Russian Landing Ship Nikolai Vilkov

''Nikolai Vilkov'' () is a of the Russian Navy and part of the Pacific Fleet.

Named after petty officer first class , a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union killed in action during the Second World War, the ship was built in Kaliningrad. She is classified as a BDK () for . She is one of the Tapir class designated Project 1171/IV by the Russian Navy, with the NATO reporting name Alligator.

Construction and commissioning

''Nikolai Vilkov'' was built by Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, being laid down on 3 September 1971 and launched on 30 November 1973. She was commissioned into the Soviet Navy on 30 July 1974 as part of its Pacific Fleet. She was named in honour of petty officer first class , a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union killed in action at the Battle of Shumshu during the Second World War. She was homeported in , and with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late December 1991, she went on to serve in the Russian Navy.

Career

''Nikolai Vilkov'' was several times deployed with fleet units on long-distance voyages, carrying out seven missions to the Indian Ocean and visiting Ethiopia, the Persian Gulf, Vietnam, and Okinawa. She was at Aden during the South Yemen civil war, when she was fired upon, necessitating the deployment of tanks. She was again attacked, this time by pirates, while sailing in the South China Sea at night, having been mistaken for a civilian cargo ship. She returned fire, driving the pirates off. She took part in joint US-UK-French naval exercises in the Persian Gulf in January 1994, and in autumn that year delivered relief supplies to the South Kuril Islands after the 1994 Kuril Islands earthquake. In 2014, she was one of the ships at the Navy Day naval parade in Vladivostok.

In August 2018, she and the Ropucha-class landing ship ''Peresvet'' carried out exercises in Desantnaya Bay, loading and unloading BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles, 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery units, and a marine battalion. The landing ships were part of exercises involving six warships and 300 marines. She carried out further exercises in October that year with ''Peresvet'' and ''Admiral Nevelskoy''. In March 2019, she carried out gunnery and landing exercises. Further exercises were held in March 2020, with the Ropucha-class landing ship ''Oslyabya'', and then again in June with ''Oslyabya'', ''Admiral Nevelskoy'', ''Peresvet'' in Providence Bay, supported by the hydrographic ship ''Sever'' and the ocean-going tug ''MB-61''.

In mid-2020, ''Nikolai Vilkov'' deployed on a five-month training voyage from Vladivostok with three other large landing ships, ''Admiral Nevelskoy'', ''Oslyabya'', and ''Peresvet''. The ships travelled more than 23 thousand nautical miles over 158 days, carrying out a number of exercises, before returning to Vladivostok on 12 November 2020. In May 2024 she deployed with ''Oslyabya'' and ''Peresvet'' in Desantnaya Bay near Vladivostok to practice loading and unloading BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles. Some 300 servicemen and 30 vehicles were involved. She carried out more gunnery exercises with ''Admiral Nevelskoy'' in November 2021, and with ''Admiral Nevelskoy'' and ''Oslyabya'' in March 2022. There were further exercises in January and March 2023, and in August she led a detachment of vessels to Zarubino, Primorsky Krai to evacuate holidaymakers from Khasansky District who had been cut off by heavy rains. Together with the hydrographic vessel ''GS-84'', the fire boat ''PZhK-1514'', the diving support boat ''VM-20'' and the harbour tug ''RB-404'', 1,074 people and 34 cars were evacuated from the port of Zarubino and transported to Vladivostok. ''Nikolai Vilkov'' returned to exercises throughout the early part of 2024, and again in November that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolai Vilkov
Alligator-class landing ships
1973 ships
Ships built at Yantar Shipyard
Amphibious warfare vessels of the Soviet Navy
Amphibious warfare vessels of the Russian Navy