Udaloy class 1155.1

Statistics:

total operational: 8 

NOR    4        

PAC    4        

* where available

DD Spruance  22      

DDG Arleigh Burke   34      

DDG Udaloy   8        

DDG Sovremenny      9        

DDG Kashin Mod       1

           

Operational ships.

Ship     Verf     Commission   Fleet   

619 Severomorsk        #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Dec 86             NOR   

Laid: 12.06.84. Udaloy-8. Ex-Simferopol; active Northern Fleet. Refit in June 1998 completing in late 2000. Participating in Kursk salvage operation, Aug 2001       

534 Marshal Shaposhnikov    #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Oct 85 PAC   

Laid: 25.05.83. Udaloy-7 +. Feb-April 2003 took part in military exersises in Indian Ocean. Aug 2005 took part in Russian Chinese military exersises.

Admiral Chabanenko #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        1999    NOR   

Laid: 1990. Ex-Admiral Basistiy.Udaloy II-1. chopped to Northern Fleet after completion of trials in Baltic Fleet, Feb 99; formally accepted by Russian Navy Mar 99; currently active Northern Fleet. To visit Plymouth, England, Aug 2002, for Navy Day festivities. 08.2005 took part in military exersises on Northern fleet.

687 Admiral Kharlamov        #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Sep 89             NOR   

Laid: 7.08.86 . Udaloy-11 +. it was tied up in Boston, MA in July of 1993.           

605 Admiral Levchenko         #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Jan 88 NOR   

Laid: 27.01.82. Ex-Khabarovsk. Refit in November 1999 completing in 2001. Udaloy-9 +      

548 Admiral Panteleyev         #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Jul 91 PAC   

Laid: 28.01.87. Visited Pearl Harbor, August 1995; active Pacific Fleet. Deployed to Pacific and Indian Oceans, Jan 2001. Feb-April 2003 took part in military exersises in Indian Ocean. Udaloy-12 +   

552 (564) Admiral Tributs     #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Aug 85            PAC   

Laid: 19.04.80. Was in reserve in 1994 and had a machinery space fire in September 1995, was probably back in service. Operational 2004. Udaloy-6 +. Feb 2004: official visit to South Korea and China. This visit is timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the sea battle in the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905    

572 Admiral Vinogradov       #820 Yantar Kaliningrad        Oct 88 PAC   

Laid: 5.02.86. Udaloy-10 +. Active Pacific Fleet; visited Pusan, ROK, in Apr 2000. Accidentally hit by a practice round from one of Burnyy's AK 630s while in port on 10 Apr 2000 (no serious damage or injuries noted). Repaired. Deployed to Pacific and Indian Oceans, Jan 2001. Acted as host-sister ship to USS Blue Ridge during the latter's visit to Vladivostok in Aug 2002.     

D. (tons): 6,200-6,700 tons standard

8,200-8,900 tons full load

Speed (kts): 30

Dimensions (m): 163.0-164.0 meters long

19.3 meters beam

6.2-8.0 meters draft

M./Engine: COGAG: 2 M62 cruise gas turbines, 15,000 shp; 2 M8KF boost gas turbines, 45,000 shp; 2 shafts, 60,000 shp, 29.5 knots; 3'000 n.m/14 kts

Man./Crew: 296

Armament: 2 x 4 Moscit(SS-N-22)

(R: 90 n.m; S: 2,5 mach)

8 x 8 Kinzhal (SA-N-9) Total: 64

(R: 8 n.m; S: 3 mach; r: 10-12'000 m)

2 SA Kortik

1 x 2 AK-130 DP (130 mm)

4 x 6 AK-630 gattl. AA

(6x30 mm; 6'000 rds/m/mount)

2 x 4/533 mm Total: 30

2 x 10 RBU-Udav ASW RL (R: 1'200 m)

Helicopter KA-32

Electronics: Radar: MR-700 Fregat-A/Top Plate 3-D air search, MR-320M Topaz-V/Strut Pair air/surf. search

Sonar: Zvezda-2 suite with MGK-345 Bronza/Ox Yoke bow mounted LF, Ox Tail LF VDS

Fire Control: 2 MR-360 Podkat/Cross Sword SA-N-9 SAM control, 2 3P37/Hot Flash SA-N-11 SAM control, Garpun-BAL SSM targeting

EW: Start-series suite with Wine Glass intercept, Bell Shroud intercept, Bell Squat jammer, 2 PK-2 decoy RL, 10 PK-10 decoy RL

 [crossreferences | armament:]

KA-32 Helix- C Naval helicopter

SS-N-22 Sunburn / Kh-41 (ASM-MSS) Moskit

Torpedoes

Gun armament

SA-N-11 Grisom / Kortik (Kashtan)

SA-N-9 Gauntlet / Klinok (Kinzhal)

ASW Udav

ASW Udav

AK 630

AK-130-MR-184

FREGAT-MAE Radars

Design approved in October 1972. Successor to 'Kresta II' class but based on 'Krivak' class. Type name is bolshoy protivolodochny korabl meaning large anti-submarine ship. Programme stopped at 12 in favour of 'Udaloy II' class (Type 1155.1).

Structure: The two hangars are set side by side with inclined elevating ramps to the flight deck. Has pre-wetting NBCD equipment and replenishment at sea gear. Active stabilisers are fitted. The chaff launchers are on both sides of the foremast and inboard of the torpedo tubes. Cage Flask aerials are mounted on the mainmast spur and on the mast on top of the hangar. There are indications of a nuclear release mechanism, or interlock, on the lower tubes of the SS-N-14 launchers.

Operational: A general purpose ship with the emphasis on ASW. Good sea-keeping and endurance have been reported. Based as follows: Northern Fleet-Severomorsk, Kharlamov and Levchenko; Pacific Fleet-Shaposhnikov, Panteleyev, Vinogradov and Tributs. Vinogradov was in collision in April 2000 but was quickly repaired. Severomorsk deployed to St Petersburg for refit in June 1998 completing in late 2000, and Levchenko followed in November 1999. The fourth of class, Zakharov was scrapped after a fire in March 1992. Tributs was in reserve in 1994 and had a machinery space fire in September 1995, was back in service in mid-1999 and may again be non-operational in 2001. Udaloy, Spiridonov and Vasilevsky have been laid up or scrapped. Kulakov has been in refit since 1990 but may return to service in 2002/03.

On January 28, 1999, the St. Andrew colors were hoisted on the Admiral Chabanenko BPK large antisubmarine ship, symbolizing that this major surface fighter was formally commissioned into service with the Russian Navy. In terms of overall parameters, this ship significantly differs from similar-class ships.

In a congratulatory telegram to all participants in this construction project, Marshall Igor Sergeyev, Russia's Minister of Defense, expressed his profound gratitude to the Yantar shipyard which had managed i in a complicated economic environment i to complete this project, initially launched in the late 1980s, and build a ship which fully meets modern requirements. Igor Sergeyev reminded the audience of the complement of a new ship constructed under Peter the First's behest: "Under no circumstances downmast colors in a battle with the enemy."

The ceremony was attended by Vladimir Yegorov, Baltic Sea Fleet Commander; Alexander Orlov, Russian President's Representative in the Kaliningrad Region; Alexei Zherenko, Director General of the Yantar Baltic Shipyard JSC; as well as Admiral Chabanenko's sons (Andrei and Vladimir) and granddaughter (Irina).

The history of Project 11551 dates back to the 1970s when countries possessing "keys to the seas" came to the conclusion that it was too costly to build large-displacement, single-role combatants. Consequently, the sea superpowers launched the development of multipurpose warships. The concept of a multipurpose surface fighter was also contemplated by Soviet designers. However, a number of production and technological problems prevented them from actualizing this concept at that time, according to Admiral Chabanenko's Chief Designer, Valentin Mishin. In the USSR, two different types of warships were laid down which were designed by the Severnoye Design Bureau: Project 956 destroyer and Project 1155 large antisubmarine ship. In 1979, Deputy Chief Designer for Project 956, Valentine Mishin, was appointed head of the Project 1155 design team. At that time, Udaloi, the lead ship of this class, was approximately 60 percent complete. Following Udaloy's commissioning into service, the new Chief Designer began developing an upgrade package to modernize this series. The first sketches for a new version appeared in 1982. Similar to Udaloi externally, it was nevertheless a new ship.

The novel features included the Moskit antiship missiles, a twin 130mm gun, the Udav antitorpedo system and several anti-aircraft systems. The ship was to be powered by a modern gas-turbine engine and equipped with more capable sonars, an integrated air defense fire control system, and a number of digital electronic systems based on state-of-the-art circuitry.

Working on virtually a new project, the Severnoye Design Bureau specialists obviously kept in mind the U.S. Spruance and Arleigh Burke destroyers (the first of the class was commissioned in 1991). Valentin Mishin says that Admiral Chabanenko, Russia's only multipurpose warship, does not yield in any way to the Arleigh Burke-class ships. By some standards, she even surpasses them, despite apparent delays in commissioning this class into service with the Russian Navy.

Admiral Chabanenko was laid down at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad on February 28, 1989, and was launched on December 14, 1992. Complement boarded the ship in 1993. Captain First Rank Igor Bykov was appointed her first commander and took her out for the first performance trials in 1995. However, acceptance tests were delayed for several years; five shipyard directors were replaced one after another during this period. With no chances to be tried at high seas, the ship landed on financial reefs. The ship, 98 percent complete, was forced to remain within the shipyard's wall for several years. The hull of the second Project 11551 ship, already assembled by the shipyard, was scrapped.

There were three more attempts to turn over the Admiral Chabanenko to the Navy. In 1997, the ship's complement, under the command of Captain First Rank Mikhail Kolyvushko, conducted a large series of trials, however, a shallow creek of funding quickly dried out. The ship failed to complete the State acceptance trials and had to return to the shipyard.

At the end of 1998, the ship was prepared for the State trials for the third time. The trials were supervised by Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, the Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief. Non-standard decisions were taken to resolve technical and funding problems. As a result, the plan of the trials was fulfilled within the shortest time. According to the ship's commander and Alexander Solomatin, the Yantar representative, the organization of these trials deserved the highest marks. The trials schedule was scrupulously followed: fuel, food, water and drones were supplied as requested and strictly on time. It was the primary task of the Baltic Fleet responsible for the conduct of performance and firing trials of this new ship. A submarine, other ships, and aircraft were engaged in the trials for as long as it was necessary for the Admiral Chabanenko to prove its tactical and technical characteristics.

According to Alexander Brazhnik, Baltic Sea Fleet Chief of Staff and Chairman of the State Acceptance Committee, all Admiral Chabanenko's systems and armament were tested in the course of these trials. The ship fired missiles (17 launches), guns, and antisubmarine mortars. The operation of the ship's air defense system was also tested with various types of aircraft used as targets. The Kamov Ka-27 shipboard helicopter landed for the first time on the Admiral Chabanenko's helicopter pad. These missions were flown by a crew headed by lieutenant colonel Alexander Zherebtsov, who also helped make photographs of the Admiral Chabanenko at sea.

This new ship, whose path to the high seas was so long and complicated, has recently joined the Northern Fleet. After final armament trials, Admiral Chabanenko will start her Navy service. This large antisubmarine ship has incorporated all the tactical and technological advances of the closing age, and can justly be called the warship of the 21st century.

             

UNDERWATER WAR AT GIBRALTAR

The Olterra redesigned for Human Torpedo attacks

Italian Frogman

In early July 1941, Giuseppe Pierleoni arrived at the French consulate in Barcelona, Spain, to take up his new duties as a diplomat. Actually, that assignment was a cover. He was a commander in the Italian Navy, and he had been sent to Spain to organize and direct sabotage activities against the British bastion of Gibraltar.

Popularly known as the Rock, the British crown colony is perched on a peninsula just off the southern coast of Spain in the narrow entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. A limestone mass rising 1,408 feet above the water, the fortress is connected to the Spanish mainland by a low, sandy isthmus a mile and a half long.

Gibraltar was also a naval base, protected against submarine attacks by heavy steel nets. At any given time, there might be scores of Royal Navy vessels, from battleships to small boats, nestled in the relative safety of the harbor.

Commander Pierleoni, dressed in civilian clothes, spent most of the winter of 1941–1942 building up his sabotage organization in Spain. Then he was ready to launch his first land-based secret mission against British ships at Gibraltar. It would be an attack by twelve members of a combat swimming group known as the Gamma.

According to plan, the swimmers sneaked into a villa in Spanish territory just north of the Rock. They donned thick woolen undergarments, neck-to-toe rubber suits, camouflage-net helmets, and breathing equipment. Just before midnight on July 13, the Italian raiders left the villa and headed for the beach. Strapped to the back and chest of each man were five-pound explosive devices known as “bed-ring bombs.” Although small, the bombs could blow holes in steel plates.

Led by Vago Giari, tough and broad-shouldered with the proven dexterity of a seal, the swimmers knew they were on a perilous mission. The Rock was bristling with weapons, and large numbers of sentries were always on high alert—watching for saboteurs.

Nearing the Rock undetected, Giari and the others could see the dark silhouette of perhaps thirty Allied ships in the harbor. Each man was told his own target. Then the swimmers edged noiselessly into the water.

Back on the beach an hour later, Giari and five other frogmen heard four booms in the harbor. They knew the explosions would not sink the ships, but would put them out of action for a few months.

The operation was only moderately successful. Bombs were placed on ships only to have the explosives swept away by the current. Six swimmers did not return.

Giari was disappointed over the results of the raid and vowed to return. Two months later, he and another frogman sneaked into Gibraltar Harbor and badly damaged two British ships.

Now Commander Pierleoni turned his focus toward human torpedoes, using one of the war’s strangest bases for his operations. It was the Italian tanker Olterra, which had been scuttled in shallow water by her captain just inside the Spanish harbor at Algeciras, within sight of Gibraltar. He had taken that action to keep the ship out of British hands after Italy declared war against England in 1940.

Italian Navy Lieutenant Licio Visintini brought to the submerged ship a human-torpedo crew that had crossed Spain in civilian clothes and with fake passports. Although Spain was officially neutral, it cooperated wherever possible with Nazi Germany. So a few Spanish soldiers who had been assigned to keep an eye on the Olterra were far more interested in scrounging cigarettes and consuming brandy.

Visintini’s plan was to convert the half-sunken vessel into a base to launch underwater attacks against ships in Gibraltar Harbor. Keeping his mission as secret as possible, he told the Spanish soldiers that he was a civilian engineer who had been sent to try to salvage parts of the Olterra. The guards shrugged.

Working mainly at night to conceal their activity against any hostile eyes, the Italians used pumps to empty tons of water from the bow compartment until it rose out of the water. Then they cut out a door in the side of the compartment. Torpedoes would be kept in the bow, and when a night attack on Gibraltar Harbor was ready, they could be passed out of the ship through the door and lowered with pulleys to the water.

When renovation of the “base” was completed, Lieutenant Visintini explained to the Spanish soldiers that he was bringing boiler tubes from Italy by land. They again showed total disinterest. Actually, each crate contained a twenty-two-foot torpedo.

On December 7, 1942, all was ready for the first human-torpedo attack from the Olterra base against the closely guarded harbor. To discourage frogmen or human torpedoes, the Royal Navy dropped explosive charges into the harbor at irregular intervals. A steel net which could be lowered when an Allied ship approached, ringed the harbor.

Hidden by the veil of night, two torpedoes were lowered from the bow of the Olterra into the water. The Italians called a torpedo a maiale (pig).

Powered by an almost silent engine, a pig could travel at about three miles per hour and had a range of ten miles. It could travel on the surface or dive to a maximum of ninety feet. There was a warhead in the front section that could be detached by releasing an airscrew. Then the explosive could be attached to the hull of a ship.

Now Lieutenant Visintini got onto a seat at the front of one torpedo, and his partner took the rear seat. The back of one seat held steel cutters (to carve a hole in the harbor’s net) and magnetic clamps to fix a warhead to a ship’s hull. The man astride the pig in the forward position had controls for speed, steering, and diving, along with a luminous depth gauge for use below the surface.

Visintini and his companion cast off and reached the outer harbor in about an hour. They prepared to use the cutter on the steel net, but at that moment, the barrier was lowered to allow a destroyer to enter, so the silent intruders slipped in also.

Explosive charges were placed on two ships, and the human torpedoes headed back for the point at which they had entered the harbor. One of the British depth charges killed the two Italians.

Two weeks later, the bodies of Visintini and his companion were found inside Gibraltar Harbor. However, the existence of the top-secret Olterra base, located only a stone’s throw from one of Britain’s most crucial fortresses, had not been compromised.

 With Gibraltar defenses on full alert against future penetrations of the harbor, Commander Pierleoni, the director of sabotage operations from his post as a diplomat in Barcelona, realized that a change in human-torpedo tactics was necessary. Ships in the open anchorage around the Rock now would be targeted.

In the weeks ahead, numerous human-torpedoes from the Olterra damaged ships at anchor and sunk two of them. Then, on the night of August 3, 1943, a pig with Lieutenant Commander Ernesto Notari and his number-two man, Petty Officer Gino Giannoli astride, were beneath their target, a seven thousand- ton U.S. cargo ship Harrison Grey Otis. Giannoli fixed the fivehundred- pound charge to the vessel and the pig suddenly went berserk. It plunged 110 feet deep (three times the maximum depth in training). Then the pig rushed upward and broke the surface.

Meanwhile, Giannoli had been thrown from his mount and surfaced on the far side of the ship. Thinking that Notari had been killed, the petty officer shivered in the water for nearly two hours. Then he shouted for help and the startled crew of the Harrison Grey Otis hauled him aboard.

At the same time, Ernesto Notari, although semiconscious, was still astride the pig. When his head cleared slightly, he saw that, amazingly, the engine was still running. Thinking that Giannoli was dead, he decided to make his getaway on the pig. For more than an hour, his steel mount edged through the water at three miles per hour. He was fearful that the phosphorescent wake would attract the attention of the crew of a British patrol boat.

However, the gods of underwater saboteurs smiled on Notari. A school of frolicking porpoises accompanied him all the way back to the Olterra, providing perfect cover for his wake.

Back on the Harrison Grey Otis, Gino Giannoli was being interrogated by British officers when the charge he had attached exploded on the other end of the ship. The engine room was badly damaged, putting the cargo vessel out of service for many weeks.

Minutes later, the handiwork of other human-torpedoes that had taken part in that night’s operation echoed over the seascape and up towering Gibraltar. A blast broke in two the ten-thousand-ton Norwegian tanker Thorshovdi, flooding the bay with a million gallons of oil. The six-thousand-ton British ship Stanridge was rocked by a third blast.

Gino Giannoli became a prisoner of war, but all the other Italians got back to the Olterra safely. However, the young petty officer would not hold a POW status for long. On September 29, 1943, Italy surrendered and joined the Western Allies, thereby converting Giannoli from a POW to a partner with the British.

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