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| Date | February 12, 1988 (1988-02-12) |
|---|---|
| Time | 10:02 a.m. (MSK) |
| Location | Black Sea |
| Coordinates | 44°15′N33°35′E / 44.25°N 33.59°E /44.25; 33.59 |
| Target | United States Navy vessels: |
| Perpetrator | Soviet Navy vessels:
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| Outcome | Passing of theUS/USSR Joint Statement on Uniform Acceptance of Rules of International Law Governing Innocent Passage |
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TheBlack Sea bumping incident of 12 February 1988 occurred when AmericancruiserUSS Yorktown tried to exercise the right ofinnocent passage through Sovietterritorial waters in theBlack Sea during theCold War. The cruiser was bumped by the SovietfrigateBezzavetny with the intention of pushingYorktown intointernational waters. This incident also involved thedestroyerUSS Caron, sailing in company with USSYorktown and claiming the right of innocent passage, which was intentionally shouldered by a SovietMirka-class frigateSKR-6.Yorktown reported minor damage to itshull, with no holing or risk of flooding.[1]Caron was undamaged.[1]
At the time, the Soviet Union recognized the right of innocent passage for warships in its territorial waters solely in designatedsea lanes.[2] The United States believed that there was no legal basis for acoastal nation to limit warship transits to sea lanes only.[3] Subsequently, theU.S. Department of State found that the Russian-language text of theUnited Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Article 22, paragraph 1 allowed the coastal state to regulate the right of innocent passage whenever necessary, while the English-language text did not.[1] Following the incident, the Soviet Union agreed to resolve the issue of innocent passage in Soviet territorial waters.[1]
In 1979, the United States launched an informal program to promote the "rights andfreedoms of navigation and overflight guaranteed to all nations underinternational law".[1] The US government said that it initiated the program because some countries were beginning to assert jurisdictional boundaries beyond traditional claims.[1] The United States wished to stop this and, it said, diplomatic protests had seemed to be ineffective.[1] A newcustomary international law could emerge if nations avoided operating their ships and aircraft in the disputed areas, and the US saw this as undesirable.[1]
In the 1980s, US warships were passing through the straits from theMediterranean into the Black Sea two or three times a year to "show the flag" and to claim the right of innocent passage in the coastal states.[1] Aside from the right of free passage, US naval activity in the Black Sea served the purpose of upholding US rights under the 1936Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits. According to a US government official, "theDardanelles and theBosporus form an international waterway" under that convention and "if you don't periodically reaffirm your rights you find that they're hard to revive".[1]
Meanwhile, "The Rules of Navigation and Sojourn of Foreign Warships in the Territorial Waters and Internal Waters and Ports of the USSR", enacted by theSoviet Council of Ministers in 1983, acknowledged the right of innocent passage of foreign warships only in restricted areas of Soviet territorial waters in theBaltic,Sea of Okhotsk and theSea of Japan;[1] nosea lanes for innocent passage in the Black Sea were designated.[1] Soviet vessels and aircraft were routinely dispatched to observe US warships there.[1]
After the1986 incident in the Black Sea, also involving USSYorktown and USSCaron, a meeting of the Soviet Defence Council was held later in the same year.[4] At the meeting, the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet NavyVladimir Chernavin suggested toMikhail Gorbachev, Defense MinisterSergey Sokolov, Foreign MinisterEduard Shevardnadze, and other senior officials that intruding foreign warships could be driven from Soviet waters by several means, including bumping.[4]
On 12 February 1988, theTiconderoga-class cruiser USSYorktown, and theSpruance-class destroyer USSCaron, conducted aninnocent passage exercise in the Black Sea.Caron passed 7.5 mi (12.1 km) off the Soviet shore, andYorktown drew to 10.3 mi (16.6 km) offshore. The commander of theBlack Sea FleetMikhail Khronopulo received an order from Chernavin to curb the passage of US warships.[4] Initially the destroyerKrasnyy Kavkaz was tasked with confronting them, but she experienced technical problems soBezzavetnyy, aKrivak-class frigate, was dispatched instead.[5] However, according toBezzavetny's commander, CaptainVladimir Bogdashin, his ship had twocruise missiles instead of four, was half the size ofYorktown, and was only a third its size bydisplacement.[5] The Soviet frigateSKR-6, commanded by Captain Anatoliy Petrov, was approximately one quarter the size of USSCaron.[5]
First,Caron was approached by the frigateSKR-6, and three minutes later,Yorktown was approached by the frigateBezzavetnyy,[1] whileTupolev Tu-16 bombers monitored the vessels' movements.[6] As the US warships clipped a corner of the Soviet territorial waters, they were bumped. At 10:02 a.m, local time, at44°15.2′N33°35.4′E / 44.2533°N 33.5900°E /44.2533; 33.5900, 10.5nautical miles (19.4 km; 12.1 mi) from the coast,SKR-6 bumped theport side aft ofCaron at frame about 60 feet (18 m) from the bow.[1]Caron received superficial scraping of paint, with no personnel injuries.[1]Bezzavetnyy, having bumpedYorktown, returned to base.[5][better source needed]
Both US warships stayed on even course after the incident.Caron left Soviet territorial waters at 11:50 a.m. local time without further incident.[1]
Both US warships reported the incident to the commander-in-chief ofUnited States Naval Forces Europe, AdmiralJames B. Busey.Caron reported that, at 13:20 local time, it was informed on channel 16VHF byBezzavetnyy: "Soviet ships have orders to prevent violation of territorial waters, extreme measure is to strike your ship with one of ours."[1] The reply ofCaron was "I am engaged in innocent passage consistent with international law."[1]Yorktown, in its report stated that on 9:56, local time, it was contacted byBezzavetnyy via channel 16 and told to leave Soviet territorial waters or "our ship is going to strike on yours."[1] Then, according to the report,Bezzavetnyy came alongside port side ofYorktown at 10:03 and bumped it by turning into the ship.[1]
Thestarboard anchor ofBezzavetnyy was torn away.[1] TwoHarpoon missile canisters onYorktown sustained damage whenBezzavetnyy's bullnose passed down port quarter.Bezzavetnyy then cleared to port and took station 300 yd (270 m) off the port beam ofYorktown.[1]Bezzavetnyy required a minor repair.[5]
TheSoviet Ministry of Defense issued a statement blaming the U.S. warships for ignoring the "warning signals of Soviet border guard ships" and for "dangerously maneuvering in Soviet waters".[3] The incident also drew a diplomatic protest from the U.S. government.[7]
Soon after the issue of innocent passage was resolved between the two nations when theUS/USSR Joint Statement on Uniform Acceptance of Rules of International Law Governing Innocent Passage was issued acknowledging the rights of each nation to transit territorial waters.[8]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1988 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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