Kirov class cruiser
| Kirov-class cruiser | |
|---|---|
| |
| Career | |
| Flag |  
|
| Characteristics | |
| Displacement | 24,300-25,860 tons standard |
| Length | 251.2-252 meters |
| Beam | 28.5 meters |
| Draft | 9.0-10.33 meters |
| Speed | 32 knots |
| Armament | 20 Granit (SS-N-19) ADGM S-300F (12 launchers, 96 missiles); 192 ADGM Kashtan missiles; twenty Vodopad-NK (SS-N-16) missiles; two AK-130 mm anti-aircraft guns; eight AK-630 AA CIWS |
| Crew | 727 officer and men; 15 aircrew |
The Kirov class cruiser is the largest non-carrier surface combat vessel to be laid down and completed by any nation since World War II. The ships of this class were first built for the Soviet navy. Its official designation is “missile cruiser”, although its size and speed qualifies it as a battlecruiser. It was also the first Russian surface ship to use a nuclear powerplant. Five ships were planned, but only four were built. The first, the Kirov (later renamed the Admiral Ushakov), was laid down in 1973 and commissioned in 1980. It was followed by the Admiral Lazarev in 1984, the Admiral Nakhimkov in 1988, and the Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great) in 1998. Only the last two are still in service, due mainly to Russia's lack of funds.
The cruiser's main armament consists of 20 vertical launch tubes for SS-N-19 Shipwreck missiles. It also carries 2 twin 5-inch guns, 2 quintuple torpedo tubes, and various short- and long-range SAMs and 30 mm guns for air defence. Each ship also carries three Kamov Ka-27 Helix helicopters for anti-submarine work.[1]
The introduction of the Kirov class was an important reason behind the US Navy's decision to recommission the Iowa-class battleships in the 1980s.[2]
In November 2008, the Pyoter Velikiy, along with a destroyer and two support vessels, deployed to South American waters to take part in war games with the navy of Venezuela.[3]
The Kirov in Fiction
In Tom Clancy’s novel Red Storm Rising, the Kirov is part of a Soviet task force in support of an amphibious landing in northern Norway. While on route, the cruiser is sunk by a Norwegian submarine.
References
- ↑ The Vital Guide to Modern Warships, by Leo Marriott, Airlife Publishing, 2001
- ↑ The World's Great Battleships, by Robert Jackson, Amber Books, 2000
- ↑ Russian navy arrives in Venezuela to 21-gun salute
Links
- Kirov class cruiser at Naval Technology
- Kirov class at GlobalSecurity.org
- Photos from Mark Meredith's website
