Flagship of Black Sea Fleet cruiser Moskva is laid up for repairs

03.12.2009
BSF flagship Guard missile cruiser Moskva has been laid up at floating dock PD-30 for scheduled interim overhaul, informs Interfax referring to the source in BSF.

According to the source, the overhaul will be completed in a month and will comprise replacement of cooling and other machinery; reclamation work at bottom and outboard fittings, propulsion shafts and screws; clearing and painting of bottom and above-water parts of the ship's hull.

As for some media sources, cruiser Moskva suffered hull damages during skirmish with Georgian artillery in August 2008 at the time of Georgian-Ossetian conflict. Those days Ukrainian naval radio Breeze reported that the cruiser's bulkhead had been damaged, 8 crewmembers died, 10 had been injured. Russia confuted that information.

There were also some rumors in media that the cruiser's steam boiler burst in September 2009 and in consequence of the fire some mechanisms scorched and 10 sailors suffered. BSF command confuted that information again, having added that only fumigation occurred on board which was immediately eliminated.

Moskva is a Project 1164 Atlant lead ship, Guided Missile Cruiser.

REGISTRATION

Sevastopol, Black Sea Fleet

CONSTRUCTION, NAME

The cruiser was laid down on November 4, 1976 at Nikolayev 61 Kommunara Shipyard and launched on July 27, 1979 with the name of Slava. Naval flag was hoisted on January 30, 1983 and the cruiser was commissioned into Navy. Since June 22, 1995 the cruiser is known as Moskva.

MILESTONES

The cruiser repeatedly deployed in the Mediterranean, paid numerous calls at ports of the region. In December 1989 it enhanced security of Soviet side at meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev, Secretary General of Soviet Union's Communist Party and the US President George Bush at Malta. In 1990 the cruiser was inactivated for modernization at Nikolayev Shipyard where stayed for 8.5 years. On May 13, 1998 it obtained flag and guard rank from Guard ASW destroyer Krasny Kavkaz. In 2003 the cruiser took part in INDRA joint Russian-Indian naval exercise. In September 2004 it participated in IONIEX-2004 joint Russian-Italian naval exercise. At the beginning of 2008 the cruiser was deployed at the Mediterranean along with Northern Fleet's ships – Admiral Kuznetsov and its carrier group. On August 9-12, 2008 the ship was involved in armed conflict with Georgia at Abkhazian waters. Early 2009 it took part in memorial activities at Italian port Messina associated with 100th anniversary of ruinous earthquake at Sicily.

PERFORMANCE

Powerplant: gas turbine; 2 screws
Power: 4 x 22,500 shp
Maximum speed: 32 knots
Endurance: 30 days
Crew: 510 men

DIMENSIONS

Displacement: 9,800 tonnes (total displacement: 11,490 tonnes)
Length: 186.4 meters
Beam: 20.8 meters
Draft: 8.4 meters

ARMAMENT

16 antiship missile launchers (16 P-500 Bazalt missiles; after modernization – 16 P-1000 Vulkan missiles)
1 x 2 130-mm gun mount AK-130, 6 sextuple 30-mm gun mounts AK-630
8 x 8 B-204 launchers of S-300F Rif SAM system (ammunition load is 64 missiles)
2 x 2 launchers of Osa-MA SAM system (ammunition load is 48 missiles)
2 x 5 533-mm torpedo tubes
2 x 12 RBU-6000 antisubmarine rocket launchers
Ka-27 helicopter

Source: RusNavy.com, photo: cruiser Moskva (photo by A. Brichevsky from cruiser-moskva.info)