Kirov-class battlecruiser

Originally built for the Soviet Navy, the class is named after the first of a series of four ships constructed, Admiral Ushakov, named Kirov until 1992. Original plans called for construction of five ships. The fifth vessel was planned to be named Fleet Admiral of the Soviet Union Kuznetsov, also referred as Dzerzhinsky.[7] The name was later changed to Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya (October Revolution),[8] and then just Kuznetsov;[9] but on 4 October 1990, plans for construction of a fifth vessel were abandoned.[7]

The lead ship of the class, Kirov (renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1992), was laid down in June 1973 at Leningrad's Baltiysky Naval Shipyard, launched on 27 December 1977 and commissioned on 30 December 1980. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). She is currently in reserve.

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 the Soviet Union.

In 1983, a command and control ship, SSV-33 Ural, was launched, although the ship would not be officially commissioned until 1989. She utilized the basic hull design of the Kirov-class vessels, but with a modified superstructure, different armament, and was intended for a different role within the Soviet Navy. Ural was decommissioned and laid up in 2001, due to high operating costs, and is scheduled to be scrapped in 2017.

Frunze, the second vessel in the class, was commissioned in 1984. She was assigned to the Pacific Fleet. In 1992, she was renamed Admiral Lazarev. The ship became inactive in 1994 and was decommissioned four years later. She is currently in reserve. On 19 September 2009, General Popovkin, Deputy MOD for Armaments, said the MOD is looking into bringing Admiral Lazarev back into service.[10]

Kalinin, now Admiral Nakhimov, was the third ship to enter service, in 1988. She was also assigned to the Northern Fleet. Renamed Admiral Nakhimov in 1992, she was mothballed in 1999 and reactivated in 2005. She is undergoing overhaul and modernization at Severodvinsk Shipyard.

Construction of the fourth ship, Yuriy Andropov, encountered many delays; her construction was started in 1986 but was not commissioned until 1998. She was renamed Pyotr Veliky (after Peter the Great) in 1992.[7] She currently serves as the flagship of the Russia's Northern Fleet.

On 23 March 2004, English language press reported the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief, Fleet Admiral Vladimir Kuroedov said Pyotr Veliky's reactor was in an extremely bad condition and could explode "at any moment", a statement which may have been the result of internal politics within the Russian Navy.[11] The ship was sent to port for a month, and the crew lost one-third of their pay.

Russia initially planned to reactivate Admiral Ushakov and Admiral Lazarev by 2020,[2][12] but it was later indicated that the condition of the reactor cores of both ships was such that it would prove difficult, expensive and potentially dangerous to remove the spent nuclear fuel and repair the cores. As a consequence, it is likely that both ships will be scrapped.[13][14] The modernization of Admiral Ushakov seems unlikely due to an alleged nuclear incident which may have left one of its reactors damaged[15] with scrapping to start in 2016 or later.[16] Other sources disagree, stating that all four ships will be modernized and returned to service.[17] In 2014 some maintenance work was performed on Admiral Lazarev (the only cruiser located in the Pacific).[18][19] Skepticism was expressed regarding the ability of Sevmash shipyard to simultaneously modernize two Kirov-class battlecruisers.[18]

Currently, only Pyotr Velikiy remains operational. Modernization of Admiral Nakhimov is ongoing (trials to start in 2020),[20] with the modernization of Pyotr Velikiy to immediately follow and last for about three years.[21][22]

• List of naval ship classes in service
• List of active Russian Navy ships
• List of ships of Russia by project number
• List of ships of the Soviet Navy

• Bishop, Chris (1988). The Encyclopedia of World Sea Power. New York: Crescent Books. ISBN 978-0-517-65342-5. OCLC 18199237.
• Miller, David; Chris Miller (1986). Modern Naval Combat. London: Salamander Books. ISBN 978-0-86101-231-2. OCLC 17397400.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kirov class battlecruiser.

• Illustrated article about the Kirov class.
• Globalsecurity.org page on Kirov class
• Kirov class photos from Mark Meredith
• (in Russian) Encyclopedia of ships
• (in Russian) Military Reform Support Fund
• (in Russian) Forum discussion of ships' armament
• FAS.org article
• Project 1144 - Complete Ship List