Banco de dados da Segunda Guerra Mundial (WW2DB)

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseRussian destroyers Kharkov, Besposchadniy, and Sposobniy raided German-held Yalta and Feodosia. On their return trip, they were discovered by a German reconnaissance plane and called for a raid by Ju-87 bombers. Kharkov was hit three times on the first attack run, and then the Besposchadniy was damaged on the second. It was decided that instead of evacuating the crew of the two destroyers onto the Sposobniy, Sposobniy was to tow the two damaged ships back to port. A few hours later, a third attack run by 20 Ju-87s found and sank the three destroyers, killing nearly 700 Russian sailors.