TDS Soviet.

This is coolbert:

Novorossysk sunk, Pugliese TDS to blame?

My suspicions regarding this matter at least to an extent have proven correct!

That Soviet era warship Novorossysk having been sunk while docked, capsizing with an enormous loss of life having a defective design flaw that contributed to the disaster?

Novorossysk originally the Italian warship Giulio Cesare [Julius Caesar], a prize of war and as awarded to the Soviet in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Novorossysk equipped with the Pugliese Torpedo Defense System [TDS], an Italian innovation and modification as incorporated into a number of Italian warships prior to the Second World War.

"While at anchor in Sevastopol on the night of 28/29 October 1955, she most likely detonated a large German mine left over from World War II. The explosion blew a hole completely through the ship, making a 4-by-14-meter (13 by 46 ft) hole in the forecastle forward of 'A' turret. The flooding could not be controlled and she later capsized with the loss of 608 men,"

THAT PUGLIESE TORPEDO DEFENSE SYSTEM WEAKENING THE WARSHIP RATHER THAN STRENGTHENING. UNDERWATER DAMAGE AS MIGHT BE SUSTAINED FROM A TORPEDO OR MINE EXPLOSION MADE WORSE AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE LOSS OF THE SHIP?

Such was the case with Novorossysk?

"The existing underwater protection was replaced by the Pugliese torpedo defense system that consisted of a large cylinder surrounded by fuel oil or water that was intended to absorb the blast of a torpedo warhead. It lacked, however, enough depth to be fully effective against contemporary torpedoes. A major problem of the reconstruction was that the ship's increased draft meant that their waterline armor belt was almost completely submerged with any significant load."

Not one of the various "theories" regarding the sinking of the Novorossysk seem to suggest that the TDS was to blame or even exacerbated the situation. I have my doubts.

coolbert.