USSR:
Nanuchka-class corvette (MRK) Musson burns after being hit by a training missile. April 16, 1987
"On April 16, 1987, "Муссон", while on naval exercises, was hit by a RM-15M training target missile launched from the R-42 missile boat from a distance of 21 km (the ship's self-defense failed to repel the target missile; according to some reports, two Оса-АКМ missiles were fired sequentially at the target missile, however, the defeat by fragments of these missiles did not disable the control system of the target missile, there was no fuel ignition, and the warhead in such missiles is inert). This official version needs to be thoroughly verified and then refuted. In fact, with overwhelming probability, confirmed by extracts from the combat documents of the ships participating in the exercise, photographs and calculations, the RM-15 target missile fired from the R-87 missile boat from a range of 136 kbt (25.2 km) hit the MRK. The RM-15m target missile fired from the R-42 missile boat actually passed over the MRK "Вихрь", which is confirmed by the available documents and witness statements.
The rocket pierced the left side of "Муссон" superstructure; fuel and oxidizer, mixed during the destruction of the rocket, ignited. The commander of the ship, Captain of the 3rd rank Viktor Rekish, the first deputy commander of the association, captain of the 1st rank Rinat Timirkhanov, the commander of the division of ships, captain of the 2nd rank Nikolai Kimasov and a number of other officers, midshipmen, petty officers and sailors, who were at the main command post, were instantly killed in the fire. Lieutenant Commander Igor Goldobin, the ship's assistant commander, remained the senior officer on "Муссон" engulfed in flames. Having received a spinal injury in the explosion, a broken leg and a burned arm, he nevertheless remained in the ranks, leading, together with the zampolit, senior lieutenant Vasily Zagoruiko, first the fight against fire, and then the organization of the rescue of the survivors.
The fire quickly engulfed the ship (which was facilitated by the use of aluminum-magnesium alloy in the design of the ship); the fire extinguishing systems failed, the ship was de-energized, the ship's internal communication was lost. The struggle for the survivability of the ship lasted from 18:43 to midnight, when it completely burned out, lost buoyancy and sank at a depth of 2,900 metres 33 nautical miles south of the Askold Island. The situation was complicated by the fact that, fearing an explosion of ammunition on the "Муссон", Rear Admiral Leonid Golovko, who commanded the firing, forbade other ships to approach the burning MRK, so the survivors tried to fight the fire on their own with only fire extinguishers. The bulk of the sailors left the ship at the command personally given by the Commander of the Primorsky Flotilla, Rear Admiral Golovko L.I., They left the ship by jumping into the icy water, the temperature of which was only +4 °C. The admiral's fears were not confirmed — the explosions began after the survivors left the ship. As a result of the disaster, 39 crew members were killed, 37 more people were rescued. All the sailors who left the ship and found themselves in the water were rescued."
