behi nd the shi p and may be great e r t h a n 500m long.

Active So nar Active sonar systems are sai d to be active when sound is purposel y generated by a component cal led the projector (an underwater loudspeaker). The sound waves generated travel through the sea to a target and are returned as echoes to a hydrophone array (underwater microphones), which converts the sound into an el ectrical signal . The source projector for active sonar’s may be ei ther mounted on the hull of the vessel or fitted in a towed body that can be lowered to the b e st d e p t h f o r target detection. This is known as variabl e depth sonar and the d e pt h wi ll depend on the depth of the target and al so sound propagation conditions.

Other equi pm ent that would have been used in conjunction wi t h a t o we d array woul d consist of som e form of sound generator, to provi de t h e p in g from a submerged object. This would be quite a bulky bi t of kit a n d wo u l d requi re quite a lot of power to run and operate it. Al so as with all sonar, som e form of user di spl ay would have been used. In the early days a Cathode Ray Tube would be the method for di splay but it is po ssi b l e t h a t som e form of graphical /computer based system was used.

It’s hard to say what a So viet ship was using sonar for, as there are many different use s. Its p o ss ib l e they were trying to find so m ething that they had lost, map the sea bed for submarine passage planning o r for detecting submarine operations.

Po wer/Battery Ro o m This room would have been the main stay for all ships electric power distribution. This could vary from the navigatio n systems do wn to domestic supply. I would say that a lot of the distribution wo ul d ha ve been taken up with the surveillance equipment and communications. The ships generator wo uld h a ve pro vided the m ain input to the distributio n pa nels. After that vo ltage co nversio n, regulatio n and rectification would have been ca rried o ut as some equipment co uld have been q ui te s us ce pti ble t o dam age by a power surge or an unclean vo ltage. The batteries could have been use d as a backup f o r co m munications and I would say that was the likely use for them. These would be c o ns tantl y t ri c kl e charged fro m the ships generator and there would have been some type of switching system be twee n generator and battery supplies.

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www.deeplens.com Cable to Shore At first sight the ca ble could have been m istaken for a po wer supply to the ship while it wa s a t d o c k .

On the dive I cut away the top layer of insulation to try and reveal what type o f c a bl e i t wa s . T he ca ble was armoured, for protection from the elements and was multi cored. If this wa s a p o we r c able then you would expect to see quite thick cores o f cable, maybe 3 to 5 cores. This was n o t t he c a se.

The co res were relatively thin and there were quite a lot of them. My theory behind this is that i t wa s not been use d for power but it form ed some form of electronic control and signal path be twe en s hi p and sho re. What follows is a number of po ssible use s. Remote surveillance eq ui pm en t. If t he s hi ps surveillance antennas were been use d, then equipment could have be en p ut a s ho re a nd t he c able would pass the required controls back and fo rth from the antenna. Remote communications antenna. If the ship was talking to a base a given distance away then it most pro bably would have been d o in g s o using High Frequency (HF) transmission. An antenna therefore would have been gro und m o unte d away fro m the ship to reduce the dangers o f no n io nising radiatio n. The dangers been that the transm ission output would have to be quite large to get the required distance. A no ther r e as o n f o r ground m o unting antennas is that they are quite large for transmission o ver large distanc es. Re m ote s urveillance antenna. It is po ssible that the ship could have remoted it’s surveillance antennas to ge t a greater range and a bro ader spectrum. It is quite plausible that it co uld have been used in o ne o f t he abo ve three ways as these methods are employed with vario us agencies around the world. The re a re signs o n land that there was some sort o f metal structure. It’s possible that it was some form of antenna array, co mmunications or surveillance.

Conclusion I do n’t think we will ever kno w the true identity o f the wreck but I think it is sa fe t o s ay t ha t i t wa s a surveillance ship of some type and she was sent to the bottom for a reason. As I said earlier, there is a lo t o f educated guess work invo lved with this; you ca n’t just look up o n the internet t o t e ll y o u wha t equipm ent it carried etc because of the nature o f the ship. D.O.

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www.deeplens.com DECEMBER 2009 EXPED ITION REPORT In December 2009, o ur team once again visited the wreck, exploring deep into her inte rio r, l o ca ti o n several more rooms indicating her purpose – A “Chemical Laboratory” was located below and behind the bridge, interesting that the legend was this time in English……..

One o f o ur team was a m arine architect-a mine o f information. Ba s ed i n Bre m erhave n, F re so i s m aking further investigations and a report will be included in the first upd ate .H ere t ho ugh a re h i s thoughts on how she was scuttled…………

POSSIBLE CAUSE OF EXPLOSION

The valves we saw do wn there on deck are VECS (Vapour emi ssi on c ontrol s ys tem s) us ed on tankers.It is an arrangement of piping and hoses used to control vapour emissions c oll ec ted from a tank. Used for "Flammable cargoes" means cargoes of crude oi l, petrol eum produc ts e tc . T hi s pressure/vacuum valves are designated to prevent the passage of flam e into cargo tanks and to relieve pressure and vacuum during cargo loading/unloading on cargo tanks. I saw 4x VECS on deck of the wreck. She had 4 big tanks amidships. One possible senario could be an accidental/sabotage explosion on this area. The ship broke into 2 pieces. The bow went do wn immediately and the s tern (no bo w ancho r holding) hit the rocks. Sinking later. The survivals of explosion abandon he r on l i febo at and the stern went down. The vessel has a big amount of big hoses. Very strange for jus t a s py ship. Stored in rudder engine room and I call it "pump room". She wa s desi gne d to re cei ve /load fuel(?) from /to other bo ats/submarines. Rem em ber that all electrical stuff like lam ps, buttons, connection boxes etc had ex rating. Explosion-proof equipment for the use where combustible dus ts are expected during some operations. I kno w, a lot of assumptions but I have the feeling the cre w l ost the vessel smoking close to dangerous spaces or something like that. This c hem ic al l a bo ratory we found co uld be a sample testing laboratory, means quality check of new received products...

Nothings ever black or white-especially where shipwrecks are concerned. The VECS system described above.

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ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST Russian sp y ship sinks after colliding with livestock vessel off Turkey

27 APRIL 2017 • 1:05PM Russian naval MOMA CLass spy ship sank in the Black Sea off Turkey's coast after hitting a Togo-flagged vessel packed with livestock but all of it s 7 8 crew were rescued by Turkish coastguards.

The LIMAN - a form er research ship re-fitted as an in telligence vessel - had a hole ripped out of it s hull in the early afternoon incident.

The collision took place in fog outside the northwestern entrance to the Bosphorus Strait, one of the world's biggest shipping thoroughfares that passes through Istanbul in to the Sea of Marm ara.

The Turkish coastguard said in a statement that the collision involved the Togo-flagged vessel Youzarsif H which was carrying a cargo of liv estock.

It said that of 7 8 Russian per sonnel on board the ship, 63 were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and the other 15 by the Youzarsif H it self.

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A picture of the ship believed to be the Youzars if H, which was carrying lives tock when it collided with the Rus sian ves sel .They were then transferred to a Turkish m ilitary ship, it said, without giv ing fu rther details. "All the per sonnel were ev acuated," it said.

Turkish m edia said the Youzarsif suffered minor damage and went on its way after the in cident.

The Russian defence m inistry confirmed the ship had gone down and said the crew were safe and would be ta ken from a Turkish vessel ba ck ont o a Russian ship.

Turkish news agency Doga n said the area where the ships collided was shrouded in thick fog at the time, suggesting that the in cident was accidental.

Turkish Prime Min ister Binali Yildirim spoke to his Russian counterpart Dm itry Medv edev by phone ov er the in cident, describing it as an accident and expressing his sadness, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

A spokes man for Hammami Lives tock which owns the Youzars if H said there had been no los s of life on board the ves sel. "It is considered a slight hit, for us ,” he told Reuters in Lebanon, adding he had no inform ation about the cause of the collis ion.

“We don’t know our los ses yet, but thank God there is no los s of life - neither from our side nor from the other ship," he said, adding the lives tock carrier was heading to Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba from Rom ania.

The Youzars if H was built in 1977 and has a capacity of 2,418 tonnes , according to Thomson Reuters shipping data.

The Bos phorus, which cuts through Istanbul, is one of the world's mos t im portant waterways for trans it of oil and grains. The 17-mile waterway connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

Turkish Prime Min ister Binali Yildirim spoke to his Russian counterpart Dm itry Medv edev by phone ov er the in cident, describing it as an accident and expressing his sadness, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

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Russian Navy reconnaissance frigate Liman leaves from the Black Sea fleet's base at Sevas topol, Crim ean peninsula back in 1999 It w as not known where the Liman was sailing from or it s destination.

The ship was bu ilt as a hydrography research vessel in 1970 bu t turned in to a spy ship in 1989 and armed with an Igla missile launcher, according to public records.

Russian warships have travelled frequently through the Bosphorus Strait to and from the Syrian coast, where a navy presence has been deployed to bolster Russia's air campaign in support of Presiden t Bashar al-Assad.

In Febr uary, m ilitary sources told Russian m edia that Liman would be observ ing NATO's Sea Sh ield exercise in the Black Sea .

Cem Dev rim Yaylali, an Istanbul-based Turkish naval expert and editor of the Bosphorus Naval New s website, said the Liman had previously been to the Sy rian coast bu t it was not clear where it was headed on this occasion.

"A collision is not som ething that happens very frequently," he told AFP. He said the in cident was an em barrassment for the Russian authorities as the Liman was likely carrying sensitive surveillance equ ipment that Moscow would want returned.

"I im agine there will be a salvage effort to raise the ship before anyone else sees it ," he said.

"If the ship cannot be salvaged then Russia surely will try to take away the sensitive equ ipment from on board by divers."

Rela tions bet ween Russia and Turkey hit their worst state sin ce the Cold Wa r in November 2015 when Turkish war planes shot down a Russian jet ov er the Sy rian border.

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www.deeplens.com Bu t there has sin ce been a dramatic reconciliation, with Moscow and Ankara now engaged in a joint effort to br ing peace to Sy ria despite standing on opposing sides of the conflict.

Presiden t Recep Tayyip Er dogan is du e to hold his latest talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Russia on May 3 .

As a Black Sea littoral state, Russia is allowed to have its m ilitary ships pass through the Bosphorus under the 1936 Montreux Convention on the Straits.

The in tense traffic of Russian vessels to and from Syria - known as the Syrian Express - has caused immense curiosity in Istanbul where the warships pass through the heart of the city in fu ll v iew of ship-spotters.

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PETER COLLINGS BIBLIOGRAPHY-PUBLICATIONS 1986- 2013

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COMING SOON

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