- Soviet battlecruiser Kirov
"Kirov", the
lead ship of the eponymous class of missile cruisers, is one of the major and biggest surface warships of theRussian Navy , though it was originally built for theSoviet Navy . It is one of the biggest warships of the world and is similar in size to aWorld War I battleship . Although commissioned as a missile cruiser "Kirov"' s size and weapons complement have given her the unofficial designation of abattlecruiser throughout much of the world. The appearance of the "Kirov" class was a significant factor in the US Navy recommissioning the "Iowa" class.Fact|date=December 2007 She was named afterSergey Kirov , a Bolshevik hero.History
She was laid down in June 1973Fact|date=December 2007 or
March 27 1974 at the Baltiysky Naval Shipyard in Leningrad, launched onDecember 26 1977 and commissioned onDecember 30 1980 , part ofSoviet Northern Fleet . When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). She was placed in reserve in 1990 following a reactor accident.GlobalSecurity.org [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1144-list.htm Project 1144.2 Orlan Kirov class Guided Missile Cruiser (Nuclear Powered) ship list] ] "Kirov" was renamed "Admiral Ushakov" after the 18th Century admiralFyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov in 1992 for political reasons. An overhaul was started in 1999, but the ship was written off in 2001 and slated to be dismantled in 2003.Armament
This ship had an impressive armament of missiles and guns as well as electronics. Its largest
radar antenna is mounted on its foremast, and called "Top Pair " byNATO . "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-300 F (SA-N-6) launchers with 96 missiles, 2 × Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) with 40 missiles and theKashtan 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 rockets and the 2 × RBU-1000 six-tube launchers.
Fate
"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 theSoviet Union . She may have been cannibalized as a spare parts cache for the other ships in her class.In June 2004 the name "Admiral Ushakov" was transferred to the
Sovremenny class destroyer "Besstrashny". 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 Severdovinsk Zvezdochka plant. According to the Zvezdochka plant, dismantlement of the former "Admiral Ushakov" would cost $40 million, all of which was allocated byNorway . [GlobalSecurity.org [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1144.htm Project 1144.2 Orlan - Kirov class - Guided Missile Cruiser (Nuclear Powered) - class article] .]In Fiction
The Kirov is mentioned in the BBC drama 'Threads' in which it is described as being in collision with the US destroyer USS "Callaghan" in the lead up to a nuclear war.
In
Tom Clancy 's1986 novel, "Red Storm Rising ", the "Kirov" is sunk by the Norwegian submarine HNoMS "Kobben".ee also
*
Kirov for other uses.
*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
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.