[Fair use for education and research purpose only]

Title: Russian Destroyer Fires Shell in Port by Accident

VLADIVOSTOK, Apr 10, 2000 -- (Reuters) A destroyer from Russia's Pacific Fleet accidentally fired a shell in port on Monday, hitting an anti-submarine ship, a spokesman for the Pacific Fleet said.

Nobody was injured in the incident - which happened in the Golden Horn harbor in the center of Vladivostok - but the superstructure of the anti-submarine ship, the Admiral Vinogradov, was damaged.

The accident happened when routine weapons testing on the destroyer went wrong, the spokesman said.

"Today, between 10 and 11 a.m. (2200 and 2300 GMT on Sunday) on the destroyer Burnyi during a planned check of weapons and machinery there was an unsanctioned shot of a dummy shell because of a violation of security procedures," he added.

Accidents have become more frequent in Russia's once mighty Pacific Fleet, which as well as most other units of the Russian armed forces, is owed trillions of rubles (millions of dollars) by the state.

Both ships involved in the incident were preparing for an official visit to South Korea on April 19, the fleet's press office said

(C)2000 Copyright Reuters Limited.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=149823

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), April 10, 2000

Answers

It was said last summer that the Chinese Missile System was so bad that if they fired a missile at Los Angeles they would probably hit Hong Kong.

This reminds me of that.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), April 11, 2000.