Several other ships, including the cruiser Maxim Gorky, joined Petropavlovsk in shelling the advancing Germans.[18] On 7 September, the ship fired on German forces encircling the city; she fired forty salvos from her forward main battery turrets—the only two operational—expending some 700 rounds of ammunition during the attack.[19] On 17 September 1941, the ship was disabled by German heavy artillery;[20] after being hit 53 times, the ship was forced to beach herself to avoid sinking.[21]