Professional Skipper Magazine from VIP Publications

MIKHAIL LERMONTOV: JUST A CRUISE SHIP? BY MURRAY DEAR O n February 16, 1986 the Soviet cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov sank after Marlborough Harbour Board Pilot Don Jamison had a brain explosion and grounded his charge off Cape Jackson in the Marlborough Sounds. A Russian refrigeration engineer was killed and the lives of another 737 passengers and crew were placed at risk. It is an appalling matter of record that nobody was held accountable in a New Zealand court for the loss of this fine ship or the death of a crewmember. At the time, the Soviet Union was involved in a nasty and protracted war in Afghanistan so it would not be surprising if a deeply suspicious Kremlin initially suspected that the Mikhail Lermontov had been deliberately wrecked. It would have soon become apparent that they were dealing with a bog-standard Kiwi cock-up. There was speculation from some quarters after the sinking, that the Mikhail Lermontov was not just a cruise ship but was also engaged in nefarious Soviet activities. With the dust now long settled, it is an appropriate time to take a look at what connection, if any, this ship had with the Soviet Navy. The Mikhail Lermontov was the last of five Ivan Franko-class cruise ships built for the Soviet government���s Baltic Shipping Company, by Mathias Thesen Werft of Wismar, East Germany. Soviet shipbuilding policy was for warships to be built in the Soviet Union, while naval auxiliaries and merchant ships were mainly built in the yards of Warsaw Pact allies. It is useful to note that when the Mikhail Lermontov was built in 1972, Mathias Thesen Werft was concurrently constructing four 7000 ton Abkhaziyaclass research ships for the Soviet navy. Passenger liners were prestige ships and had long been regarded as prospective naval vessels. They were usually built with government subsidies and included features such as stiffened decks to mount naval guns, should the need arise. The 1914 edition of Jane���s Fighting Ships included the silhouettes of passenger liners capable of 18 knots or better, following each nation���s warship silhouettes. During the two world wars, passenger liners were requisitioned to serve as troopships, hospital ships, auxiliary cruisers, minelayers, seaplane carriers, infantry landing ships and aircraft carriers (Japan converted seven liners to carriers during World War II). It is probably more relevant to look at what transpired during the 1982 Falklands War. Amongst the 40-plus Ships Taken Up From Trade (STUFT) for the Royal Navy, were three passenger liners: the Queen Elizabeth II and the Canberra were to serve as troop transports, in naval parlance, Landing Platforms Luxury (Large), while the Uganda was used as a hospital ship. All three were converted to their respective roles in a remarkably short time. The 20,352 ton Mikhail Lermontov was under charter to CTC Lines cruising in Scandinavian waters during the northern summer, and the South Pacific during the northern winter. It was not officially a naval auxiliary, however it was noted in Jane���s Fighting Ships that many Soviet merchant ships had naval connections and it was virtually impossible to tell which side of the naval/merchant fence they lay. There is simply no evidence that the Mikhail Lermontov was 60 Professional Skipper March/April 2013 some sort of spy ship. The Soviet Navy had over fifty intelligence collection ships in naval service, plus there were dozens of large trawlers which probably spent more time fishing the airwaves than the oceans. It had been reported that the Mikhail Lermontov had larger than normal service hatches and this provides a clue as to what type of naval service it might have been considered for. There is an inference that these larger hatches would be useful for embarking/ disembarking troops or casualties. When the Mikhail Lermontov was built the Soviet Navy had no purpose-built hospital ships. A need for such ships was identified during the ���War of National Liberation��� in Angola, when several large passenger ships were taken up to embark wounded Cuban servicemen. The Polish-built hospital ship Ob entered service in 1980 and she was later joined by three sister ships. This would indicate that there was no pressing need for the Ivan Franko class cruise ships to serve as hospital ships. In the event of a conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact it was fully expected that Soviet forces would attack NATO���s northern flank (Norway and Denmark). The ice-strengthened Ivan Franko���s, would have been quite useful as consorts to the Soviet navy���s Ivan Rogov, Ropucha, Alligator and Polnochny classes of landing ships during amphibious operations in the Baltic, Barents and Norwegian Seas. To examine how the Mikhail Lermontov and her sister ships might have been used in an amphibious transport role, it is instructive to look at what transpired with the Canberra during the Falklands War. The Canberra arrived at Southampton from a cruise on April 7, 1982 and sailed southward on the 9th, with 40 and 42 Royal Marine Commandos, plus 3 Parachute Battalion on board. In the intervening two days, Vosper Ship Repairers fitted two helicopter flight decks to operate embarked Sea King helicopters and added ���standard��� replenishment and communication kits. One flight deck was fitted over the emptied swimming pool, where the ship was designed to support the weight of tons of water, while the other flight deck had to be supported by deep trusses run out to the ship���s side, to pick up enough structural stiffness before sufficient strength could be obtained. Even then, there remained the need to support large quantities of heavy stores that had to be carried elsewhere on the superstructure. By May 20 the ���Great White Whale��� was in San Carlos Water landing troops while under Argentine air attack. The evidence that in times of war, merchant ships could be very rapidly converted to functioning naval auxiliaries, would have been noted by the Soviet Navy which made a detailed study of the Falklands conflict. Another factor to consider is that most of the crew of the Mikhail Lermontov would have completed three years compulsory naval service, and it is very likely that many of them were still naval reservists. The colleges run by the Ministry for the Merchant Marine that trained merchant officers, also trained navy fleet officers. Once again the lines were blurred as to who fitted where. In conclusion, there can be a degree of certainty that while the Mikhail Lermontov was built as a cruise ship, it was also a latent naval auxiliary, very likely to have seen service as an amphibious transport should the need have ever arisen.

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