Rusalka

"All instructions will be broadcast from the Rusalka"

— Dragovich in Revelations

Rusalka
The Rusalka's main deck
Appears in	Call of Duty: Black Ops
Used by	Soviet Armed Forces
Status	Sank on February 26, 1968 by the US Navy
Actions	Broadcast station for the numbers
Found in	Operation 40 Revelations Redemption

The Rusalka is a key component in Call of Duty: Black Ops, most notably in "Project Nova", in which it acts as the station from which the Number Sequences are broadcast to activate the sleeper agents across the United States.

The Rusalka is seen at the end of "Operation 40" when Mason overhears a conversation between Dragovich and Fidel Castro after he was captured.

When Mason breaches a room to find Viktor Reznov in "The Defector", a presentation is being shown in the room which shows information about Vorkuta, the Rusalka, and Mount Yamantau. The info shown for the Rusalka is that it is an ironclad monitor, has a displacement of 1,871 long tons, a length of 62.3 meters, a beam of 12.8 meters, a draught of 3.3 meters, is propelled by a steam engine of 705 horsepower, has a speed of 9 knots, 177 complements, and is armed with 2x230mm, 8x87mm and 5x37mm guns.

During mission "Redemption", The ship is attacked by Mason piloting a Huey alongside other pilots in a last-minute attempt to destroy the ship to stop the broadcasts from activating the sleeper cells. Though the crew and some supporting Mi-24A and Mi-8 managed to defeat American aircraft, the CIA team called in the US Navy, that destroyed the ship and its underwater base.

Disguised as a commercial ship, the Rusalka has rocket and AA batteries on deck to deter airborne intrusion. It also served as the surface component of the Soviet underwater submarine supply base, located on the seabed. It was this supply station that was the actual Numbers station, requiring the Rusalka and buoys to broadcast as was necessary from the surface. General Nikita Dragovitch was present here when the broadcasts were initiated, to his folly when Mason killed him after aborting the all of the broadcasts.

Gallery

The Rusalka at the Helicopter Landing pad.

The Rusalka after the invasion.

The end of Operation 40 with the Rusalka in the background.

Rusalka's main deck being attacked by U.S. Forces.

Rusalka from above.

Trivia

• In Slavic mythology, a Rusalka is a female spirit/demon that lives in waterways.
• "Rusalka" (русалка) means "mermaid" in Russian
• In Der Riese, while using one of the teleporters, the words "The Rusalka" can be seen. This is an early reference to Call of Duty: Black Ops.
• The presentation in the room where Reznov is found in The Defector has a brief description on the real-life ship USSR Rusalka: "an ironclad monitor of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in St. Petersburg in 1865-1867, and anchored in Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It is 204 feet long, has a beam of 42 feet, and carries armaments of various calibers; her heaviest guns are two nine-inch cannons." This ship sank in 1893; the ship shown in the game is a freighter.