[Klaus Schiffler]

The book Warship Losses of World War Two by David Brown lists the sinking in shallow waters off Leningrad at Kronstadt on 23 Sep 1941 of the Russian battleship Marat, but then goes on to state that the 12 inch guns remained in operation during the entire siege of Leningrad. This I assume is meant to be until January 1944. Does anyone know what the casualties were that were sustained when Rudel struck the ship? Also was the ship raised after the end of the siege or was it used for scrap?

Also the Gunther Just book on Rudel states that following the Marat mission, Rudel sank a destroyer and a cruiser. No dates are given. Could the destroyer be the Sovershenny which allegedly struck a mine and was beached until eventually destroyed by artillery fire in April 1942? Brown's book also states that on 21 Sep 1941 the destroyer Steregushchy was sunk (although eventually raised and repaired) and the torpedo boat Vikhr (also raised later). Could any of these have been the target of Rudel. For airmen a destroyer can easily be mistaken for a cruiser and a torpedo boat could be misidentified as a destroyer. Brown does not list any more naval losses for the rest of the year 1941 and he lists several destroyers lost in the Baltic but all to mines in 1942.