- Yes
- No
Kirov in 1985
History
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Kirov, named after Bolshevik revolutionary Sergei Kirov, was the lead ship of the Project 1144 Orlan nuclear-powered guided-missile heavy cruisers (more commonly referred to as “battlecruisers”). She was laid down at the Baltiysky Zavod shipyard in Leningrad on March 27, 1974, launched on December 26, 1977, and commissioned into the Soviet Northern Fleet on December 30, 1980.
As the first of her class, Kirov featured a unique armament for her artillery: two single AK-100 100mm dual-purpose mounts, while her three sister ships were fitted with twin AK-130 130mm guns. She carried a primary armament of 20 P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) anti-ship missiles, which had a massive HE warhead packing 750 kilograms of explosive filler. This, paired with their staggering range of 483 kilometres, earned her class the “carrier-killer” nickname.
Her first major overseas deployment came in 1984, when she undertook a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea, demonstrating the Soviet Navy’s expanding blue-water capabilities and serving as a powerful symbol of Soviet naval prestige. This was followed by a second major deployment from December 1989 to February 1990, again to the Mediterranean.
It was during this second deployment that her career effectively ended. In 1990, Kirov suffered a major accident in her propulsion system. While the official Soviet statement described the incident as a gas leak in a steam generator, it is widely reported as a major nuclear propulsion system accident. She was able to return to port under her own power but was never repaired due to the extreme complexity and cost of the work required.
Following the accident, she was laid up at her homeport of Severomorsk and placed in reserve. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing lack of funds, the necessary repairs were never carried out. She was officially renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992 but remained inactive.
Over the next decade, there were several failed attempts to save the ship. In 1999, the Russian State Duma filed a resolution to secure funding for her repair, estimating the cost at 1,5 billion Roubles. However, these efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. The ship was officially written off and decommissioned in 2002, with final dismantlement plans being reported as late as 2019. She is currently still laid up for scrapping.
Kirov (left) in 1992
General characteristics
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Displacement: 24300 tons standard, 28000 tons full load
Length: 252 metres
Beam: 28,5 metres
Draft: 9,1 metres
Top speed: 32 knots (59km/h)
Propulsion: 2 shafts powered by 2 KN-3 nuclear reactors, with 2 GT3A-688 steam turbines, generating 140000 shp
Crew complement: 760 (727 + 18 aircrew + 15 flag staff)
Sensors
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- Voskhod MR-800 3D radar
- Fregat-M MR-710 3D search radar
- 2x Volna 3R41 for S-300F fire control
- 4x MR-123 for AK-630 CIWS FCS
- 2x MR-330 for OSA-MA fire control
- Monsoon FCS for Metel ASW missile launcher
Countermeasures
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2x PK-2 decoy dispensers (200 rockets each)
Armament
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Missiles:
- 20x P-700 Granit AShM
- 12x8 S-300F Fort SAM (96 missiles)
- 2x2 OSA-MA point-defense SAM (44 missiles)
- 1x2 Metel ASW missile launcher (14 missiles)
Guns:
- 2x AK-100 dual-purpose guns (based on other ships it’s 350 rounds each, 700 in total). These get access to OF-58 (HE), ZS-58 (time fuze) and ZS-58P (proxy fuze). All rounds have an explosive filler of 1,53 kilograms.
- 8x AK-630M CIWS systems (2000 rounds each, 16000 in total)
Other:
- 2x quintuple 533mm torpedo launchers (5 torpedoes each, 10 in total) firing Type 53 torpedoes
- 1x RBU-12000 254mm ASW rocket launcher (10 rockets, 30-50 for reloads)
- 2x RBU-1000 305mm ASW rocket launcher (30 rockets per mount, 60 in total)
Armour
- 76mms surrounding reactor compartment
- Light all-round splinter protection
Aircraft
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- 3 KA-27 and/or KA-25
Technical drawings and images
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purple: AK-630M CIWS
red: pop-up OSA-MA SAM launchers
green: P-700 Granit missile silos
blue: S-300F Fort silos
yellow: twin Metel ASW missile launcher
1 - Storerooms of various purposes; 2 - Capstan machinery compartment; 3 - RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launcher; 4 - PK-2 decoy dispenser; 5 - Metel anti-submarine missile magazine; 6 - Metel ASW missile launcher; 7 - Ammunition loading devices and underway replenishment equipment; 8 - Fort (S-300F) SAM vertical launch system; 9 - Granit anti-ship missile launcher; 10 - 30mm AK-630M automatic gun mount; 11 - Metel ASW missile control posts; 12 - Metel ASW missile fire control radar antenna (Monsoon FCS); 13 - OSA-MA SAM launcher; 14 - Stabilized TV surveillance post for close-range external situational awareness (Rotan system); 15 - Wheelhouse; 16 - Central navigation room; 17 - Fort (S-300F) SAM fire control radar phased array antenna; 18 - Operations bridge; 19 - Koltso electronic warfare system antenna; 20 - Privod-V (landing guidance/beacon) system antenna; 21 - Voskhod radar antenna; 22 - High-frequency equipment rooms and radio-technical warfare posts; 23 - Reactor refueling shafts; 24 - Tsiklon-BM satellite communications system antenna; 25 - Fregat-M radar antenna; 26 - Lev main gun fire control radar antenna; 27 - Helicopter startup command post and flight control post; 28 - 100mm AK-100 mount; 29 - AK-100 barbette and magazine; 30 - Polynom sonar antenna and control equipment enclosure; 31 - Steering gear; 32 - Helicopter hangar; 33 - Aviation ordnance magazine; 34 - Aviation fuel tank; 35 - Aft electrical power reserve compartment (two diesel generators, 1500 kW each — port side; two diesel generators, 1500 kW each — starboard side); 36 - Aft power station (port side) 37 - Aft engine room (steam turbine unit — starboard side; two turbogenerators, 3000 kW each — port side); 38 - Reactor compartments; 39 - Forward electrical power reserve compartment (two diesel generators, 1500 kW each); 40 - Auxiliary machinery and active roll stabilizer compartment; 41 - Steam boiler compartment; 42 -Forward power station (port side); 43 - Forward engine room (steam turbine unit — port side; two turbogenerators, 3000 kW each — starboard side); 44 - Main command post (MCP); 45 - Battle information post; 46 - Crew quarters; 47 - Polynom sonar hull-mounted antenna fairing; 48 - RBU-6000 magazine; 49 - Polynom sonar antenna in bulbous bow fairing; 50 - Anchor chain storage.
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