Soviet cruiser Vladivostok

Vladivostok (Владивосток) was the second Soviet Navy Project 1134 Berkut Large Anti-submarine Ship (Большой Противолодочный Корабль, BPK) also known as a Admiral Zozulya-class guided missile cruiser or by the NATO reporting name Kresta I. Launched on 1 August 1966, the ship was reclassified a Large Rocket Ship (Ракетные крейсера проекта, RKR) on 3 August 1978 to reflect the wide-ranging capability of the vessel. Serving primarily in the Pacific Fleet during the Cold War, Vladivostok took part in exercises and tours that demonstrated Soviet naval power in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The ship played a part at a number of points of potential escalation in the Cold War, including the Indo-Pakistani War of December 1971, the Mozambican Civil War in 1980 and the collision between the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) and the submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-314 in March 1984. Vladivostok was taken out of service to be modernised and updated on 28 September 1988 but there were insufficient funds to complete the work. Instead the ship was decommissioned on 19 April 1990 and, the following January, sold to an Australian company to be broken up.

Design
Vladivostok was the second Project 1134 Berkut-class vessel launched. The class were envisioned as a more balanced follow-on to the specialist Project 58 and Project 61 classes, combining the attributes of both in a single hull. The vessels were approved by Nikita Khrushchev as part of Sergey Gorshkov's buildup of the Soviet Navy. Termed Kresta I cruisers by NATO, and also named the Admiral Zozulya class after the lead ship, the class were initially called Large Anti-submarine Ships (Большой Противолодочный Корабль or BPK) but this was changed to Large Rocket Ship (Ракетные крейсера проекта, RKR) on 3 August 1978 to reflect their wider role.

Vladivostok displaced 5340 t standard and 7170 t full load, stretching 156.2 m in length. Beam was 16.2 m on the waterline and average draught 5.5 m. The hull was made of steel upon which was mounted a large aluminium-magnesium alloy superstructure dominated by a radar complex including MR-500, MR-310 Angara-A, MRP-11-12, MRP-13-14 Uspekh-U and MRP-15-16 Zaliv search radars and a Volga navigation radar.

Power was provided by two TV-12 steam turbines, fuelled by four KVN-98/64 boilers and driving two fixed pitch screws that provided 46000 hp. Electricity was provided by a TD-760 driven off steam drawn from the main boilers which powered a 380 V AC circuit at a frequency of 50 Hz. The ship carried 1690 t of fuel which gave a range of 10500 nmi at 14 kn. Maximum design speed was 34 kn. Complement was 30 officers and 282 ratings.

Armament
Vladivostok was originally intended to mount the P-500 Bazalt (NATO reporting name SS-N-12 'Sandbox') but protracted development meant that instead the same 4K44 missiles (SS-N-3 'Shaddock') as the Project 58 warships mounted were retained. However, they were launched from two specially designed twin KT-35-1134 P-35 launchers mounted midships. The missiles could each carry a 900 kg warhead over a range in excess of 500 km and were designed for attacking US Navy carrier battle groups. An aft landing pad and hangar was fitted for a ranging Kamov Ka-25 helicopter to enable mid-course guidance.

Similarly, anti-aircraft defence was to be based around the new M-11 Shtorm (SA-N-3 'Goblet') system but this did not become operational until 1969. Instead, protection was enhanced by mounting two twin ZIF-102 M-1 Volna-M launchers, one forward and the other aft, and up to 64 4K91 (SA-N-1 'Goa') surface-to-air missiles, which was supplemented by two twin 57 mm AK-725 guns mounted on the aft superstructure.

Defence against submarines was provided by two quintuple 533 mm torpedo tubes, complemented by a pair each of six-barrelled RBU-1000 Smerch-3 launchers for 300 mm anti-submarine rockets and twelve-barrelled RBU-6000 Smerch-2 launchers for 213 mm anti-submarine rockets.

Sensors
The ship was equipped with an extensive electronics suite. A MR-500 early warning air search radar with a range of between 270 and 300 km was mounted on the funnel and a MR-310 Angara-A radars with a range of 150 km on the mast. A Volga navigational radar were also fitted. Fire control for the main missile armament was directed by two Binom-1134 radars while the 4K91 anti-aircraft missiles were guided by two 4R90 Yatagan units. Gun fire control was managed by MP-123 Vympel which had a range of up to 7 km against aircraft of the size of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21. Three Nickel-KM and 2 x Khrom-KM systems were installed for IFF.

Electronic warfare equipment included a combination of one MRP-11-12, two MRP-13-14 Uspekh-U and one MRP-15-16 Zaliv direction finding systems and two MPS-150 Gurzuf radar jamming devices. Two ZIF-121 launchers for PK-2 decoy rockets were mounted on the superstructure. Threat response was coordinated with a Planshet-1134 combat information control system and communications between ships coordinated through the MVU-200 More-U computer. A vastly improved anti-submarine sensor suite was also fitted, with MG-312M Titan and GAS-311 Vychegda sonars, the MG-26 Khosta underwater communication system and both MI-110R and MI-110K anti-submarine search stations.

In the early 1970s, Vladivostok was upgraded with a MR-212 Vaygach navigation radar added and the missiles updated to 4M44.

Construction and career
Vladivostok was laid down on 24 December 1964 at A.A. Zhdanov in Leningrad with yard number 792, and launched on 1 August 1966. Commissioning took place exactly three years later, on 1 August 1969. The total cost of construction was 32 million rubles.

On commissioning, Vladivostok travelled with the Project 61 ship SOVIET DESTROYER Strogy and other Soviet vessels on a long tour, via the Black Sea, Lagos in Nigeria, Somalia, the port of Aden in South Yemen and operations in the Indian Ocean from Baltic Sea to the ship's name port of Vladivostok, arriving on 11 February 1970. The ship was then attached to the 175th Missile Ship Brigade of the Pacific Fleet, and visited by delegations from Bulgaria on 26 May 1970 and Poland five days later. During October, joining Project 58 ship SOVIET CRUISER Varyag, Vladivostok undertook test firing of the main missiles. More tests were undertaken with the Project 675 submarine K-23 during August the following year.

Between 10 and 27 August, 1971, the vessel, accompanied by Project 58 ship SOVIET CRUISER Admiral Fokin and supported by a fleet that included Strogy and SOVIET DESTROYER Odaryonny, took part in a large exercise in the Pacific Ocean. It was during these manoeuvres that the main missiles were fired for the first time. The exercise was followed by an investigation of the testing areas used by the United States Navy between the Aleutian Islands and Hawaii, a distance of 13800 nmi. The mission, which was completed on 3 October, was well received by the Soviet High Command.

On 3 December, the Bangladesh Liberation War was followed by an outbreak of war between India, supported by the Soviet Union and Pakistan, supported by the United States. The conflict quickly involved naval vessels, with the Indian Navy sinking the destroyer PNS Khaibar, minesweeper PNS Muhafiz and MV Venus Challenger on 4 December in Operation Trident using Soviet-built P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles. Shortly afterwards on 9 December, the US-built submarine PNS Hangor of the Pakistan Navy sank the Indian frigate INS Khurki, the submarine then disappearing in mysterious circumstances. The threat of further escalation and the intervention of the United States Navy led to the Soviet Union dispatching a substantial fleet to the Indian Ocean. Vladivostok joined Varyag, Strogy and other vessels under the command of SOVIET CRUISER Dmitry Pozharsky dispatched on 13 December and remained on station until 6 March the following year. Following the success of the operation, the ship returned to Vladivostok. The ship was made open to the public during April 1972 and On 30 June, sailed on a tour with Minister of Defence Andrei Grechko, Admiral of the Fleet Sergey Gorshkov and other officials.

The next two decades were taken up with tests and exercises. While returning from one of these on 14 June 1973, the ship collided with the science research vessel Akademik Berg, which then sank killing 27 of the crew. Vladivostok took part in the rescue effort. The ship closed the 1970s with a tour of the Indian Ocean, visiting allies in Port Louis, Mauritius, Victoria, Seychelles, Maputo, Mozambique, Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, the Dahlak Archipelago, which was at that time part of Ethiopia, and Aden, finishing in August 1978. Further tours took place in 1980. Port Louis was visited again on 15 August and Kochi from 17 to 21 October. In between, the ship revisited Beira, Mozambique between 16 and 25 August as a gesture of solidarity with FRELIMO in their war with rebels backed by South Africa. In March 1984, the ship tracked the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), calling the submarine SOVIET SUBMARINE K-314 which then, while tailing the American vessel, collided with the larger ship in an incident that risked escalation into war.

On 28 September 1988, the ship was taken out of service to be upgraded at Vladivostok. Lack of funding meant that work was only 90% complete when, instead, Vladivostok was decommissioned on 19 April 1990. The ship was sold to be broken up by an Australian company during January 1991.

The ship was assigned the temporary tactical numbers 563, 565, 542, 106, 139, 017, 029 and 034.