Soviet cruiser Komintern Komintern was a Soviet light cruiser originally named " Pamiat ' Merkuria " ( " Memory of Mercury " ) , a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy . She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea and survived the Russian Civil War , although heavily damaged . She was repaired by the Soviet Navy and put into service as a training cruiser . In 1941 she was reclassified as a minelayer and provided gunfire support and transported troops during the Siege of Odessa , Siege of Sevastopol , and the Kerch - Feodosiya Operation in the winter of 1941 — 42 . She was damaged beyond repair at Poti by a German air attack on 16 July 1942 . Afterwards she was disarmed and hulked . At some point before October 1942 she was towed to the mouth of the Khobi river and sunk as a breakwater . Description . " Komintern " normally displaced . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a mean draft of about . She was powered by two vertical triple - expansion steam engines , each driving one shaft , which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 16 coal - fired Belleville boiler s . The ship had a range of at a speed of . " Komintern " s crew consisted of 573 officers and men . The ship was rearmed during World War I with fourteen 55 - caliber / 55 B7 Pattern 1913 guns in single mounts , four of which were mounted in casemate s . Her anti - aircraft armament consisted of two guns . She also mounted six submerged torpedo tube s , three on each broadside . " Komintern " s armored deck and her casemates were thick . The armor of the conning tower was thick . Service history . The crew of " Pamiat ' Merkuria " pledged its allegiance to the Ukrainian People ' s Republic on 12 November 1917 soon after the October Revolution . The occupation of the Ukrainian People ' s Republic by the Red Army early in 1918 led it to lay up on 28 March 1918 with her guns stripped by Bolsheviks to equip armoured train s . She was captured by the Germans on 1 May 1918 after being left behind in Sevastopol due to its uselessness and used as a barracks ship . She was renamed to " Hetman Ivan Mazepa " on 17 September 1918 and formally handed over to the Ukrainian State ' s Navy . Upon the end of the World War I and withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Central powers , she fell into the hands of the Whites under the support of the Triple Entente in November 1918 . She had her engines sabotaged in April 1919 by order of the British when the Whites temporarily lost control of Sevastopol . She was further damaged by the explosion of a mine when the Whites abandoned the Crimea in 1920 . Once she fell into Soviet hands she spent several years under repair , which required parts and material from her sisters that were even more damaged . She was given the proper revolutionary name of " Komintern " , after the on 31 December 1922 and was recommissioned in June 1923 . She was refitted in 1930 as a training cruiser and lost four boilers which were converted to classrooms . Six of her waist guns were replaced by four obsolete / 50 guns . Her submerged broadside torpedo tubes were also removed during this refit . She collided with " Krasny Kavkaz " in 1932 and seriously damaged the forecastle of the latter ship . Sources are unclear when she was rearmed , but it probably wasn ' t until the late 1930s , probably when her forward smokestack was also removed . She landed all of her 75 mm / 50 guns in exchange for a modern suite of anti - aircraft guns : three single , three single " 21 - K " , two single and five machine guns . In 1941 she was modified as a minelayer and could carry 195 mines , but her speed had been reduced to 12 knots . World War II . " Komintern " , in company with the cruisers " Krasny Kavkaz " , " Chervona Ukraina " and a number of destroyers , laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting the Black Sea Fleet base at Sevastopol on 22 June . " Komintern " , along with the destroyers " Nezamozhinsk " and " Shaumyan " , was assigned to cooperate with the Separate Coastal Army on 8 August 1941 and spent much of the next month bombarding Romanian positions and coast defenses . During the Siege of Odessa she escorted a number of convoys to and from the besieged city . During the Crimean Campaign " Komintern " delivered supplies to the 44th Army at Feodosiya on 1 January 1942 and ferried troops and supplies to Sevastopol for the next several months . She was badly damaged by a German air attack on 11 March , but was able to continue under her own power . She was damaged again in Novorossiysk by " I . Gruppe , Kampfgeschwader 76 " on 2 July 1942 and moved to Poti shortly afterwards . She was so severely damaged again by another German air attack on 16 July at Poti that she was deemed non - repairable . She was disarmed in August — September 1942 , her guns forming coast defense batteries at Tuapse , and hulked . At some point before October 1942 she was towed to the mouth of the Khobi river , just north of Poti , and sunk as a breakwater .