Molotov combines radar warning, transport, and bombardment

Molotov carried the Redut-K air-warning system and became the first Soviet ship fitted with radar. During the defense of Sevastopol she combined bombardment with transport, carrying the 386th Rifle Division into the fortress and evacuating wounded civilians and soldiers. On 12 June 1942 she delivered 2,998 men of the 138th Rifle Brigade while shelling German positions, then embarked more than 1,000 wounded people and 350 women and children. Heavy weather had already bent her bow against a jetty, impairing water flow and speed and showing why a distorted bow could be harder to repair than a cleanly lost section. In August 1942, a Heinkel He 111 working with Italian MAS boats blew off her stern after another bombardment near Feodosiya and forced the cruiser to steer by her engines at ten knots. Soviet yards returned her to service with components taken from several incomplete ships and the L-25 submarine, a vivid example of wartime repair improvisation.