Russian battlecruiser Kirov

Kirov is the lead ship of the Kirov class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers. Originally built for the Soviet Navy and passed onto the succeeding Russian Navy, she and her three sister ships are the largest and heaviest surface combatant warships (i.e. not an aircraft carrier or amphibious assault ship) built by them. The Soviet classification of the ship-type is "heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser" (Russian: тяжёлый атомный ракетный крейсер), nonetheless Kirov's size and weapons complement have earned her the unofficial designation of a battlecruiser throughout much of the world, as her size and displacement is similar to a typical World War I battleship. The appearance of the Kirov class was a significant factor in the U.S. Navy recommissioning the Iowa class.[1] She was named after a Project 26 cruiser (named after Sergey Kirov, a Bolshevik hero).

For other ships with the same name, see Soviet ship Kirov and Russian ship Admiral Ushakov.
Kirov c.1983
History
→ Soviet Union → Russia
NameKirov
Namesake
BuilderBaltiysky Naval Shipyard, Leningrad
Laid down27 March 1974
Launched26 December 1977
Commissioned30 December 1980
Out of serviceIn reserve, 1990
RenamedAdmiral Ushakov, 1992
StatusLaid-up, to be scrapped.
General characteristics
Class and typeKirov-class battlecruiser
Displacement24,300 tons Standard, 28,000 (Full load)
Length
  • 252 m (827 ft)
  • 230 m (750 ft) (Waterline)
Beam28.5 m (94 ft)
Draft9.1 m (30 ft)
Propulsion
  • 2-shaft CONAS, Nuclear propulsion with steam turbine boost
  • 140,000 shp
Speed32 knots (59 km/h)
Range
  • 1,000 nautical miles (2,000 km) at 30 knots (56 km/h) (combined propulsion),
  • Essentially unlimited with nuclear power at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement
  • 727
  • Aircrew: 18
  • Flag staff: 15
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Voskhod MR-800 (Top Pair) 3D search radar on foremast
  • Fregat MR-710 (Top Steer) 3D search radar on main mast
  • 2 × Palm Frond navigation radar on foremast
  • 2 × Top Dome for SA-N-6 fire control
  • 4 × Bass Tilt for AK-630 CIWS System fire control
  • 2 × Eye Bowl for SA-N-4 fire control
  • Horse Jaw LF hull sonar
  • Horse Tail VDS (Variable Depth Sonar)
Armament
Armour76 mm plating around reactor compartment, light splinter protection
Aircraft carried3 Kamov Ka-27 "Helix" or Ka-25 "Hormone"
Aviation facilitiesBelow-deck hangar

History

She was laid down on 27 March 1974, at the Baltiysky Naval Shipyard in Leningrad, launched on 26 December 1977, and commissioned on 30 December 1980, part of Soviet Northern Fleet.

When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). Her first major deployment was in 1984 where she undertook a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea.

Admiral Ushakov at Severomorsk in 1992

During her second major deployment from 1 December 1989 to 17 February 1990 to the Mediterranean, she suffered a reactor accident. Afterwards, she was placed in reserve. Repairs were never carried out, due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union. She may have been cannibalized as a spare-parts cache for the other ships in her class.[2][3]

For political reasons, Kirov was renamed Admiral Ushakov after the 18th-century admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov in 1992, but subsequent photos suggest that it has since reverted to its original name. An overhaul was started in 1999, but the ship was written off in 2001 and was slated to be dismantled in 2003.[3][4]

In June 2004, the name Admiral Ushakov was transferred to the Sovremennyy-class destroyer Besstrashnyy. In September 2004, it was revealed that the Severodvinsk-based Design Bureau Onega had been tasked with developing the dismantlement project for the cruiser, currently moored at the Severodvinsk Zvezdochka plant. According to the Zvezdochka plant, dismantlement of the former Admiral Ushakov would cost $40 million.[5] This plan was halted when the Russian Navy planned to bring her back to service.[6]

In 2010, the Russian Navy again announced new plans for an overhaul of the cruiser. At the time, the plan was to modify and reactivate all of the Kirov battlecruisers by 2020.[6] However, in 2012 it was reported that Admiral Ushakov and Admiral Lazarev would not be overhauled due to being in a state of "beyond repair".[7] In 2015, Zvezdochka shipyard CEO Vladimir Nikitin claimed that it was dangerous to remove the spent nuclear fuel from the vessel's two reactors given the fact the ship had been given minimum maintenance for 34 years.[7][8]

In April 2019, Russia decided to scrap and recycle the Admiral Ushakov in 2021.[9]

Armament

This ship had an armament of missiles and guns as well as electronics. Its largest radar antenna is mounted on its foremast and called "Top Pair" by NATO. Kirov's main weapons are 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted on deck, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided for with 12 S-300F (SA-N-6 Grumble) launchers with 96 missiles, two Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) with 40 missiles and the Kashtan CIWS (CADS-N-1) air-defence missile/gun system.

Other weapons are the automatic 130 mm AK-130 gun system, 30 mm AK-630, 10 torpedo/missile tubes, Udav-1 (SS-N-14 Silex) with 40 anti-submarine missiles and the two RBU-1000 six-tube launchers.

Featured in the 66 book Kirov alt history series by author John Schettler

See also

References
  1. Middleton, Drew (13 March 1981). "Pentagon likes budget proposal, but questions specifics". The New York Times. p. A14.
  2. Myasnikov, Victor (25 September 2009). "Россия вернет в строй самые большие в мире крейсера" [Russia will return to service the world's largest cruisers]. Nezavisimaya Gazeta (in Russian).
  3. "Project 1144.2 Orlan Kirov class Guided Missile Cruiser (Nuclear Powered) Class Listing". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  4. Kudrik, Igor (3 November 1998). "Nuclear battle cruiser to be scrapped". Bellona Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  5. "Project 1144.2 Orlan - Kirov class - Guided Missile Cruiser (Nuclear Powered)". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  6. "Russian Navy modernizes nuclear-powered cruiser Admiral Nakhimov". Rusnavy.com. 28 March 2011. Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  7. Pettersen, Trude (27 September 2012). "Only one nuclear cruiser to be modernized". The Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  8. Nilsen, Thomas (10 January 2014). "Shipyard director fears radiation accident". The Barents Observer. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  9. "Russia: four submarines and two cruisers to be scrapped by 2021". NavyRecognition.com. April 2019.
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