Flagships.

This is coolbert:

Some historical context the sinking of the Russian warship Moskva.

"Ukrainian Attack On Russian Missile Cruiser Moskva Is The Largest Warship Sunk Since WWII"

BY: CHUCK DEVORE APRIL 15, 2022.

"The loss of a flagship [Moskva] during war can be devasting to a navy’s pride as well as national morale. This is further complicated by the fact that the ship was named for Russia’s capital."

Even as understood by A. Hitler during the Second World War. Deutschland becomes Lützow.

"This threat so vexed Adolf Hitler during World War II that he ordered the renaming of the heavy cruiser KMS Deutschland to Lützow in early 1940, recognizing that the loss of a warship named for the nation itself would be a devastating propaganda victory. This cautionary move was validated when, only three months later, a sister ship of the newly renamed Lützow, the KMS Blücher, was sunk by gunfire and torpedoes from Norwegian coastal defense batteries on April 9, 1940.

"Blücher was the flagship of the German operation. Lützow was also damaged and forced to withdraw in the same battle. The loss of these German ships in the battle delayed Germany’s Norway conquest timetable, allowing the Norwegian royal family to escape and lead a government in exile. Blücher’s displacement was 18,500-tons, about half again as large as Moskva."

[....]

"From a practical perspective, the loss of the Moskva is significant, not only because it served as the Russian flagship, coordinating the Black Sea fleet, but also because the ship’s significant anti-air and anti-missile capabilities provided an air defense umbrella for the smaller ships around it. Consequently, the Russian amphibious threat to Odessa has virtually been eliminated, allowing Ukraine to redeploy forces assigned to the defense of that key port city to the battle to retake Kherson, about 90 miles to the east along the Black Sea coast."

ALSO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE POSSIBILITY THAT THE ENRAGED RUSSIAN WILL FEEL COMPELLED TO RESPOND TO THE SINKING OF THE MOSCOW IN A FRENZIED MANNER WITH CONSEQUENCES UNFAVORABLE TO THEIR CAUSE!

Very well done C. Devore and thank you.

coolbert.