Russian battlecruiser Kirov

Kirov c.1983
History
→ Soviet Union → Russia
Name	Kirov
Namesake	Soviet cruiser Kirov Sergei Kirov
Builder	Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, Leningrad
Laid down	27 March 1974
Launched	26 December 1977
Commissioned	30 December 1980
Out of service	In reserve, 1990
Renamed	Admiral Ushakov, 1992
Status	Laid-up, to be scrapped.
General characteristics
Class and type	Kirov-class battlecruiser
Displacement	24,300 tons Standard, 28,000 (Full load)
Length	252 m (827 ft) 230 m (750 ft) (Waterline)
Beam	28.5 m (94 ft)
Draft	9.1 m (30 ft)
Propulsion	2-shaft CONAS, Nuclear propulsion with steam turbine boost 140,000 shp
Speed	32 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	20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) AShM 1 x 2 (14) SS-N-14 Silex ASW cruise missiles 12 × 8 (96) SA-N-6 Grumble surface-to-air missiles 2 x 2 (44) OSA-MA (SA-N-4 Gecko) PD SAM 2 × RBU-1000 305 mm ASW rocket launchers 1 × RBU-6000 213 mm ASW rocket launchers 2 × AK-100 100 mm/L60 DP guns 10 533 mm ASW/ASuW torpedo tubes, Type 53 torpedo 8 × AK-630 hex gatling 30 mm/L60 PD guns
Armour	76 mm plating around reactor compartment, light splinter protection
Aircraft carried	3 Kamov Ka-27 "Helix" or Ka-25 "Hormone"
Aviation facilities	Below-deck hangar

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).

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.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

• In the film Threads, Kirov collides with USS Callaghan in the Persian Gulf.
• In the novel The Hunt for Red October, Kirov is deployed to the North Atlantic in pursuit of the title submarine, where it has a close encounter with American aircraft.
• In Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising, Kirov is sunk by the Norwegian submarine Kobben.

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

See also

• Soviet cruiser Kirov, a Kirov-class cruiser, lead ship of a Soviet 1930–1940s class of conventional cruisers
• Admiral Ushakov (warship), for other ships named for Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov

References

External links

• Holm, Michael. "Project 1144 Kirov class". ww2.dk.