Admiral Gorshkov (Baku CVHG-103)

Aircraft Carrier / Heavy Cruiser Warship [ 1987 ]

The Admiral Gorshkov was born as the Baku and was later sold off to the Indian Navy to become its INS Vikramaditya in 2013.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 03/22/2021 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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The Admiral Gorshkov (formerly the "Baku" CVHG-103) was a late-Cold War-era aircraft carrier serving the Soviet Navy for a time. The type was based on the Kiev-class of aircraft carriers led by the Kiev itself and joined by sister ships Minsk and Novorossiysk. Towards the end of the Cold War and after the Soviet Empire's final collapse in 1991, the Soviet fleet fell on hard times and all four vessels were sold off. The Kiev and Minsk were sold to China while the Novorossiysk became scrap. The Baku - renamed to the "Admiral Gorshkov" late in its career - was sold to the Indian Navy and is set for recommissioning sometime in 2012 as the refitted "Vikramaditya".

The Baku had her keel laid down at Ukrainian Shipyard No.444 in 1978 to which construction proceeded for several years thereafter. In 1982, the vessel was launched and underwent sea trials, ending with her formal commissioning in 1987 as the "Baku", this after the city of Baku in Azerbaijan. The Baku carried the Baku name from 1987 until 1991 (then under the Soviet Navy flag) to which the vessel was renamed the "Admiral Gorshkov" for the remainder of her Russian career (after the fall of the Soviet Union). her career closed in 1995 prior to her refit and subsequent sale to India. The Admiral Gorshkov name was derived from the Soviet Cold War-era navy admiral of the same name - Admiral Sergey Gorshkov.

Design of the Baku/Admiral Gorshkov was a mixed breed of conventional aircraft carrier standards and armed heavy cruiser. The flight deck consisted of a short stern-to-portside runway designed for short take-off and recovery. The bow section was where most of the defensive and offensive weaponry was held - torpedo tubes and deck guns clearly visible. The island superstructure was offset to the starboard side and towered over the featureless flight deck immediately to the left. Beyond that, the type was well-formed with clean lines designed to cut through the roughest of northern hemisphere seas.

The Admiral Gorshkov managed an air wing of 12 x Yakovlev Yak-38 Forger VTOL aircraft (Vertical Take-Off and Landing). The Yak-38 was roughly the equivalent of the British BAe Sea Harrier though limited in its tactical scope and operational range (only 231 were produced before retirement in 1991). The fixed-wing aircraft was supplemented by up to 16 x Kamov navalized helicopters for anti-ship, anti-submarine and general reconnaissance sorties.©MilitaryFactory.com

All of the Kiev-class carriers were well-defended from air and sea threats. The Admiral Gorshkov was deployed with 6 x 2 P-500 Bazalt surface-to-surface missile launchers numbering 12 total missiles. A 24 x 8-cell 9K330 Tor vertical-launch surface-to-air missile system defended against incoming aerial threats as needed to which some 192 missiles were stowed aboard. There were 2 x 100mm dual-purpose guns for managing ranged surface threats while 8 x 30mm AK-630 series Close-In Weapon Systems (CIWS) defending the vessel from short-range incoming threats. 10 x 21" torpedo tubes could be used against enemy naval vessels. In this way, the Kiev-class of fighting ships could be called upon to tackle all manner of threats - moreso than any typical Western aircraft carrier of the time could.

The Admiral Gorshkov was crewed by up to 1,600 personnel with 1,200 being in the minimal range. Power was derived from 8 x turbopressurized boiler systems feeding 4 x steam turbines delivering 200,000 shaft horsepower to 4 x shafts. The vessel displaced at 45,000 metric tons under full load.

The Baku served as carrier for deck trials of the proposed Yakovlev Yak-141 "Freestyle" Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft. A boiler explosion in 1994 put the ship into dock for needed repairs and she was not set out to sea again until 1995. Decommissioned in 1996, Russian authorities looked to unload the steel beast to an interested - though Russian-friendly - party. They found a willing taker in the Indian Navy who proceeded to purchased the vessel outright in 2004 with the final settled price of $2.3 billion (primarily to cover refit). A refitting was undertaken at a Russian shipyard and the flight deck configuration changed to a STOBAR arrangement (STOBAR = "Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery"). This included removal of the bow-mounted weaponry and installation of a ski ramp. The boilers were also given up in favor of conventional diesel-fueled turbines.

November 2013 - The Admiral Gorshkov was commissioned for service into the Indian Navy as INS Vikramaditya on November 16th, 2013.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1987

Origin

Soviet Union

Status

DECOMMISSIONED
Destroyed, Scrapped.

Complement

1,300
PERSONNEL

Class

Kiev-class

Number-in-Class

4
VESSELS

Ships-in-Class

Kiev; Minsk; Novorossiysk; Admiral Gorshkov (Baku CVHG-103)

Russia; Soviet Union; India

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Offshore Bombardment
Offshore bombardment / attack of surface targets / areas primarily through onboard ballistic weaponry.

✓ Land-Attack
Offshore strike of surface targets primarily through onboard missile / rocket weaponry.

✓ Maritime Patrol
Active patroling of vital waterways and maritime areas; can also serve as local deterrence against airborne and seaborne threats.

✓ Airspace Denial / Deterrence
Neutralization or deterrence of airborne elements through onboard ballistic of missile weaponry.

✓ Fleet Support
Serving in support (either firepower or material) of the main surface fleet in Blue Water environments.

✓ Flag Ship / Capital Ship
Serving in the fleet Flag Ship role or Capital Ship in older warship designs / terminology.

Length

895.0 ft
272.80 m

Beam

101.7 ft
31.00 m

Draught

26.9 ft
8.20 m

Displacement

45,000
tons

Installed Power: 4 x Geared turbines developing 200,000 horsepower to 4 x Shafts.

Surface Speed

32.0 kts
(36.8 mph)

Range

13,469 nm
(15,500 mi | 24,945 km)

6 x 2 SS-N-12 "Sandbox" surface-to-surface missile launchers.

24 x 8-cell SA-N-9 surface-to-air missile vertical launchers.

2 x 100mm dual purpose guns

8 x 30mm AK-630 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS)

10 x 533mm torpedo tubes

2 x RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft Gatling-style rotating gun

Graphical image of an air-to-air missile weapon

Graphical image of aircraft aerial rockets

Graphical image of an aircraft aerial torpedo

(Not all weapon types may be represented in the showcase above)

12 x Yakovlev Yak-38 VTOL fighters

20 x Kamov Ka-25 or Ka-27 maritime helicopters

Military lapel ribbon for the Cold War period

Military lapel ribbon for early warship designs

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective naval campaigns / operations / periods.