Russian Frigate Admiral Gorshkov
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''Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov'' () is an
frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...
of the
Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...
and the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...
of the class.


Design

The ''Admiral Gorshkov'' class is the successor to the and frigates. Unlike their Soviet-era predecessors, the new ships are designed for multiple roles. They are to be capable of executing long-range strikes, conducting
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
, and carrying out escort missions.


Construction and career

The ship was laid down on 1 February 2006, launched on 29 October 2010 and was first expected to join the Russian Navy in November 2013. However, problems with delivery of the main naval gun, engine fire and testing of the ship's Poliment-Redut air defence system delayed the commissioning date several times. She was finally commissioned on 28 July 2018 with Russia's
Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...
. The ship is named after
Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...
Sergey Gorshkov Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov (; 26 February 1910 – 13 May 1988) was an admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union. Twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, he oversaw the expansion of the Soviet Navy into a global force during the Cold ...
. With pennant number 454 (earlier 417), ''Admiral Gorshkov'' is part of the 43rd Missile Ship Division at
Severomorsk Severomorsk (), known as Vayenga () until 18 April 1951, is a closed city, closed types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Severomorsk is the main administrative base of the Russian Northern Fleet. The town is sit ...
. From 23 to 25 December 2017 ''Admiral Gorshkov'' conducted sea trials near UK waters in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, where she was shadowed by . On 28 July 2018, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' was officially accepted into service with the Russian Navy, the day before her debut at the Main Naval Day parade in Saint Petersburg. The ship performed 16 firing exercises during her trials. On her maiden distant deployment, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' travelled some 35,000 nautical miles (65,000 km) in the Russian Navy's first global circumnavigation since
Stepan Makarov Stepan Osipovich Makarov (, ; – ) was a Russian vice-admiral, commander in the Imperial Russian Navy, oceanographer, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and author of several books. He was a pioneer of insubmersibility theory (the ...
's 1886–1889 voyage on the corvette . Accompanied by medium sea tanker ''Kama'', logistics support vessel ''Elbrus'' and large ocean tug ''Nikolay Chiker'', ''Admiral Gorshkov'' visited
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(
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),
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(
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),
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(
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),
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(
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),
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(
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),
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),
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) and
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(Russia), before returning to her homeport Severomorsk. The 175-day long journey took place between 26 February and 19 August 2019. On her route home, she also participated in the "Ocean Shield 2019" major naval exercise of the Russian Navy held in the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
, thought to be the largest in the independent Russia with some 70 warships, submarines and auxiliary ships participating. In early January 2020, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' test-launched the
3M22 Zircon The 3M22 Zircon,also spelled as Tsirkon (, NATO reporting name: SS-N-33), is a Russian scramjet-powered, nuclear-capable hypersonic cruise missile. Produced by NPO Mashinostroyeniya for the Russian Navy, the missile utilizes the 3S-14 launc ...
hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the
Barents Sea The Barents Sea ( , also ; , ; ) is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located off the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.World Wildlife Fund, 2008. It was known earlier among Russi ...
, as part of the missile's state trials. This was the first time the Zircon was launched from a naval vessel. Additional launches of the Zircon missile took place in October, November and December. All the tests have been successful. On 19 February 2021, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' entered the Barents Sea for exercises. She conducted anti-submarine and air defence exercises along with the tug ''Altay''. On 24 March, the frigate entered the Barents Sea and launched an Onyx missile, being accompanied by icebreaker , supply ship ''Elbrus'' and tug ''MB-110'', while hydrographic vessels ''Romuald Muklevich'', ''Nikolay Skosyrev'', ''Aleksandr Makorta'' and anti-saboteur ship ''Valeriy Fedyanin'' were also active in the Barents Sea at the same time. On 28 May 2022, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' test fired a 3M22 Zircon missile in the Barents Sea at a target in the
White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...
. On 4 June, she was underway in the Barents Sea again conducting helicopter operations. The frigate took part in the parade on the Russian Navy day on 31 July in Saint Petersburg. On the same day, the Russian president Vladimir Putin announced ''Admiral Gorshkov'' would be the first ship armed with Zircon missiles. She underwent maintenance in
Kronstadt Marine Plant The Kronstadt Marine Plant (), originally established as 'Parokhodnyi mekhanicheskii z-d goroda Kronshtadta' (), is a shipbuilding and repair center. It became the main repair center for the Baltic Fleet around 1900. By 1914 there were two dry doc ...
until November and on 23 November conducted firing with the Redut missile complex in the Baltic Sea. On 9 December 2022, she was sailing along the Norwegian coast, finally returning to Severomorsk on 11 December. In late December 2022, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' was preparing to re-enter service in early January 2023 armed with Zircon hypersonic missiles. On 4 January 2023, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' re-entered service equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, and began a voyage that will pass through the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, as well as the Mediterranean Sea. On 14 February the frigate docked in
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ahead of planned exercises with the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the
South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...
. The exercise began on 18 February and involved ''Admiral Gorshkov'' together with the tanker ''Kama'' from the Russian Navy along with the destroyer , the frigate and the support ship from the PLAN. Several vessels from the South African Navy were expected to participate including the frigate as well as the patrol vessel ''King Sekhukhune I'' and the hydrographic survey vessel . Subsequently in March, ''Admiral Gorshkov'' and ''Kama'' engaged in joint exercises with the Chinese and Iranian navies in the
Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ''khalīj ʿumān''; ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ''khalīj makrān''; ''daryâ-ye makrān''), is a gulf in the Indian Ocean that connects the Arabian Sea with th ...
. In early April 2023, the lead frigate of Russia's Northern fleet made headlines when docking at the
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port of
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, after arriving from South Africa and participating in naval drills in the Indian Ocean and
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, the first docking there of a Russian naval vessel in almost a decade. The event was deemed significant and raised concerns in the West about Saudi objectives and due to the ship's hypersonic
rocket artillery Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rockets as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also used in mult ...
, and modern
anti-submarine weapons An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...
. The ship subsequently entered the Mediterranean, docking at Russian naval facilities in Syria. As of June 2023, the frigate was still reported in the Mediterranean, taking part in a rescue operation in Greek waters. The frigate visited
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while in the Mediterranean and returned to her home port on the Kola peninsula in September 2023. In June 2024, the frigate was one of four Russian vessels to anchor in Havana Bay, Cuba as part of a five-day visit. Earlier, she had undertaken missile drills in the Atlantic.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral Gorshkov Admiral Gorshkov-class frigates Frigates of the Russian Navy 2010 ships Ships built at Severnaya Verf