Soviet cruiser Admiral Makarov (1970)

For her primary role as an anti-submarine cruiser, Admiral Makarov mounted two quadruple launchers for eight anti-submarine missiles in the Metel anti-ship complex. She was also equipped with two RBU-6000 12-barrel and two RBU-1000 6-barrel rocket launchers.[4] The Ka-25 helicopter embarked on the cruiser was also capable of aiding in the search and destruction of submarines.[5]

Admiral Makarov was armed with four AK-725 57 mm L/80 DP guns situated in two twin mountings to protect against aerial threats. She also had four 30 mm AK-630 CIWS mountings, and was armed with two twin launchers for the 48 V-611 surface-to-air missiles they carried in the M-11 Shtorm system. She also mounted two quintuple mountings for 533 mm (21 in) dual-role torpedoes.[4]

Admiral Makarov was equipped with the MR-600 Voskhod (NATO code name Top Sail) early warning air search radar, the MR-310U Angara-M (NATO code name Head Net C) search radar, and the Volga (NATO code names Don Kay and Don-2) navigational radar. For anti-submarine warfare she had improved MG-332T Titan-2T hull mounted sonar.[6] For fire control purposes she had Grom SA-N-1 fire control and MR-103 Bars AK725 fire control. Admiral Makarov also had a MG-26 communications outfit and a MG-35 Shtil sonar.[4][1][6] As one of the first four ships in her class, Admiral Makarov used manual targeting for the AK-630 due to not having received the Vympel fire control radar.[1]

Admiral Makarov was relocated to Baltiysk during November in preparation for its voyage to the Northern Fleet. There, it was visited by Soviet Minister of Defense Andrei Grechko and Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy Admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union Sergey Gorshkov. The cruiser was assigned to the Northern Fleet's 170th Anti-Submarine Warfare Brigade, part of the 7th Operational Squadron, on 22 January 1973. She departed for Severomorsk on 28 March, but collided in fog with the Czech freighter Kladno in the Fehmarn Belt two days later; this forced her to return to the dockyard for repair. After moving to Severomorsk, the main base of the Northern Fleet, Admiral Makarov participated in Exercise Laguna, tracking possible NATO submarines in the North Atlantic alongside Kresta I-class missile cruiser Sevastopol and her sister Kresta II-class ship Admiral Isakov between 12 and 29 May.[7]

Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy Admiral of the Fleet Sergey Gorshkov visited her on 27 May 1974 while with the Northern Fleet to direct the Signal-74 exercise. It operated in the Mediterranean and the Central and South Atlantic from 17 June as part of a detachment of ships under the command of deputy squadron commander Captain 1st rank G.V. Yegorov. During her cruise Admiral Makarov visited Havana and Cienfuegos between 24 and 29 September and Casablanca[7] between 2 and 6 December before returning to Severomorsk on 6 January 1975, completing a 24,829 nautical mile voyage. The cruiser participated in the massive Okean-75 exercise between 3 and 21 April in a search and attack group with her sister Kresta II-class cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, tracking an enemy submarine to the edge of polar ice.[8]

Admiral Makarov operated in the South Atlantic between 7 November and 5 July 1976, visiting Conakry and Luanda. Temporarily based at the latter, she provided air defense for MPLA forces in the Angolan Civil War and security for transport ships carrying Cuban troops to fight in that war, as well as fisheries protection later in the cruise. In February, she provided fire support for the MPLA.[9] The ship was declared excellent in 1977 and the crew received thanks in an order from Gorshkov for "conscientious fulfillment of duties" in military and political training during 1976. She was transferred to the 120th Missile Ship Brigade on 26 December of that year, and in September 1978 the cruiser monitored the NATO exercise Northern Wedding-78 in difficult weather conditions. It then took part in the Razbeg-79 command staff exercise directed by Gorshkov between 5 and 12 April 1979 as part of a search and attack group with the aircraft carrier Kiev, sister Kresta-II class cruiser Marshal Timoshenko, missile destroyer Ognevoy, and destroyer Moskovsky Komsomolets, testing the effectiveness of the anti-submarine barrier by tracking a NATO submarine.[8]

After returning to the 170th Brigade on 12 February 1982, Admiral Makarov was repaired and modernized at the SRZ-35 shipyard in Murmansk from 23 March 1983 to 26 December 1985, temporarily part of the 48th Separate Battalion of Ships undergoing construction or overhaul. During the refit, she received updated Rastrub-B missiles for her Metel, the Shlyuz satellite navigation system and the Tsunami-BM satellite communications system. The Rastrub-B was successfully test fired in April 1986. Between 24 and 28 March 1987, Admiral Makarov participated in a command staff exercise led by fleet commander Admiral of the fleet Ivan Kapitanets alongside the battlecruiser Kirov, cruisers Vitse-Admiral Drozd, Marshal Ustinov, Admiral Nakhimov, Kronstadt, and Admiral Yumashev, and destroyers Soobrazitelnyy, Otlichnyy, Sovremennyy, and Otchayannyy.[8] It operated in the Mediterranean from 7 December of that year alongside Marshal Ustinov, moving through severe storms until passing Rockall on the voyage to the Mediterranean. On 20 February 1988, a sailor tossed a lighted cigarette into a ventilation shaft, causing an engine room fire; emergency parties extinguished the fire in three hours. During the cruise, she operated in the Strait of Otranto and visited Latakia between 26 and 31 March under the flag of 5th Operational Squadron commander Counter Admiral Vladimir Yegorov,[10] receiving dignitaries including Hikmat al-Shihabi, Chief of Staff of the Syrian Army.[11]

The cruiser participated in Black Sea Fleet exercises on 4 April in the central Tyrrhenian Sea, during which her Ka-25 helicopter became lost and made a forced landing aboard the Bulgarian dry cargo ship Burgas. The helicopter was flown back after both ships rendezvoused and the necessary fuel was transferred, although the crew responsible was suspended from flying for the rest of the cruise. In order to rest the crew and carry out repairs the ship temporarily docked at Tartus Naval Base between 12 April and 10 May. After departing Tartus she shadowed the carrier group led by United States aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower between 12 May and 10 June when the latter put into İzmir. After replenishing supplies from the tanker Gori on 13 June she began the voyage back to Severomorsk, where she arrived on 23 June, having sailed 21,680 nautical miles.[11]

On 1 October 1991 the 170th Brigade was redesignated as the 44th Anti-Submarine Warfare Division. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the cruiser was transferred to the Russian Navy. Admiral Makarov was decommissioned on 3 July 1992 due to the deterioration of the ship and lack of funds for repair. Her crew was disbanded on 31 December 1992, and the hull was sold to an Indian company for scrapping in 1994. During her career, Admiral Nakhimov was assigned the temporary tactical numbers 583, 585, 547, 291, 541, 690 (in 1978), 648, 666, 667, and 657 (in the 1980s and 1990s).[11]

• Averin, A.B. (2007). Адмиралы и маршалы. Корабли проектов 1134 и 1134А. [Admirals and Marshals: Ships Project 1134 and 1134A] (in Russian). Moscow: Voennaya Kniga. ISBN 978-5-902863-16-8.
• Belov, Gennady (2015). Атлантическая эскадра, 1968–2005 [Atlantic Squadron, 1968–2005] (in Russian). Moscow: Gorizont. ISBN 978-5-9906772-5-8.
• Chant, Christopher (1987). A Compendium of Armaments and Military Hardware. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415710725.
• Hampshire, Edward (2017). Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers. New Vanguard 242. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-1740-2.
• Pavlov, Alexander (1995). Военные корабли СССР и России 1945-1995 гг. Справочник. [Warships of Russia and the Soviet Union, 1945–1995: Handbook] (in Russian). Yakutsk: Sakhapoligradizdat. OCLC 464542777.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (4 May 2004). Navies in Modern World History. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-455-7.