''Ruslan'' () is a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and later

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 ...

icebreaking An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

patrol ship A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

. It is one of eight Project 97P patrol ships built by

Admiralty Shipyard The JSC Admiralty Shipyards () (''formerly Soviet Shipyard No. 194'') is one of the oldest and largest shipyards in Russia, located in Saint Petersburg. The shipyard's building ways can accommodate ships of up to , in length and in width. Mili ...

in Leningrad in 1973–1981.

Description

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union began developing a new diesel-electric icebreaker design based on the 1942-built steam-powered icebreaker ''Eisbär'' to meet the needs of both civilian and naval operators. Built in various configurations until the early 1980s, the

Project 97 icebreaker ''Dobrynya Nikitich'' class, also known by its Soviet designation Project 97, is a diverse series of diesel–electric icebreakers and other icebreaking vessels built in the Soviet Union. In total, 32 vessels were built in various configurations ...

s and their derivatives became the largest and longest-running class of icebreakers and icebreaking vessels built in the world. The patrol ship variant, Project 97P (), was developed as a response to the renewed interest of the Soviet Navy and

Soviet Border Troops The Soviet Border Troops () were the border guard of the Soviet Union, subordinated to the Soviet state security agency: first to the ''Cheka''/State Political Directorate, OGPU, then to NKVD/Ministry for State Security (USSR), MGB and, final ...

on icebreaking patrol vessels after

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

and

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

icebreakers began appearing more frequently near the country's northern maritime borders. New icebreaking patrol vessels were needed because existing Soviet naval vessels could not operate in ice-covered waters and large icebreakers, in addition to being unarmed and operated by civilians, could not be distracted from their primary mission of escorting merchant ships. Project 97P patrol ships are

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and have a beam of . Fully laden, the vessels draw of water and have a displacement of . Their three 10-cylinder 13D100

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

opposed-piston

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

s are coupled to generators that power electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern. In addition to being slightly bigger than the icebreakers they are based on, Project 97P lacks the bow propeller and features a bigger deckhouse built of aluminum-magnesium alloy to reduce weight as well as a helideck capable of receiving

Kamov JSC Kamov () is a rotorcraft Aerospace manufacturer, manufacturing company based in Lyubertsy, Russia. The Kamov Design Bureau (OKB, design office prefix Ka) has more recently specialised in compact helicopters with coaxial rotors, suitable for ...

Ka-25 The Kamov Ka-25 (NATO reporting name "Hormone") is a naval helicopter, developed for the Soviet Navy in the USSR from 1958. Design and development In the late 1950s there was an urgent demand for anti-submarine helicopters for deployment on ne ...

Ka-27 The Kamov Ka-27 (NATO reporting name 'Helix') is a military helicopter developed for the Soviet Navy, and as of 2024 is in service in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and India. Variants include the Ka- ...

helicopters. Project 97P patrol ships were initially armed with a twin 76 mm

AK-726 The AK-726 (abbr. of ) is a twin naval gun, which was developed in the Soviet Union and is still in service in various navies. History In 1954 the Soviet Union began development of a naval gun which could be used against both air and sea targets. ...

deck gun and two 30 mm

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

s, but the ships operated by the navy were later disarmed.

History

The third of eight Project 97P patrol ships was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

on 26 December 1973, launched on 28 May 1974, and delivered on 26 September 1975. The ship was named after one of the main characters in

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...

's poem ''

Ruslan and Ludmila ''Ruslan and Ludmila'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a poem by Alexander Pushkin, published in 1820. Written as an epic literary fairy tale consisting of a dedication (посвящение), six "cantos" ( песни), and an epilogue ( ...

'' and joined the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

Red Banner Northern Fleet. Following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

, ''Ruslan'' was passed over to the

. The vessel remains in service .

References

Icebreakers of the Soviet Union Icebreakers of Russia 1974 ships Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard Patrol vessels of the Soviet Navy Patrol vessels of the Russian Navy {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruslan