''Spasatel Vasily Bekh'' (SB-739) was a Project 22870 rescue tug in the Russian Navy that was launched in 2016 and sunk during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

Description

''Vasily Bekh'' was a rescue tug built to

tow Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...

ships in distress, fight fires at sea, supply water and electricity to other ships, evacuate injured personnel, and act as a diving rescue platform. It had a crew of 26 and could carry an additional 36 people. The ship measured long, had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...

of . It had a standard displacement of 1200 tons and 1670 tons when fully loaded. It had a maximum speed of and was capable of operating autonomously for up to 20 days. It was propelled by two azipods and two bow thrusters that were powered by two electric motors, which were supplied by seven diesel generators with a combined power output of .

History

''Vasily Bekh'' was designed in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

Vympel Design Bureau Vympel Design Bureau (russian: КБ «Вымпел») is a Russian ship design company based in Nizhny Novgorod. History The company was established in 1927 as a branch of the Leningrad Maritime Shipbuilding Bureau. The company was granted t ...

. The ship was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Zvezdochka Shipyard Zvyozdochka (russian: Звёздочка) is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities * Zvyozdochka, Sakha Republic, an urban-type settlement in Ust-Maysky District of the Sakha Republic ;Rural localities * Zvyozd ...

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the ...

under the designation SB-739. It was launched on 2 August 2016, commissioned into the Russian Navy on 16 January 2017, and passed its

trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

later that month. In March 2017, ''Vasily Bekh'' was one of four Project 22870 tugs assigned to the

Black Sea Fleet Chernomorskiy flot , image = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Great emblem of the Black Sea fleet , dates = May 13, ...

, the others being ''Professor Nikolay Muru'', ''Captain Guryev'', and ''SB-742''. It became part of the 145th Rescue Ship Detachment. The ship was given the name ''Spasatel Vasily Bekh'' on 19 April 2021, after the chief engineer of the rescue department of the Black Sea Fleet. On 17 June 2022, ''Vasily Bekh'' was carrying personnel, weapons, and ammunition to resupply Russian-occupied Snake Island in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. That day, the

Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

released a video of the attack on the ship taken by a

Bayraktar TB2 The Bayraktar TB2 is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations. It is manufactured by the Turkish company Baykar Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş ...

combat drone An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

. ''Vasily Bekh'' was struck by two Harpoon anti-ship missiles donated by Denmark in quick succession causing it to sink shortly thereafter. According to early unconfirmed reports from Russia, 23 of the 33 personnel on board were injured and the other 10 were missing. Shortly after the sinking on 21 June, British military intelligence confirmed the attack, stating that the vessel sunk was almost certainly ''Vasily Bekh'', and that it was carrying a Tor anti-aircraft missile system when it sank.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spasatel Vasily Bekh Auxiliary ships of the Russian Navy Ships involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Shipwrecks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine 2016 ships Maritime incidents in 2022 Naval tugboats