Ukrainian Navy strikes oldest active warship, the Kommuna, in a historic attack

Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, confirmed in a brief message posted on Facebook that the strike on another vessel belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet—the Kommuna—occurred in Sevastopol, in the occupied Crimea.

The Kommuna is the oldest unit in the Russian navy and the oldest active warship in the world. It was launched in 1913 and has been in service since 1915, which means it has been in service for over a hundred years. We explain what this vessel is.

"Today in Crimea, the Ukrainian Navy hit another ship belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the Kommuna. The extent of the damage is being determined," Dmytro Pletenchuk said, referring to reports of a Ukrainian attack in Sevastopol on Sunday, April 21. As reported by the Defence24 service, the Ukrainians most likely used an anti-ship Neptune missile or a Storm Shadow cruise missile during the attack.

As reported by Forbes, the Kommuna is "definitively the oldest active warship in the world" that has survived, among other things, the Russian Revolution and two world wars. It is a catamaran built at the Putilov Factory (currently Kirov Factory) and commissioned in July 1915. Its main purpose is to recover sunken submarines but also to transport smaller rescue submarines. The American service ODIN reports that the Kommuna helped recover over 150 vessels, including, for example, a sunken Su-24 bomber.

Defence Express, on the other hand, notes that the ship participated in operations to recover the sunken Russian cruiser Moskva, which sank on April 14, 2022, a day after being hit by Ukrainian Neptune missiles, or the destroyed landing ship Cezar Kunikow, which Ukrainians attacked on February 14, 2023, using multipurpose unmanned drones Magura V5. The service emphasizes that its loss would significantly hinder the conduct of similar operations in the future. However, it is not yet known exactly what condition the Kommuna is in and whether the Russians can repair the ship.

The vessel, modelled after the German SMS Vulkan, is about 96 meters long, 18.6 meters wide, 3.7 meters deep, and has a displacement of about 3,100 tonnes. It has two hulls joined together and special, durable frames for lifting submarines, with a lifting capacity of roughly 1,000 tonnes. The unit also has the necessary equipment for towing other ships, conducting repair works, or diving.