Kynda-class cruiser

Kynda-class cruiser
Kynda class missile cruiser
Class overview
Builders:	Zhdanov, Leningrad
Operators:	Soviet Navy Russian Navy
Succeeded by:	Kresta I
In service:	1962 - 2002
Completed:	4
Laid up:	Admiral Golovko
General characteristics
Displacement:	4,400 tons standard, 5,500 tons full load
Length:	141.7-141.9m
Beam:	15.8m
Draught:	5.3m
Propulsion:	4 boilers 2 steam turbines 100,000 shp
Speed:	34 knots
Range:	3,610 miles (2000 nm at 34 knots, 7000 nm at 14.5 knots ?)
Complement:	390
Armament:	ASM: 2x4 SS-N-3b (8+8 missiles) SAM: 1 twin SA-N-1 'Goa' launcher (16 missiles) Guns: 2x2 76mm, 4x 30mm ASW: 2× RBU-6000 launchers Torpedoes: 2x3 533mm tubes
Aircraft carried:	None
Aviation facilities:	Helicopter platform

The Project 58 Missile (literally "rocket") cruisers (Ракетные крейсера проекта 58), known to NATO as the Kynda class and sometimes referred to as the Groznyy class (тип «Грозный»), from the name of the first ship of the series to be constructed, were the first generation of Soviet missile cruisers and represented a considerable advance for the Soviet Navy. Their main role was anti-surface warfare using the SS-N-3b 'Shaddock' missile. The design proved top-heavy and was soon succeeded by the larger Kresta I, but the Kyndas stayed in service until the fall of the Soviet Union.

Design

The specifications (TTZ in Russian^{[Clarification needed]}) for this class were issued in 1956.

The main armament comprised two trainable quadruple SS-N-3 anti shipping missile mountings; one forward one aft. One set of reload missiles was carried (16 missiles in total). Defensive armament comprised a twin SA-N-1 missile launcher forward and two twin 76mm guns aft. Two RBU-6000 anti submarine rocket launchers and two triple 533mm torpedo tubes were also fitted. The ships were refitted in the early 1980s with four 30mm CIWS guns.

Machinery comprised high pressure steam turbines in a unit system with alternating boiler rooms and turbine rooms.

The Electronics Fit consisted of:

Radar:

• MR-500 Kliver air search
• MR-302 Rubka surface search
• Don DonKay navigation

Sonar:

• GAS-372 Gerkules-2M hull mounted

Other systems:

• Zaliv ESM
• Krab ECM
• Uspekh-U aircraft communications
• Yatagan SA-N-1 fire control (Peel Group SA-N-1 Target Acquisition /Target Tracking/Missile Guidance (TA/TT/MG) array
• MR105 AK-726 fire control (Hawk Screech) Fire Control for 76mm Guns
• Binom P35 Progress fire control

Ships

The ships were ordered in 1956 and laid down in 1960-61. All four ships were built by the Zhdanov yard in Leningrad. Initially classed as destroyers and given traditional destroyer names, they were redesignated as Rocket Cruisers and renamed in September 1962. A total of 10 ships were planned but only four were built and the last six were replaced by the larger Kresta I class ships.

• Grozny (Formidable) (Грозный)

Laid down 23 February 1960

Launched 26 March 1961

Completed 30 December 1962,

Served in the Baltic Fleet

Scrapped 1991

• Admiral Fokin (Адмирал Фокин) -

Laid down as Steregushchiy (watchful) on 5 October 1960

Launched 19 November 1961

completed 1964,

Served in the Pacific Fleet

scrapped 1993

• Admiral Golovko (Адмирал Головко) -

Laid down as the Doblestnyi (valarous) on 20 April 1960,

Launched 18 July 1962

Renamed on 31st October 1962 after Arseniy Golovko,

Completed 1964.

From 1995 to 1997 she served as flagship of the Black Sea fleet, before being deactivated and removed from service in 2002.

• Varyag (Варяг) -

Laid down as the Soobrazitelny (shrewd) on 13 October 1961

Launched 7 April 1963

Completed 1965

Served in the Pacific Fleet

Decommissioned 1990. This ship was featured in a Soviet TV documentary in the late 1970s. There were plans to preserve her as a museum.

Gallery

Kynda Class cruiser during the height of the Cold War, 1985

Admiral Golovko in the Mediterranean

External links

• Article from FAS in English
• page on Admiral Golovko from Black Sea Fleet
• (English) All Russian Kynda Class Cruisers - Complete Ship List