Cold War and Modern Naval History
After 1945 the navies changed shape: nuclear tests on captured battleships, a spy ship still held in Pyongyang, a night collision that cut a destroyer in half, a Falklands sinking by a 1920s torpedo, an unfinished Soviet carrier bought as a casino that became China's first aircraft carrier, the loss of the submarine Kursk in 2000, and the cruiser Moskva, sunk off Odesa in 2022.
After 1945 navies had to work out what a fleet was for in a world with atomic bombs, jet aircraft, guided missiles and nuclear submarines. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union set the terms for forty years, and its ships and habits carried on after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991. The stories here run from the first atomic tests on warships to a cruiser sunk off Odesa in 2022.
Testing the bomb on a fleet
In 1946 the US Navy gathered more than 90 captured and surplus warships in the lagoon at Bikini Atoll for Operation Crossroads, two shots of about 23 kilotons each. The aim was to find out what an atomic bomb does to a fleet. The old battleship USS Nevada, the only battleship to get underway at Pearl Harbor, was painted orange to be the aiming point for the first bomb. The bomb missed her.
The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which had sailed with Bismarck, survived both shots. She was towed to Kwajalein, where a small leak that nobody could fix finally sank her. Both ships had been built for a war fought with guns, and both outlasted the weapon meant to replace them.
Spy ships and night collisions
Most of the Cold War at sea was not combat. It was surveillance, exercises and accidents, often at night. In April 1952, during night flying operations in the North Atlantic, the destroyer-minesweeper USS Hobson turned left into the path of the carrier USS Wasp. The carrier cut her in half and 176 men died. Her captain did not survive to explain the turn.
In January 1968 North Korea captured USS Pueblo, a converted Army freighter fitted out to collect radio and electronic signals. Her crew of 83 had two machine guns under frozen canvas. The 82 surviving men spent 11 months as prisoners and walked home across the Bridge of No Return that December. The ship is still in Pyongyang and still on the Navy’s commissioned roster.
The Falklands and the end of the Soviet fleet
In 1982 Britain and Argentina fought over the Falklands. USS Phoenix had escaped Pearl Harbor untouched, fought through the Pacific war, and been sold to Argentina, where she became ARA General Belgrano. On 2 May the British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror found her southwest of the Falklands and fired three torpedoes. 323 men died.
When the Soviet Union ended, its shipyards stopped. In Mykolaiv, an unfinished carrier named Varyag sat 68 percent complete. A front man bought her for $20 million, said she would be a floating casino in Macau, and had her towed around Africa when Turkey would not let her through its straits. She arrived at Dalian in 2002 and became China’s first aircraft carrier.
Russia’s navy after 1991
The Russian Navy kept Soviet ships and Soviet habits. On 12 August 2000, during the Northern Fleet’s first big exercise in more than a decade, a leaking practice torpedo sank the submarine Kursk with 118 men. Twenty-three survived the explosions. Russia refused foreign help for days, and Norwegian divers opened the hatch nine days late.
The cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, was built in Mykolaiv too. In April 2022 two Ukrainian Neptune missiles hit her about 80 nautical miles from Odesa, and she sank on 14 April. She was the largest warship lost in combat since the Belgrano forty years earlier.
All Cold War and modern stories
The Navy Ship That's Been Held Hostage Since 1968
USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea in 1968. The crew spent 11 months as prisoners. In propaganda photos, they flipped off the camera and told guards it was a Hawaiian good luck sign. The ship is still in Pyongyang.
The Destroyer That Turned Left and Nobody Knows Why
During night flying ops in 1952, USS Hobson made an unexplained left turn into the carrier USS Wasp. The carrier cut her in half. 176 men died in four minutes. The captain didn't survive to explain.
The Ship That Survived Pearl Harbor and Was Sunk Forty Years Later by a Torpedo Older Than Itself
USS Phoenix escaped Pearl Harbor untouched, fought the entire Pacific war, was sold to Argentina, renamed twice, and sunk in 1982 by a British submarine using torpedoes designed thirteen years before the ship was launched. 323 dead. The captain said the British were right.
China Bought a Soviet Aircraft Carrier to Build a Casino. The Casino Never Existed.
A former PLA basketball player bought an unfinished Soviet carrier for $20 million, told everyone it was for a casino, towed it around Africa when Turkey blocked the shortcut, and delivered China its first aircraft carrier. He spent $120 million. China never paid him back.
The German Warship That Survived Two Nuclear Bombs and Sank From a Leak
Prinz Eugen fought alongside Bismarck, survived two atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, and sank because nobody could fix a small leak.
Kursk: The Submarine That Sank Twice, Once in the Sea and Once on Television
In August 2000 a leaking practice torpedo sank the Russian submarine Kursk with 118 men. Twenty-three survived the blasts, Russia refused foreign help for days, and Norwegian divers opened the hatch nine days late.
Built in Ukraine, Sunk by Ukraine: The Last Voyage of the Cruiser Moskva
The flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet was built in Mykolaiv, sank off Odesa in April 2022 after two Ukrainian Neptune missiles, and became the largest warship lost in combat since the Belgrano. Moscow admitted one death. Its own court later counted 20.
USS Nevada: The Battleship That Ran for the Sea at Pearl Harbor and Lived Through Two Atomic Bombs
USS Nevada was the only battleship to get underway during the Pearl Harbor attack. Her crew beached her to keep the channel open. In 1946 she was the target ship for an atomic bomb, and missed.