Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered cruiser
© RIA Novosti. Oleg Lastochkin
Posted on 12/02/2011 7:42:59 PM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Russia to refit Admiral Nakhimov nuclear cruiser after 2012
The overhaul of mothballed Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered cruiser will start after 2012 with the focus on refitting the ship with advanced weaponry and electronics, the Sevmash shipyard said.
The Admiral Nakhimov (former Kalinin) Kirov class cruiser was commissioned in 1988 and mothballed in 1999. It has been docked at the Sevmash shipyard in the city of Severodvinsk in northern Russia, undergoing repairs since 2005.
“During the talks with the Russian Defense Ministry, we have concluded that it would be senseless to continue the repairs without determining the final variant of the modernization, so the repair work has been suspended [until after 2012],” Sevmash General Director Andrei Dyachkov said on Friday in an exclusive interview with RIA Novosti.
Dyachkov said that the main changes during the overhaul will be applied to cruiser’s armaments as the SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles – the ship’s current main weaponry – have become outdated.
The SS-N-19s will be replaced with P-800 Yakhont (SS-N-26) anti-ship cruise missiles. The cruiser will also receive advanced air defense missile systems based on the land-based S-400 Triumf, and new point-defense systems.
Russia built four Kirov class nuclear-powered cruisers in 1974-1998. One of them, the Pyotr Veliky, is still in active service as the flagship of the Northern Fleet.
Several sources in the Russian military and defense industry earlier said that the Russian Defense Ministry was planning to refit the Admiral Nakhimov, Admiral Lazarev and Admiral Ushakov missile cruisers by 2020 in a major boost for the Russian Navy's combat strength.
Dyachkov said on Friday the fate of the Admiral Ushakov, which has been docked at the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk, has not been determined.
The Kirov class main weapons in current configuration include 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided by 12 SA-N-6 Grumble launchers with 96 missiles and two SA-N-4 Gecko with 40 missiles.
After the refit, the Kirov class cruisers will most likely be deployed with Russia's Northern and Pacific fleets as part of large task forces set up to carry out a variety of combat missions - from "hunting" the adversary's aircraft carriers and submarines to massive land assaults.
Admiral Nakhimov nuclear-powered cruiser
© RIA Novosti. Oleg Lastochkin
when originally deployed they were the center of soviet SAGs (Surface Action Group) and mean. it was a tossup between one of these and one of our BB-based SAG. they also werte a big threat to or carriers, especially if they attacked in unison with soviet bombers w/ ASM out of northern russia or norway and Oscar SSGNs.
i wonder how well they survived 10 years of just sitting?
Probably requires a lot of repair work
But I think this a much more beautiful vessel, though she may not have been as capable:
I boarded the Kennedy for the first time only months after she sheared off the top of this beautiful vessel.
I remember my first night boarding her, we drove up in the back of a pickup truck to the pier in Norfolk, and she was bathed under some floodlights. Very impressive. Even though I was a Navy Brat I had seen a lot of carriers close up over the years, it was very different when you were going to get aboard and sail on her.
That night, after everything was loaded up and we had some time to sit around, I sat on the darkened flight deck next to Airman Delgado, who was teaching me how to be a Plane Captain.
We were sitting just forward of the island on the starboard side looking back towards the angle. Delgado described to me how that night, he had been standing in the very spot we were in, and he saw a little red light heading from bow to stern, and his first thought was "What is that idiot doing over there with that flashlight?" when he felt a thump and heard an incredible screeching of metal as the vessel carrying the red light ran bow-first into the flight deck angle. A narrow fountain of flame shot straight up about fifty feet in the air, the Belknap scraped along the angle then broke free and drifted astern, flaming. He said he was completely astonished. Like nothing he had ever seen in his life.
The ship was a wreck and burned for a long time. He said you could actually see the superstructure melting and running down the side of the ship where it disappeared, steaming, into the water. To him, the Belknap was solid flame stem to stern. He thought there was no way anyone was going to live on that ship. Amazing that so few were killed. I don't know where this picture was taken, but she looks pretty rough.
The Kirov class cruiser has always been a favorite of mine, design-wise. Its a great looking ship. The best of all time is the Iowa class battleship, but I'd put the Kirov in 2nd or 3rd. I saw one at sea, back in the day. It makes a definite impression on the horizon.
One big Puppy..... Supposedly designed to operate without Air Superiority, in a hostile environment.
The largest Surface Combatant in active service, anywhere in the world, as large as a ‘tween wars battleship, 827 ft. long.
Sister ship to the Peter The Great (Formerly the Yuriy Andropov,) which is the ship that was in Cuba a couple of years ago).
“The Kirov class cruiser has always been a favorite of mine, design-wise.”
My favorite Soviet ships were the Moskva class hybrid Carrier/Cruisers
Nice SLEEK looking ships, if you didn’t bother looking past the paint. Mechanical nightmares that were very nose-heavy, causing them to ride low in the water.
They were designated as “aviation cruisers” to avoid problems with the 1936 Montreaux Convention, which prohibited passage of “aircraft carriers” through the Dardanelles.
Rooskies talk a lot the last few years about military upgrades.
This boat was bragged to be refitted in 2006. All we know is that Rooskies order big new boats from Kermitville.
In action, all we've seen is the clunker armor that invaded Georgia.
yitbos
Well, as an old Cold Warrior, I for one miss it. We knew who the enemy was back then, and they were an enemy that deserved some measure of respect. And while they were a bunch of dirty commies... The Russian Navy was a worthy and proud adversary. As a sailor, they had our respect and I think we had theirs. The Russians have a long naval tradition that matches any western navy. There’s a spirit, too, among sailors across history that I think we both shared.
This new enemy has none of that honor or history. They are parasites. Mere vermin to be exterminated.
FYI The father of the Russian navy is.......Ready for this ??? John Paul Jones
I agree 100%. I believe the Iowa class were the most beautiful warships ever built...a stunning design.
Nothing else comes close.
When I lived in Subic Bay as a kid, I was an altar boy, and the chaplain used to take me around to the ships when he served Mass on them. One of them was the USS New Jersey.
What I remember best, though, was how well those sailors treated me. After Mass, they let us have breakfast, and the cook asked me what I would like, and I said: “Jelly Doughnuts!”
They brought me out a plate piled high with them! I must have eaten eight or nine of those doughnuts, and I had a pretty severe stomach ache after that!
I remember another time me and my buddy were trying to make the Marine guard move. He was standing rock still at the bottom of the gangway at parade rest with a Garand (I think, but can’t remember if it was an M-14 or not)
We would run up, poke him in the side and run away. The guy refused to even flinch or look at us...I thought it was amazing. I bet he knew he was blowing our minds...:)
Never seen that pic of Belknap. Is that Augusta? Would have been a close port to the incident.
amen, from this CW tanker...true words all.
regards,
My favorites were the Desmoine class of heavy cruisers. The Newport News, Salem, and Desmoines were really something. Automatic 8 inch guns too! Yowza!
While it's true that the Kirov class have two nuclear reactors, the also have two massive oil-fired boilers linked to a separate set of turbines and which can also propel the ship. A useful arrangement considering the Kirov herself, while operating as the Admiral Ushakov, suffered a 'minor' nuclear mishap in 1990 while in the Med and has never sailed since.
Here is a more graphic one:
That’s what killed aluminum superstructures in the Navy.
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