Soviet cruiser Murmansk (1955)


Murmansk was a light cruiser project no. 68-bis of the Soviet and later the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.
She was laid down in Severodvinsk in 1953 and commissioned on 22 September 1955. Murmansk joined the 2nd Cruiser Division on the division's formation in 1956.

Fate

In 1994 Murmansk was sold to India for scrapping but ran aground off the Norwegian village of Sørvær during the transfer. During that time, a photo was taken by a native Norwegian that had shown the ship in almost perfect condition with a massive list. It was first estimated that the winter storms would destroy parts of Murmansk above the water, but the ship remained in one piece and in 2009 funding was allocated to pay for the dismantling of the vessel.
Since the ship was in a very bad state when the decision to remove it was made, there was no possibility to tow it. Scandinavia's largest demolition contractor, AF Decom, constructed a massive breakwater and dry dock around Murmansk to access the shipwreck from land and demolish it where it rested. The dock around the wreck was sealed in April 2012. By mid-May the dock was almost empty of water and the demolishing of the cruiser began. The project was completed in 2013.
There is a dispute about possible radioactive substances within the ship.