November 6, 2009 - 12:46 AMT
Brass in commemoration of Armenia hospital ship wreck to be inaugurated in Yalta
A brass in commemoration of the wreck of Armenia hospital ship will be inaugurated in Yalta. The ceremony will take place on November 7.

Armenia hospital ship sunk at 11.29am by German torpedo-carrying planes while evacuating wounded soldiers and sailors from the Crimean Peninsula. As well as the wounded servicemen from Sevastopol and Yalta, the ship also carried around 2,000 unregistered civilians and medical personnel. The Armenia was a two deck passenger/cargo vessel launched at Leningrad in November, 1928. After the torpedoes struck, the ship took only four minutes to sink to the bottom of the Black Sea at a depth of 472 meters. The Red Crosses painted on both sides were ignored by the pilots during the attack. It is estimated that over 5,000 people died. There were only eight survivors who were picked up by an escort vessel. The latest Russian sources put the death toll at 7,000.