Ukrainian frigate Hetman Sahaidachny

Hetman Sahaidachny (U130/F130) (Гетьман Сагайдачний) was a frigate of the Ukrainian Navy that was originally built at the Kerch Shipyard as a Project 11351 patrol ship of the Nerey / Krivak III / Menzhinskiy class. Homeported at Odesa since March 2014, she was the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy. Her major armament was a single 100 mm gun. As the Russo-Ukrainian war escalated, Hetman was scuttled by Ukraine on 4 March 2022 out of fear of being captured by advancing Russian forces.

Construction and career


She was laid down on 5 October 1990 at the Zalyv Shipbuilding yard with yard number 208, the ship was intended to be used by the Soviet Border Troops as Kirov. However, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the ship was acquired by the Ukrainian Navy as her shipyard was located in Kerch, Ukraine. The ship was launched on 29 March 1992. She was completed on 2 April 1993 as Hetman Sahaidachny, named after Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny. She was given the identification number of U130. On 4 July 1993, Hetman Sahaidachny was the first ship to raise the flag of the Ukrainian Navy.

In 1994, Hetman Sahaidachny set sail for France to take part in the 50th-anniversary commemorations of the Allied invasion of Normandy. In fall 1995, Hetman Sahaidachny visited Abu Dhabi during the "Idex-95" exhibitions. The frigate was scheduled to visit Norfolk, Virginia in the United States with Kostiantyn Olshansky. Kostiantyn Olshansky visited, but Hetman Sahaidachny did not for unknown reasons.

The vessel has also visited ports in Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Israel, Portugal, Russia and Turkey.

Between November 2006 and November 2007, she underwent major repairs in Mykolaiv at a cost of ₴15 million.

In 2008, Hetman Sahaidachny took part in "Operation Active Endeavour" in the Mediterranean Sea.

Hetman Sahaidachny joined the Naval Force of the European Union (EUNAVFOR) in early January 2014 for NATO's "Operation Ocean Shield" anti-piracy operations off the Horn of Africa. As she refueled in Greece, while Russian forces seized control of Crimea, Russian state media RT falsely reported on 1 March 2014 that the ship's crew had defected to Russia and raised the Russian flag. Shortly afterwards, the Wall Street Journal reported a Ukrainian Defense Ministry statement that the ship was still flying the Ukrainian flag in port in Crete. According to the Defense Ministry, the commander of the ship stated that the crew had never defected to the Russians. It arrived in Odesa under the Ukrainian flag on 5 March.

The Ukrainian naval command issued a contradictory report that on 14 March 2014, the ship encountered a Russian naval group attempting to enter or having entered Ukrainian territorial waters. As Hetman Sahaidachny approached the group, they withdrew. In September 2014, the frigate entered Odesa to undergo repairs. In May 2017, she suffered an engine failure shortly after undergoing repairs. In July 2018 she participated in the Sea Breeze 2018 multinational exercises.

On 2 April 2018, she celebrated the 25th anniversary of her commissioning. In January 2022, it was indicated that the ship would undergo a refit and upgrade.

Scuttling
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ship was scuttled in Mykolaiv. On 3 March 2022, a photo emerged showing Hetman Sahaidachny partially sunk and with a list to port. On 4 March, the Ukrainian Defence Minister confirmed that Hetman Sahaidachny had been scuttled to prevent her capture by the Russian forces. According to the satellite imagery, it possibly happened on 28 February 2022.

Due to the effects of long-term saltwater corrosion on the ship's internals, such as electronics and propulsion, it is unlikely that she will return to service.