According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, on January 18, the Indian destroyer "Ranville" exploded in the port of Mumbai Shipyard, killing 3 people and injuring 11, but fortunately, the crew quickly controlled the dangerous situation. The wounded are currently being treated at the local naval hospital and an investigation into the incident has been initiated. According to sources, the explosion was not caused by "the failure of any weapon, missile or ammunition" and occurred in one of the destroyer's cabins, at a cabin below the 3 victims.
USS Ranville
The Ranville is the fourth of five Rajput-class destroyers built by the Soviet Union for the Indian Navy. The Rajput class is the Indian version of the Kasin-class destroyer, the world's first destroyer to rely entirely on gas turbine propulsion. The five "Rajput" class hull numbers are D51-D55, and the 4th ship "Ranville" began service as early as April 1986, and it has been 35 years since then, and various equipment has been seriously aged. Many of the Indian army's equipment has not been upgraded for a long time and has to be over-aged, the most typical of which is the MiG-21 of the Air Force and the "Rajput" class destroyer of the Navy. In fact, the first ship of the destroyer of this class, the "Rajput" and the third ship "Ranjit", have been retired, and the "Ranville" is only waiting for retirement.
The destroyer "Ranville" was 147 meters long, 15.8 meters wide, had a full load displacement of 4974 tons, and had a crew of 340 sailors and officers. Powered by four M8E gas turbines, with a maximum power of 72,000 horsepower, a speed of 35 knots and an endurance of 4,000 nautical miles at 18 knots.
The armament configuration is 1 AK-726 double-barrel 76 mm main gun at the bow, 1 x 5-pTA 533 mm torpedo tube, 2 x 12-tube RBU 6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers, 4 single SS-N-2 "Styx" anti-ship missile launchers in the center, 4 AK-630 type 6-tube 30 mm close air defense guns and 1 double-arm SA-N-1 anti-aircraft missile launcher at the end and tail, and 1 Ka-25 or Ka-28 anti-submarine helicopter.
So was it an ammunition explosion in this accident? The "Styx" missile weighed 2.5 tons, the warhead was 450 kg, and the launch weight of the SA-N-1 anti-aircraft missile was also close to 1 ton, not to mention the torpedoes, with the great power of the ship's missiles and torpedoes, if the explosion would not be just 3 dead and 11 wounded. For example, in August 2013, the Russian-made Kilo-class submarine "Sindulaksak" purchased by India was operated illegally, causing club missiles to explode in the torpedo tube, directly destroying the submarine.
Huge SS-N-2 anti-ship missile
Twin SA-N-1 anti-aircraft missile launchers
Although the shells and anti-submarine rockets are less powerful, if the ammunition in the ammunition in the ammunition compartment explodes and causes martyrdom, it is equally powerful, and the "Ranville" was moored in the harbor at the time of the accident, and there will be no shells and rockets in the gun chamber and launch tube, which in turn excludes the possibility of blowing up the chamber. There thus seems to be some truth to one source's statement that the explosion "was not caused by a failure of any weapon, missile or ammunition'".
So what caused the explosion? Perhaps a look at the several typical accidents that have occurred on Indian Navy ships over the past decade or so will reveal something.
In 2008, the second-hand dock landing ship "Galashwa", which India purchased from the United States, caused a biogas explosion due to the fact that the septic tank of the toilet had not been cleaned for too long, and the fire control measures were not in place, resulting in six deaths. A septic tank is a closed container, and the decomposition of feces inside is also a process of precipitation and anaerobic fermentation. However, at the same time, it will also produce combustible gases such as biogas and hydrogen sulfide, and the air pressure inside is much higher than that of the outside world. This means that when the septic tank is not cleaned up for a long time, the combustible gases inside will reach a certain concentration and will be triggered, and the flames or cigarette butts will be extremely flammable.
Biogas explosions are powerful
In March 2016, an explosion in the main engine boiler of the Indian aircraft carrier "Vilant" caused a steam leak and caused a fire, killing and injuring three crew members. Boiler in the water shortage, too much scale, pressure and other situations may explode, so the management of the boiler is also very strict, the operator must be trained and obtain a qualification certificate, the boiler pressure gauge, safety valve and other equipment to be regularly inspected, and the Indian Navy management and maintenance level everyone knows. But the Ranville used an all-gas turbine and did not have a main engine boiler, so the possibility of a boiler explosion could be ruled out.
The boilers of Indian ships also have huge accident hazards
In June 2019, a fire broke out on the Indian destroyer USS Visakhapatnam, the so-called most advanced destroyer's second and third decks that burned for more than an hour, killing one person. However, the explosion of the Ranville was not caused by a fire and was not consistent with the cause of the accident on the Visakhapatnam.
The analysis has reached the point where the cause of the explosion of the "Ranville" has been revealed, that is, the septic tank explosion, and the Indian destroyer has once again been severely damaged by its own toilet. It may be that the prevalence of simple open-air toilets in India, the lack of experience in the management of complex toilets and septic tanks, coupled with the aging of equipment, have led to this kind of speechless accident.
In fact, just this past October 2021, the "Ranville" has already caught fire, and caused many injuries, but did not cause any alarm, resulting in a series of accidents. However, the root cause of the frequent accidents in the Indian Navy is the procrastination, laziness and carelessness in its national character, and many hidden dangers that we take for granted have been ignored by indians, or that sentence, India itself is India's biggest enemy.