Moment a furious WALRUS gored a hole in a Russian naval vessel

Moment a furious WALRUS gored a hole in a Russian naval vessel with her tusks as sailors battled to fight her off with a pole as it began to sink

  • The Northern Fleet inflatable later sank but those on board managed to get away 
  • Shocking footage shows the sailors fending off the female walrus with a pole 
  • Frightened walrus attacked the inflatable three times by Franz Josef Land 

This is the terrifying moment a Russian naval vessel was gored by an angry walrus on an Arctic expedition.  

The Northern Fleet inflatable later sank but those on board scrambled ashore after fighting off the beast.

This is the first footage of the scary incident during an expedition alongside the Russian Geographical Society to bleak Franz Josef Land.

Russian naval vessel, The Northern Fleet inflatable, sank after it was attacked by a frightened walrus but those on board scrambled ashore after fighting off the beast

But while the Geographical Society reported that the vessel had been sunk, the Kremlin’s Defence Ministry omitted the detail in its report.  

The video shows how sailors fend off the female walrus with a pole before speeding to shore as the boat rapidly took on water.

A Russian officer is heard radioing to the expedition ship called Altai to warn his crew of at lest eight are in deadly peril in the icy sea after the attack.

Shocking footage shows sailors fighting the walrus off using a pole during the attack on the vessel's way to Franz Josef Land

Shocking footage shows sailors fighting the walrus off using a pole during the attack on the vessel’s way to Franz Josef Land

The animal – evidently fearing for her pups – repeatedly attacked and holed the inflatable in three places during the drama in icy seas off the far-flung archipelago.

As the boat speeds away from the walrus, the commanding officer is head saying: ‘Altai, Altai, our boat cylinders are pierced…

‘Urgently get us a working motor boat here.’

He bellowed: ‘Urgent, urgent! We are (speared) by a walrus…’

He told the expedition ship ‘we have no time’ to make it back to the Altai.

The animal - evidently fearing for her pups - repeatedly attacked and holed the inflatable in three places during the drama in icy seas off the far-flung archipelago

The animal – evidently fearing for her pups – repeatedly attacked and holed the inflatable in three places during the drama in icy seas off the far-flung archipelago

Instead he orders’ ‘Let’s go to the island…

‘To the island.’ 

The Geographical Society’s report said: ‘She probably did it, fearing for her cubs. The boat sank, but the tragedy was avoided thanks to the clear actions of the squad leader. All the landing participants safely reached the shore.’ 

The military’s version simply says the walrus attacked and that ‘serious troubles were avoided thanks to the clear and well-coordinated actions of the Northern Fleet servicemen, who were able to take the boat away from the animals without harming them.’ 

An average female walrus weighs over 2,000lbs, about twice as much as a grand piano. 

As the boat speeds away from the walrus, the commanding officer is head saying: 'Altai, Altai, our boat cylinders are pierced. Urgently get us a working motor boat here'

As the boat speeds away from the walrus, the commanding officer is head saying: ‘Altai, Altai, our boat cylinders are pierced. Urgently get us a working motor boat here’

The crew were later rescued by a boat send to the shore from the Altai.

One of those on board Leonid Kruglov said after the incident: ‘The walrus was not injured.

‘We simply pushed her away.

‘But the boat was damaged, three out of five sections.

‘We only just made it to the shore.’

The navy and the Russian Geographical Society were on a joint expedition to Franz Josef Land using the Altai, but deploying inflatables to go ashore.

The crew were later rescued by a boat send to the shore from the Altai

The crew were later rescued by a boat send to the shore from the Altai

A report by the society said: ‘She probably did it, fearing for her cubs.

‘The boat sank, but the tragedy was avoided thanks to the clear actions of the squad leader.

‘All the landing participants safely reached the shore.’

The navy had omitted details of the the boat sinking in its account.

‘The navy said ‘serious troubles were avoided thanks to the clear and well-coordinated actions of the Northern Fleet servicemen, who were able to take the boat away from the animals without harming them’.

The expedition was retracing the steps on the Russian Arctic outpost of Austro-Hungarian explorer Julius von Payer, who discovered the archipelago in 1873, naming it after the Emperor Franz Joseph I. 

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