Kirov-class battlecruiser

Soviet Battlecruiser Kirov

Career

Russian Naval Jack

Ordered:

Laid down:

June 1973

Launched:

26 December 1977

Commissioned:

30 December 1980

Decommissioned:

N/A

Fate:

Active in service as of 2005

General Characteristics (Kirov)

Displacement:

24,300-25,860 tons standard
25,396-26,396 tons full load

Length:

252.0 m

Beam:

28.5 m

Draft:

9.0 m

Powerplant

2 × KN-3 water pressurized nuclear reactors
2 × oil fired high pressure boilers
2 × GT3A-688 geared steam turbines

Power:

Nuclear: 140,000 hp (104 MW)
Steam Turbine: 70,000 hp (52 MW) each

Propellers:

2 × shafts with fixed pitch

Speed:

30 to 32 knots (56 to 59 km/h)

Endurance:

1000 nautical miles (1,852 km) at full speed

Complement:

Flag Staff: 15
Enlisted: 727
Aircrew: 18

Armament:
	Guns	2 ×	100 mm/59 cal AK-100 (Kirov)
		1 ×	twin 130mm AK-130
		8 ×	AK-360 30mm rotary cannons as the CIWS system
	Missiles	2 ×	twin retractable SA-N-4 Gecko Surface-to-air missiles in twin launchers
		20 ×	VLS for SS-N-19 Shipwreck Surface-to-surface missiles
		12 ×	12-cell VLS for SA-N-6 Grumble missiles
	ASW	1 ×	twin cylinder launcher for SS-N-14 Silex missiles
	ASW	10x	533 mm torpedo tubes

Radars:

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

Sonar

Horse Tail VDS (Variable Deep Sonar)

Fire control:

2 × Top Dome for SA-N-6 fire control
4 × Bass Tilt for AK-360 CIWS System fire control
2 × Eye Bowl for SA-N-4 fire control

Aircraft:

3x Kamov Ka-27 "Helix" stored in the stern in below-deck hangers

The Kirov class (Soviet designation Project 1144 Orlan, meaning Sea eagle) nuclear powered missile cruisers, named after Sergey Kirov, are some of the largest and most powerful surface warships of the Russian Navy, though they were originally built for the Soviet Navy. They are among the biggest warships in the world, second only to aircraft carriers, and are similar in size to a World War I battleship. Although some call the Kirov a battlecruiser or battleship because of this, the Kirov lacks the characteristic heavy armour. It is more appropriate to consider the Kirov a super-sized guided missile cruiser, similar to the analogy Alaska-class cruiser which had a displacement of a battlecruiser but otherwise was more similar to heavy cruisers. The appearance of the Kirov class was a significant factor in the U.S. Navy recommissioning the Iowa class.

This ship has an impressive armament of missiles and guns as well as electronics. Its largest radar antenna is mounted on its foremast, and called "Top Pair" by NATO. The Kirov class's main weapons are 20 × SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles mounted on deck, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided for with 12 × S-300F launchers with 96 missiles, 2 × Osa-MA with 40 missiles and the Kashstan 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 with 40 anti-submarine rockets and the 2 × RBU-1000 six-tube launchers.

The lead ship, Kirov (renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992 for political reasons) was laid down in June of 1973 at Leningrad's Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, launched on December 26, 1977 and commissioned on December 30, 1980. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I).

Kirov suffered a reactor accident in 1990 while serving in the Mediterranean Sea. 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.

In 1984 the second ship in the Kirov class, Frunze, was completed. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. In 1991, she was renamed Admiral Lazarev. The ship became inactive in 1994 and was decommissioned four years later.

Kalinin was the third Kirov-class ship to enter service, in 1988. She was also assigned to the Northern Fleet. Renamed to Admiral Nakhimov, the ship was mothballed in 1999.

Construction of the fourth ship, Yuri Andropov encountered many delays; her construction started in 1986 but wasn't completed until ten years later, in 1996, whereforth she was christened Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great). The ship has been declared the flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet.

On March 23, 2004, the Russian Northern Fleet Chief Commander, Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov said that Pyotr Velikiy's reactor was in an extremely bad condition and could explode "at any moment." This statement was later withdrawn and may have been the result of internal politics within the Russian Navy, as Admiral Igor Kasatonov (the uncle of Pyotr Velikiy commander Vladimir Kasatanov) was testifying in the court hearings on the loss of the K-159 and the Kursk disaster.

The ship was sent to port for a month, and the crew lost one-third of their pay. Examinations found no problems with the ship's reactor.

The fifth ship, to be known as Dzerzhinsky, also ran into delays. Her name was changed to October Revolution, and then Kuznetsov, and later scrapped while incomplete.

Units

Kirov/Admiral Ushakov - Status unknown, believed decommissioned in 2001
Frunze/Admiral Lazarev - Decommissioned in 1997
Kalinin/Admiral Nakhimov - Undergoing repairs at Sevmash since 1999. Due to complete 2007
Yuri Andropov/Pyotr Velikiy - Active
Dzerzhinsky - Not completed

Kirov-class battlecruiser

Units

External links

See also