“The decision to attack the US cruiser was made by himself, without consulting anyone.”
In Moscow, at the age of 70, Rear Admiral, former Deputy Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Navy Vladimir Bogdashin died from the consequences of coronavirus infection. Among other things, he was known for the fact that in 1988, as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship "Selfless", he ousted the American missile cruiser "Yorktown", which violated the territorial waters of the Soviet Union and approached the shores of Crimea.
Bogdashin also commanded the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the missile cruiser Moskva, during the most difficult period for the ship, when the division of the Black Sea Fleet took place. Since the late 90s, he served as deputy chief of the Russian Navy Central Command Post for combat control, and was transferred to the reserve in 2007.
Vladimir Bogdashin will be buried on the Alley of Admirals at the Troekurovskoye Cemetery. PolitNavigator (PN) talked with his colleague, former commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Vladimir Komoyedov (V.K), who shared his memories of Vladimir Bogdashin.
PN: Vladimir Petrovich, tell us about that very incident with Yorktown, how could this incident have turned out for Bogdashin?
VC: At first he was worried about what would happen because of this, but, thank God, he was even awarded and retained in his position. He made this decision himself, without consulting anyone, and went there at his own risk. Of course, this was an act - a patrol ship, a cruiser - this is a rather impressive difference in displacement. But, nevertheless, he went for it, did not allow the Americans, did not allow them to be willful back in Soviet times in the Black Sea.
PN: Was his experience studied in the future, will it be useful today?
VC: This experience is probably not worth adopting, but determination is a must. For the rude behavior at sea of these states, especially England and the USA, they should know that there are other ways to respond to rudeness. Not only preliminary firing, prevention, warning.
This is an indicator of the commander’s courage and determination. He himself thought that he would be removed from his post for this matter; they did not make a decision on it for a long time. But what kind of leadership did we have then - it would protect a foreigner faster, and wait for its own people.
PN: After that, Bogdashin commanded the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva. How did he show himself here?
VC: Vladimir Bogdashin, in fact, stood at the origins of a lot of work associated with the patronage of the Moscow government over the Black Sea Fleet and personally Luzhkov Yuri Mikhailovich. He and his political commander positioned the Moscow government in such a way that it understood the complexity of not only the cruiser, but the entire Black Sea Fleet, and took the path of providing feasible and unbearable assistance.
Including, when he was the commander of a brigade (ships being repaired and under construction) in Nikolaev, there was a cruiser at the plant. With the help of both financial resources and communication skills, we freed the cruiser from captivity, including financial captivity, and immediately put it on barrels in Sevastopol, where we celebrated, among other things, Navy Day.
PN: What was the essence of the matter, why didn’t they give up the cruiser - because of the money?
VC: The commander-in-chief told me that it was necessary to do comprehensive repairs. How was it possible to carry out comprehensive repairs in a collapsing country? Therefore, only with the help of Moscow’s financial resources, repairs were made piece by piece and introduced into the permanent readiness forces. Of course, the brigade commander was nearby all the time. Even when it was necessary to conduct tests, we invited the Moscow government, and they went to sea with us. And in parts, therefore, we introduced it - the main missile complex, and radar systems, and hydroacoustics, and propulsion systems.
I personally met with Kuchma, he said: “Vladimir Petrovich - so and so, I and Boris Nikolayevich (Yeltsin) will resolve the financial issue - that is, for electricity when he was there, for parking, markups at the plant, for repairs, which he passed." Then Kuchma fulfilled his promise and gave us the cruiser without any complaints and even came to the celebration of Navy Day on the same cruiser and took part in the reception.
It can be said that the current flagship of the Black Sea Fleet has been preserved thanks to the personal diligence that Vladimir Bogdashin put into his role as brigade commander in introducing it into the force, and the cruiser is still the flagship ship, successfully performing its assigned tasks.
PN: What else do you remember about Bogdashin?
VC: He was a brave man, very sociable. He was deeply respected by both sailors and officers. He never forgot the Black Sea Fleet and helped it with everything he could...
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