Despite her Cold War-era origins, Pyotr Velikiy remains a powerful warship by modern standards with over 700 crew, missile armament and helicopter support facilities.
The battlecruiser warship rose to prominence in the early part of the 20th Century, modeled after "all-big-gun" battleships while carrying less armor for the purpose of attaining faster cruising speeds. The British led the way in their design and construction and were followed by other world powers of the day including the United States, Japan and Germany. Even into the 1980s, some world powers continued to support the concept of the battlecruiser (though no longer cannon-armed warships) including the Soviet Union which maintained a health stable of surface warships to work alongside their powerful undersea force.
The battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy was one such addition, laid down in 1986 and launched a full decade later in 1996. Before her launching, she was named Yuri Andropov but, with the fall of the Soviet Empire, she was rechristened as Pyotr Velikiy to coincide with a new Russia. Internally, the Russian Navy categorizes her as a "guided missile cruiser" to go along with contemporary terminology. The West, rather unsurprisingly, considers her to be a missile-minded battlecruiser.
As finalized, Pyotr Velikiy displaced 24,300 tons under standard load and 28,000 tons under full load. Measurements include a length of 827 feet, a beam of 94 feet and a draught down to 30 feet. Her crew complement numbers 727 personnel including 18 air crew. Onboard systems include the Voskhod MR-800 3D search radar, the Fregat MR-710 3D search radar and 2 x "Palm Frond" navigation fits. Fire control is handled by a "Top Dome" system for the SA-N-16 missile series and the AK-630 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is directed by 4 x "Bass Tilt" units. SA-N-4 fire control is managed through 2 x "Eye Bowl" systems. The vessel carries the "Tomb Stone" Passive Electronically-Scanned Array (PESA) radar system as well as the "Horse Jaw" LF sonar and the "Horse Tail" variable depth sonar array.
As a missile-minded cruiser, Pyotr Velikiy's armament suite is made up largely of missile-minded weaponry. 20 x P-700 "Granit" anti-ship missiles lead the way followed by 16 x 8 3K95 "Kinzhal" surface-to-air missiles. Beyond this 6 x 8 S-300FM and 6 x 8 S-300 surface-to-air missiles are carried to deal with aerial threats at range. This is further backed by 44 x OSA-MA PD surface-to-air missiles. Conventional weaponry includes the 130mm AK-130 double-gunned turreted deck gun. 2 x RBU-1000 (Smerch-3) Anti-Submarine ROCket (ASROC) and 2 x RBU-12000 (Udav-1) ASROC systems are carried to deal with submarine threats. In addition to this, the warship is outfitted with 10 x 533mm torpedo tubes cleared to fire both torpedoes and anti-ship missiles. 6 x Kashtan point defense systems are fitted for close-range work of in-bound threats.
Installed power is primarily from a nuclear-based propulsion system that supplies nearly infinite operating ranges. This system is tied to a twin-shaft arrangement under stern and allows the vessel to make up to 32 knots in ideal conditions. Steam turbines provide boosting capabilities and can range the vessel out on conventional power to 1,000 nautical miles. Combined output is 140,000 horsepower.
The air arm consists of up to 3 x Kamov Ka-27 "helix" or Ka-25 "Hormone" navy helicopters. Full onboard facilities (by way of hangar) are available for the launching, retrieval and maintenance of the helicopters.
Pyotr Velikiy wrapped up her sea trials in 1996 to which point she was stationed with the North Fleet out of Severomorsk. She served as the exercise target for the ill-fated "Kursk" nuclear submarine (detailed elsewhere on this site) in August of 2000 and was part of the salvage attempt the following year. Her condition deteriorated during the new decade to the point that she was labeled unfit for service in 2004. Repairs were enacted to get the warship back to sailable condition before the end of the year.
Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.
The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com. No A.I. was used in the generation of this content; site is 100% curated by humans.
