Let’s visit a renown Russian cruiser Varyag and meet its crew.
Subchaser brigade number 44 of the Russian Pacific Fleet decorated with the Order of the Red Banner is dislocated in the very center of Vladivistok city next to the port. The building of the Fleet headquarter decorated with 4 big subchasers is located on the opposite side. The ships are then transferred to Gulf of Aden where they protect merchant ships from pirates.
The four ships are surrounded by the hospital ship Irtysh and flagman of the Pacific Fleet, Varyag cruiser. Laid down in 1979 at 61 Kommunara Shipbuilding Plant in Mykolaiv as Chervona Ukraina (“Red Ukraine”), was launched in July 1983, and commissioned in October 16, 1989. Main weapon of the cruiser is represented by self-guided cruise missiles of Vulcano complex. The missiles are located along the ship broadsides, look very impressive and make it easy to differentiate between Varyag and other ships. The working scheme of the missiles is as follows: after a salvo fire made from one broadside 8 missiles consitute a sigle flying group headed by the guide or a separate missile that leads the entire group. Having approached the target, the leading missile chooses the largest object and instructs another missile to hit the target. One missile weighs around 5 tones and flies at speed of 2900 km an hour. No ship can survive following such an attack. In case the leading missile is destroyed it will be substituted by another similar missile. Besides, Varyag is just a beautiful ship and a real flagman of the Fleet.
The adjacent ship is going to Africa and is ready to accept another stock of products.
Sea voyages last long and it is necessary to take large supplies of provision. What you see in the picture is just a small amount of the water that is going to be placed on board.
The ship is equipped with a complete set of radiolocation equipment, homing heads and locations stations.
AK-130 is a sea-launched automatic gun. It is a fully automatic, dual-purpose weapon which is said to have no analogues in the world. Initially there were 12 missile launchers and two single-barrel guns instead of one dual gun A-100. But in 1972 four other guns were added and two AK-100 weapons were substituted by one dual AK-130. The ship became heavier, its speed decreased.
In spite of modern means of communication, the system of signaling flags remains the leading means of communication. 32 flags correspond to letters of Russian alphabet and denote that there is a danger, that it is necessary to reverse or that a mine was discovered. Signal flags are held in a metal box and are raised following a command. The black balls next to the box denote speed of the ship. The lower is the ball the higher the speed is.
The ship is controlled from the pilot room.
This place is occupied by the commander of the cruiser.
The equipment is very reliable and reminds of former Soviet times.
Looking through the mail. There is a library aboard. The ship is very comfortable and is widely decorated with pictures and carpets.
Walking along the cruiser means climbing endless stairs and examining numerous corridors.
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See how the sailors live.
Sleeping members of the crew.
Writing a letter.
The cookhouse is the most important place on the cruiser.
Cats save the sailors from the mice.
On deck.
These are silhouettes of Russian ships and NATO vessels.
Sailors at work. They managed to find one place that is not considered to be as secret.
Varyag is a welcomed guest abroad. Thousands of tourists are willing to visit it every day.
via drugoi
Zamechatelʹnoe sudno. Blestyashchaya komanda. Yeshche neskolʹko iz oboih i rossiĭskogo Voenno – morskogo flota vernulisʹ by k energii i slave starogo Krasnogo Voenno – morskogo flota.
I was on the USS Samuel B. Roberts when we steamed the Black Sea from 9 to 12 December, 1970. We were the first ship to do so in over 15 years, and it was simply a way to show “Ivan” that it was international waters, and we (the U.S.) could come and go there if we damn well pleased. Turkish gunboats escorted us through the straits of Hormuz, and while in the waters, we did electronic surveillance as well. I remember we were constantly flown over by Migs, were shadowed by a helo carrier- the “Moskovitch?” and cruisers. I admired the soviet frigates as they had clean lines and were new. My ship was a retread from WWII and was obsolete by war’s end. I remember one day we had a “pass in review” alongside a soviet cruiser, and both ships “manned the rails” in a show of respect from one crew of mariners to another. One Soviet sailor broke ranks by jumping up and down and began waving at us, and that changed my whole perspective of the “Red Menace” in that instant, for at the moment of youthful exuberance he showed me he was just like any other sailor in the world, only wanting to do his job, go ashore that night, get drunk, get laid, and tumble back into his bunk. I hope nothing bad happened to the guy, we all figured a one word punishment: Siberia.
Cool post, @perristalsis, so what would you say if the Russians steamed into the Gulf of Mexico and did a tour?
Well Chris, I’d say the same thing that I do now, sharing space exploration jointly with Russia- bravo! Back in the day, it was absolutely unthinkable we would be working in close concert together to achieve progress in space… And I still hope that sailor didn’t get caught.
Just a small correction if i may…To get to the Black Sea you have to pass through the sea of Marmara and straits of Dardanelles and Bosphorus effectively sailing through Turkey and hence the Turkish gunboats, not the straits of Hormuz which is between Iran and Arabian peninsula.
Besides that, like your comment…
not bad. but where are the pics of the combat management and operational targeting coordination room with all the high tech gear in there?
I can only imagine the jokes about cat on board!
nice pictures, the interior of the ship is clean and neat, would be nice if there are some pictures from the captain’s cabin too.
Good looking ship. Still it lacks the modern upgrades you would expect of a Flagship. Perhaps they are coming soon.
It was stated on an old documentary on the Soviet navy that the best sailors came from areas farthest from the sea.