Soviet cruiser Groznyy
Groznyy (Russian: Грозный, lit. 'Fearsome') was the lead ship of the Soviet Navy Project 58 Groznyy-class Guided Missile Cruisers (Ракетные крейсера проекта, RKR), also known as the Kynda Class. Originally designated a destroyer, the vessel was reclassified as a cruiser on 29 September 1962.[1]
 Groznyy underway on 30 October 1985. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}  Soviet Union | |
| Name: | Groznyy |
| Namesake: | Russian for Formidable |
| Builder: | A.A. Zhdanov, Leningrad |
| Yard number: | 780 |
| Laid down: | 23 February 1960 |
| Launched: | 26 March 1961 |
| Commissioned: | 30 December 1962 |
| Decommissioned: | 1991 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Project 58 Groznyy class cruiser |
| Displacement: | 4,350 tonnes (4,280 long tons; 4,800 short tons) standard, 5,400 tonnes (5,300 long tons; 6,000 short tons) full load |
| Length: | 142.7 m (468 ft) |
| Beam: | 16 m (52 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.01 m (16.4 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft; 4 x KVN-95/64 boilers, 2 x TV-12 GTZA steam turbines, 45,000 shp (34,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 34.5 knots (64 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,500 nmi (8,334 km) at 14.3 knots (26 km/h) |
| Complement: | 25 officers, 304 men |
| Sensors and processing systems: | 2 x MR-300 Angara air/surface search radars, 1 x Bizan, 1 x MRP-11-12, 2 x MRP-13-14 and 2 x MRP-15-16 Zaliv reconnaissance radars, 1 x Don navigation radar, 2 x Nickel-KM and 2 x Khrom-KM IFF, 1 x Vizir-1 and 1 x GS-572 Gerkules-2M sonar |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | 2 x Krab-11, 2 x Krab-12,Vzryv ESM radar system |
| Armament: |
|
| Aircraft carried: | Helipad for 1 Kamov Ka-25 'Hormone-A' |
Design
Displacing 4,350 tonnes (4,280 long tons; 4,800 short tons) standard and 5,300 tonnes (5,200 long tons; 5,800 short tons) full load, Groznyy was 142.7 m (468 ft) in length.[2] Power was provided by two 45,000 horsepower (34,000 kW) TV-12 steam turbines, fuelled by four KVN-95/64 boilers and driving two fixed pitch screws.[1] Design speed was 34 knots (63 km/h), which the ship exceeded.[3]
The ship was designed for anti-ship warfare around two quadruple SM-70 P-35 launchers for sixteen 4K44 missiles (NATO reporting name SS-N-3 'Shaddock’).[4] To defend against aircraft, the ship was equipped with a single twin ZIF-102 M-1 Volna launcher with sixteen V-600 4K90 (SA-N-1 ‘Goa’) missiles forward and two twin 76 mm (3 in) guns aft, backed up by two single 45 mm (2 in) guns.[4] Defence against submarines was provided by two triple 533 mm (21 in) torpedoes and a pair of RBU-6000 213 mm (8 in) anti-submarine rocket launchers.[2]
In 1975, the missiles were updated, the main radar was upgraded to MR-310A and two Uspekh-U radars were added.[4] Four AK-630 close-in weapon systems were also added in the 1980s to improve anti-missile defence.[3]
Service
Launched on 26 March 1961, Groznyy was initially accepted into the Northern Fleet.[4] After visits from General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and Admiral Sergey Gorshkov on 4 May 1962, the ship undertook tests that culminated in the successful launch of two P-35 missiles in front of Khrushchev on 22 July.[5] The ship undertook the first successful deck landing and take off of the mid-course guidance derivative of the Kamov Ka-25 in 1966 and was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet on 5 October that year.[4]
The ship served globally, including visits to Varna, Bulgaria in August 1967, Tartus, Syria in 1968, Havana, Cuba, in June 1969, Fort-de-France, Martinique in August 1969, Split, Yugoslavia, and Alexandria, Egypt in 1972, Casablanca, Morocco in April 1972, Marseille, France in July 1973, Tobruk, Libya in November 1985, Rostock, East Germany in July 1987 and Szczecin, Poland in July 1988.[5] Groznyy took part in the ‘’Atlantika-84’’ exercise in the Barents and Norwegian Seas in March 1984 and tracked US Navy task forces led by the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Saratoga as part of operations in the Mediterranean Sea between 9 August 1985 and 4 February 1986.[5]
Pennant numbers
| Pennant Number[4] | Date |
|---|---|
| 898 | 1962 |
| 239 | |
| 261 | |
| 846 | |
| 841 | 1967 |
| 854 | 1969 |
| 943 | 1969 |
| 859 | 1969 |
| 841 | 1971 |
| 851 | 1973 |
| 847 | 1973 |
| 855 | 1975 |
| 856 | 1975 |
| 147 | 1981 |
| 107 | 1982 |
| 121 | 1983 |
| 155 | 1984 |
| 179 | 1984 |
| 145 | 1988 |
| 152 | 1991 |
| 810 | |
| 843 | |
| 858 | |
| 170 |
References
- Gogin, Ivan (2015). "GROZNYY missile cruisers (project 58) (1962 - 1965)". Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- Moore, John (1980). Jane's Fighting Ships 1980-1981. London: Jane's. ISBN 9780710607034.
- Hampshire, Edward (2017). Soviet Cold War Guided Missile Cruisers. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN 9781472817402.
- "Guided Missile Cruisers: Project 58 Grozny". Russian Ships. 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
- Holm, Michael. "Project 58 Kynda class". Soviet Armed Forces 1945–1991. Retrieved 29 May 2017.