Kresta I-class cruiser

The Kresta I class, Soviet designation Project 1134 Berkut (golden eagle), was a class of guided missile cruiser built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. The ships were designed for a surface warfare role, but Soviet priorities were changed to an anti-submarine role and only four ships were built in this configuration. They were followed by the Kresta II class, an anti-submarine warfare variant.

Kresta-class cruiser Vitse-Admiral Drozd in 1986
Class overview
Name: Kresta I class
Builders: Zhdanov Shipyard
Operators:
Preceded by: Kynda class
Succeeded by: Kresta II class
Built: 1964–1967
In commission: 1967–1994
Completed: 4
Retired: 4
General characteristics
Type: Guided missile cruiser
Displacement:
  • 6,000 tons standard
  • 7,500 tons full load
Length: 159 m (521 ft 8 in)
Beam: 17 m (55 ft 9 in)
Draught: 6 m (19 ft 8 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 steam turbines
  • 68,000–75,000 kW (91,000–100,000 shp)
Speed: 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range: 10,500 nautical miles (19,400 km; 12,100 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement: 343-360
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Radar:
  • MR-500 Kliver air search
  • MR-302 Rubka
  • MR-310 Angara
  • Don navigation
  • Sonar:
  • MG-312
  • MG-26
  • Fire control:
  • Yatagan (SA-N-1)
  • MR-103 (AK-725)
  • Binom P35 Progress
  • Others:
  • Khrom-2M IFF
Armament:
  • 2 × twin SS-N-3 'Shaddock' anti-ship missiles
  • 2 × twin SA-N-1 'Goa' surface-to-air missile launchers (44 missiles)
  • 2 × twin 57 mm (2.2 in)/70 AK-725 anti-aircraft guns
  • 2 × quintuple 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried: 1 × Ka-25 series helicopter
Aviation facilities: Helipad and hangar

Design

Though considerably larger, more effective and reliable than the previous Soviet cruiser class, the Kynda class, the Kresta I surface warfare cruisers carried only half as many Shaddock launch tubes and one-fourth the total number of missiles. Initially it was planned to fit the SS-N-12 Sandbox (P-500 Bazalt) missile but the protracted development of this missile led to the older SS-N-3 being shipped. The self-defence armament was considerably increased as were command and communications facilities.

The Kresta Is could launch four SS-N-3b SLCMs and 44 SA-N-1 surface-to-air missiles with two twin launchers fore and aft, and had ten 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes. A single Ka-25 Hormone B helicopter was carried for targeting the cruise missile, and mid-course corrections.

Variants
  • Project 934: Variant armed with eight short range anti ship missiles (SS-N-9) otherwise similar to the ships built. This design evolved into the Kresta II class.
  • Project 934K: This was a larger flagship variant with enlarged command facilities and a bigger hangar for four or five helicopters. This variant was cancelled.

Ships

The initial plan was for a single squadron of seven ships armed with long range missiles and two squadrons of fourteen ships armed with shorter range missiles. In reality only four ships were built before production switched to the anti-submarine variant the Kresta II class.

All the ships were built by the Zhdanov Shipyard in Leningrad.

Name Russian Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned
Admiral Zozulya Адмирал Зозуля 26 July 1964 17 October 1965 8 October 1967 15 December 1994
Vladivostok Владивосток 24 December 1964 1 August 1966 1 August 1969 1 January 1991
Vitse-Admiral Drozd Вице-Адмирал Дрозд 26 October 1965 18 November 1966 27 December 1968 1 July 1990
Sevastopol Севастополь 8 June 1966 28 April 1967 25 September 1969 15 December 1989
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See also

References
  • Gardiner, Robert (ed.) (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link) Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.
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