That crane has to be stowed forwards as it obstructs the S300 VLS cells in the aft position (presumably it has a role in handling reloads).
So either the blast from one of the Neptune warheads has sent the crane upwards, or someone raised it. In many of the photos there is a lot of smoke coming from the void where the main mast was (which is the lower mast, carrying the Top Pair / Top Steer radar). That radar & mast seems to have mostly disappeared, unless it is simply hidden by smoke. Below that mast were the machinery control rooms / the damage control rooms. Awkward.
It is just possible that someone raised the crane to try to use it to direct some firefighting hoses into the void. That is a more positive explanation than either they had not stowed it prior to action, or that it just got blown up/back. But a lot of things about this action are odd.
In the most common photo it is (I think) mid-afternoon with the ship listing to port and the water getting quite close to the deck edge at the stern. So maybe 12-15-hours or so after missile impact if it was in the early hours as reported. That rate of sinking is consistent with it going under several hours later, also as reported.
(edit : by the time of that photo I suspect everyone was off the ship who was capable of leaving)
Last edited by petit plateau; 18th Apr 2022 at 14:31.