Pyotr Velikiy (1998)
The Pyotr Velikiy (Russian Пётр Великий; Spanish: Peter the Great) is the largest nuclear-powered cruise ship in the world, belonging to the Kirov class. Its construction began in 1986 and it was launched in 1996. It is a heavy missile cruiser, relatively new in the inventory of the Russian Naval Force. Pyotr Velikiy is the flagship of the Northern Fleet.
She has a crew of 727 men, with 97 officers. Normally, two naval helicopters, twenty Granit cruise missile launchers, twelve anti-aircraft missile launchers and Vodopad defense systems against submarines are part of its crew. In 2021, the decision to equip it with Zircon hypersonic missiles is approved.
Construction of the ship was delayed due to lack of funds due to economic problems before and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. She was not completed or commissioned until 1998, twelve years after work began. By then she had been renamed Pyotr Velikiy, in Russian Peter the Great. The Pyotr Velikiy is known to have worn two pennant numbers during her service: "183" and currently "099". Since the beginning of her maiden voyage in service for the Russian Navy, a number of problems have come to light. The most serious of these was the rupture of a steam pipe due to a faulty weld. Four sailors died in that accident.
Background
With the exception of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is the largest active warship in the Russian navy, classified as a heavy missile-launching cruiser, there are several types of weapons it can carry and missiles of different sizes. sizes, in vertical silos on the deck of the ship.
Can carry "Surface-to-air" and "Surface-to-Surface" type missiles, it can also launch torpedoes mounted on rocket engines, which are launched into the air like a conventional missile and then submerged under the sea, to combat enemy submarines; all missiles are mounted in vertical launch silos, with the Vertical Launch System, covered with several armored hatches, which open on the side, similar to missile submarines, to launch the missiles from the ship's deck continuously:
Design
Weapon systems
20 SSM P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted in the bow on a VLS (Vertical Launching System) launch system; 96 SAM S-300F Fort (SA-N-6 Grumble) missiles; 40 SAM Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) missiles, and 2 AK-100 100 mm cannons; ASW RBU-6000 Smerch-2 system; ASW RBU-1000 Smerch-3 system.
20 SSM P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles; 48 SAM S-300F Fort missiles; 46 SAM S-300FM Fort-M missiles; 40 Osa-M SAM missiles; 2 AK-130 130mm cannons; 6 CIWS 3M87 Kartik guns; ASW RBU-12000 Udav-1 system; ASW RBU-1000 Smerch-3 system.
Radar systems
MR-800 Flag radar complex; MR-600 Voskhod radar; MR-750 Fregat-MA radar; MR-350 Podkat surface radar.
Construction
Initially it was named after former General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Yuri Andropov. The construction of this ship encountered many delays in 1986 and was completed in 1996, and she was finally christened Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great). She currently serves in the Northern Fleet and is her flagship, along with four other ships of her class.
Operating history
Year 2000
In August 2000, the Pyotr Velikiy was in the Barents Sea involved in the largest naval training exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union. This cruiser was to be the designated target of the K-141 Kursk Oscar II-class submarine, and was conducting evasive maneuvers when communication with the Kursk was lost, apparently after the submarine suffered a catastrophic torpedo detonation. with loss of all its crew. The Piotr Velikiy guarded the area where the submarine sank during the subsequent rescue operation in 2001.
2004
In March 2004, Russian Navy Chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroiedov declared Pyotr Velikiy unfit for service due to ship maintenance engineering problems. 2004, she was berthed in the floating drydock PD-50 for painting of the lower part of the hull, repairs and examination of the steering system. Repairs were completed later that year, and missions are carried out again in August. Pyotr Velikiy has worn two pennant numbers during her service, the & # 34;183 & # 34; and currently "099".
2009
It was seen in the naval maneuvers in Venezuela in 2009, with new adaptations in its design, two hangars were incorporated to transport Kamov Ka-27 helicopters, and new flat radars in the cockpit, it can transport medium-sized ballistic missiles range and anti-satellite missiles, similar in form to the Ticonderoga-class cruisers of the western Aegis Combat System. 2010 deployment.
2010
On March 30, 2010, Piotr Veliki left the Northern Fleet for a new six-month deployment. During its six-month tour, the warship passed through the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, before entering the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal. In the Indian Ocean the cruiser conducted maneuvers with other Russian warships of the Black Sea Fleet. On April 14, the cruise ship visited the Mediterranean where she called at the port of Tartus in Syria. In September 2008, Russia reported that it is in talks with Syria about turning Tartous into a permanent base for Russian warships in the Middle East. In early May 2010, Pyotr Velikiy reunited with the Russian missile cruiser Moskva in the South China Sea. Joint exercises were held there and a traditional farewell ceremony was held on May 5. The two ships arrived at the Russian Far Eastern port of Vladivostok to participate in the large-scale strategic exercise Vostok 2010. On September 29, the Pyotr Veliki returned to her base in the Northern Fleet, after six months at sea. The Northern Fleet flagship had covered around 28,000 nautical miles since the beginning of the mission on March 30, 2010.
2013
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on September 4, 2013 that it would send this ship in addition to other warships of the Northern Fleet to the Russian Arctic regions in the North Sea, thereby resuming its military presence. permanent Russian in that area. Russia announced the reopening of the military base located in Novo-Sibírskie Ostrová, an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, to guarantee the security of the northern sea route, considered as an alternative to the Suez Canal.
2014
Pyotr Velikiy together with the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov and the tankers Sergei Osipov, Kama and Dubna; the tug Altai, and the support ship Minsk entered the English Channel to sail north. The British destroyer HMS Dragon supervised the Russian task group as it approached the United Kingdom. Once the ships spotted each other, she briefly sailed close as a standard 'meet and greet'.
2016
In May 2016, the Pyotr Velikiy put to sea for the first time in two years for exercises off the northern coast of Russia. On October 15, the Pyotr Velikiy left Severomorsk to escort the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov to the Mediterranean along with supply ships and two Udaloy-class destroyers, the Severomorsk and Vice Admiral Kulakov. They were heading to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Syrian government forces fighting rebel troops in Aleppo. Pyotr Velikiy passed through the English Channel, along with the rest of the Russian Northern Fleet on 21 October, followed by the British destroyer HMS Dragon.
2019
On April 6, 2019, the ship entered the Barents Sea with the cruiser Marshal Ustinov and several nuclear submarines.
On October 10, 2019, it entered the Barents Sea with 15 other warships, submarines and auxiliary ships to conduct large-scale drills.
2020
On May 29, 2020, he went to the Barents Sea for military exercises.
On July 11, the Pyotr Veliky together with the cruiser Marshal Ustinov conducted an exercise in the Barents Sea, both firing Granit and Vulkan missiles, respectively.
2021
On May 24, 2021, the Pyotr Veliky put to sea together with 10 other warships, including the Marshal Ustinov. June, Pyotr Veliky was still reported at sea, participating in a 20-ship strong exercise.
On July 1, 2021, he put to sea again.
On September 15, the cruiser conducted an exercise in the Barents Sea together with the cruiser Marshal Ustinov, both firing Granit and Bulkan missiles, respectively.
2022
On January 29, the cruiser conducted an air defense drill, without leaving port.
On February 15, the Pyotr Veliky, the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, diesel and nuclear submarines began an exercise in the Barents Sea.
Between March 15 and 17, 2022, the Pyotr Veliky and the destroyer Severomorsk conducted a military exercise between Norway and Iceland, during a large-scale naval exercise NATO scale.
On April 18, 2022, Pyotr Veliky was again at sea, conducting a gunnery exercise in the Barents Sea.
In June, sailors began preparing for the Navy Day parade in July.
Between August 17 and 26, 2022, Pyotr Veliky was at sea during a large-scale exercise and fired a Granit missile on August 24. She was accompanied by the destroyer Admiral Ushakov and an unknown number of submarines. At the same time, in the eastern part of the Barents Sea, the destroyer Admiral Levchenko, the tank landing ship Aleksandr Otrakovsky and the tanker Sergey Osipov i> were active and embarked on an easterly voyage along the Northern Sea Route. During the exercise, the destroyer Severomorsk and the Ivan Gren also passed through the Barents Sea on the way from the main naval parade in Saint Petersburg to Severomorsk. She was sailing in the Barents Sea on October 27, 2022. The cruiser put to sea again on November 1.
Image gallery
Boat crew
Visit of the then Russian Prime Minister, today President of Russia, Vladimir Putin al Piotr Velikiy
The Cruise doing exercises with the Baltic and Arctic Fleet, 2003
The Cruise in May 2010, doing chemical, biological and radiological war protection exercises
The Piotr Veliki sailing in 2010
