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Friday 27 October 2017

Baltic warships: Part 5: Kronstadt

When we sailed from St Petersburg, we passed the main Russian naval base at Kronstadt.

The first ship we saw was a very tired, rusty, and partially disarmed Project 956 Sarych (English: Buzzard) or Sovremenny-class (English: Modern) guided missile destroyer, Rastoropny (English: Prompt) (420), which was decommissioned in 2012.






Moored just behind her was an unidentifiable ship, probably a research vessel of some sort.


Moored nearby was the degaussing vessel СР-120 ...


... the firefighting/rescue vessel ПЖК-900, ...


... and the fire-boat ПЖС-282.


The next vessel of note that we saw was the Project 2038.0 or Steregushchy-class (English: Vigilant) corvette Soobrazitelnyy (English: Astute/Smart) (531).


She was laid down in 2003, launched in 2010, and commissioned in 2011.





Leaving the harbour via a narrow lock was the Project 12411 Molniya-1 (English: Lightning-1) or Tarantul-III-class (English: Tarantula-III) corvette R-47 (819).



The Evgeniy Kocheshkov (770), a Project 1232.2 Zubr-class (English: Bison) air-cushioned landing craft, was also present in the harbour ...



... as were two Project 877 Paltus (English: Halibut) or Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarines.





Amongst the smaller ships in the harbour were the Project 1265 Yakhont (English: Ruby) or Sonya-class minesweeper 515 and the unidentified vessel 308.


The harbour also contained an number of smaller vessels ...


... and naval auxiliaries.



4 comments:

  1. Gawd there is a lot of heavy metal in the Baltic region
    Well done Mr Bond the powers that be will find this information very useful

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geordie an Exiled FoG,

      There were not as many warships in Kronstadt as there had been on previous visits, but most of the active ones seemed in good nick ... unlike the Rastoropny.

      Whilst in Lisbon I photographed an almost brand-new PLAN training ship that was making a 'good will' stop for a few days. It will be featured in a forthcoming blog entry.

      I'm now off to press my tuxedo before my next spying mission!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. I have to say that the hovercraft caught my attention. Has there been an instance where that force of assault (not exercise) has taken place?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Geordie an Exiled FoG,

      As far as I know, the hovercraft landing craft have not been used for real.

      Interestingly, the Greeks bought several, and no doubt would use them if tensions in the Aegean boiled over into conflict.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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