Soviet battlecruiser Kirov

Kirov, the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered missile cruisers, is one of the major and biggest surface warships of the Russian Navy, though it was originally built for the Soviet Navy. It is similar in displacement to a World War I battleship. Although commissioned as a missile cruiser, Kirov's size and weapons complement have given her the unofficial designation of a battlecruiser throughout much of the world. The appearance of the Kirov class was a significant factor in the U.S. Navy recommissioning the. She was named after Sergey Kirov, a Bolshevik hero.

History
She was laid down on March 27, 1974, at the Baltiysky Naval Shipyard in Leningrad, launched on December 26, 1977, and commissioned on December 30, 1980, part of Soviet Northern Fleet. When she appeared for the first time in 1981, NATO observers called her BALCOM I (Baltic Combatant I). She was placed in reserve in 1990 following a reactor accident. For political reasons, Kirov was renamed Admiral Ushakov after the 18th-century admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov in 1992, but subsequent photos suggest that it has since reverted to its original name. An overhaul was started in 1999, but the ship was written off in 2001 and was slated to be dismantled in 2003. In 2010, the Russian navy again announced new plans for an overhaul of the cruiser. The plans are now to modify and reactivate all of the Kirov battlecruisers by 2020.

Armament
This ship had an armament of missiles and guns as well as electronics. Its largest radar antenna is mounted on its foremast and called "Top Pair" by NATO. Kirov ' s main weapons are 20 × P-700 Granit (SS-N-19 Shipwreck) missiles mounted on deck, designed to engage large surface targets, and air defense is provided for with 12 × S-300F (SA-N-6) launchers with 96 missiles, two Osa-M (SA-N-4 Gecko) with 40 missiles and the Kashtan CIWS air-defence missile/gun system.

Other weapons are the automatic 130 mm AK-130 gun system, 30 mm AK-630, 10 × torpedo/missile tubes, Udav-1 (SS-N-14 Silex) with 40 anti-submarine missiles and the two RBU-1000 six-tube launchers.

Fate
Kirov suffered a reactor accident in 1990 while serving in the Mediterranean Sea. Repairs were never carried out, due to lack of funds and the changing political situation in the Soviet Union. She may have been cannibalized as a spare-parts cache for the other ships in her class.

In June 2004, the name Admiral Ushakov was transferred to the RUSSIAN DESTROYER Besstrashny. In September 2004, it was revealed that the Severodvinsk-based Design Bureau Onega had been tasked with developing the dismantlement project for the cruiser, currently moored at the Severodvinsk Zvezdochka plant. According to the Zvezdochka plant, dismantlement of the former Admiral Ushakov would cost $40 million, all of which was allocated by Norway. This plan now seems to been halted as the Russian navy plans to bring her back to service.

Popular Culture

 * In the Movie Threads, the ship was heavily damaged by the US destroyer Callaghan as part of a naval exchange in the Persian Gulf.
 * In the Tom Clancy book Red Storm Rising, the ship is part of a Soviet naval task force supporting assault landings in northern Norway.