 Nikolai Filchenkov inSevastopol, 2007 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators | |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Gren class |
| Built | 1964–1975 |
| In commission | 1965–present |
| Planned | 15 |
| Completed | 14 |
| Canceled | 1 |
| Active | 3 |
| Laid up | 1 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 10 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Landing ship, tank |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 112.8–113.1 m (370 ft 1 in – 371 ft 1 in) |
| Beam | 15.3–15.6 m (50 ft 2 in – 51 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 diesels, 2 shafts, 9,000 bhp (6,700 kW) |
| Speed | 16–18 knots (30–33 km/h) |
| Capacity | 1,000 tons |
| Troops | 300–425 troops and 20 tanks, or 40AFVs, or 1,000 tons |
| Crew | 55 |
| Armament |
|
TheTapir-class landing ship, Soviet designationProject 1171 landing ship (NATO reporting name:Alligator), is a class of Soviet/Russian general purpose, beachableamphibious warfare ships (Soviet classification: large landing ship;Russian:большой десантный корабль, БДК).
In Soviet post–World War II analysis ofamphibious operations, the recommendation was made that the Soviet Navy should start building dedicated amphibious ships. Among the first ships, launching in 1967, was thePolnocny class of medium landing ships, whose 900-ton vessels could transport six tanks and 180 troops.
A newer type of amphibious warship had preceded it in the late 1950s, a trueLanding Ship, Tank (LST) that was named Project 1171 and also designated Tapir. Labelled "Large Landing Ship", her displacement was 4,360 tons full load and could transport up to 313 troops and 20 tanks. Additional vehicles could be stored on the upper deck.NATO gave these ships the code name "Alligator", and several subtypes were created.
The design of Project 1171 was initiated in 1959 by the Navy, while a similar dual-purpose Project 1173 was ordered by theMinistry of the Maritime Fleet. Eventually both designs were merged under the Project 1171 umbrella, and the resulting vessel was a compromise between military (speed,survivability) and civil (fuel economy) objectives. The design team produced four different configurations; the Navy selected the most powerful and fastest option, which was also the least fuel-efficient, while the Ministry of the Maritime Fleet withdrew from the project completely. All production ships were made for the Navy and never operated on shipping lines.[2]
A total of 14 vessels were completed between 1964 and 1975; all were retired between 1992 and 1995.[2] As of September 2008, two vessels, currently namedOrsk andSaratov, were in active service with the 197th Brigade of Landing Ships in the RussianBlack Sea Fleet.[3] As of March 2014,Saratov andNikolai Filchenkov were in service with the 197th Brigade of Landing Ships in the Black Sea Fleet,Nikolay Vilkov was in service with the 100th Brigade of Landing Ships in the RussianPacific Fleet, andOrsk was inactive and undergoing refits.[4]
Saratov (BDK-65) waslaunched in July 1964,commissioned in 1966 asVoronezhsky Komsomolets. As alead ship of a formation, she lacked the habitable troop compartments installed on other ships of the class.Saratov was stationed inDonuzlav (Black Sea Fleet) until thedissolution of the Soviet Union and then remained mothballed inOdesa until 1994. The ship was reported in active operations in 2000 and later.[5]
From 2013 on,Nikolai Filchenkov andSaratov were used to transport military equipment fromNovorossiysk toTartus in Syria, during theRussian military intervention in the Syrian civil war, along withRopucha-class ships.[6]
Orsk (BDK-69) was launched and commissioned in 1968 asNikolay Obekov. She served a total of 11 campaigns in theIndian andAtlantic oceans and theMediterranean. Later, under the Russian flag, she carried troops and materials toYugoslavia,Adjara, andAbkhazia.[7] In 2018, the vessel was seen transporting Russian equipment to Syria.[8] On 21 March 2022, she appeared in Russian TV reports unloading military equipment in the Russian-occupied Ukrainianport of Berdiansk,[9] which led to initial confusion when hersister shipSaratov was destroyed three days later at the same place.
During theRussian invasion of Ukraine, in the aftermath of theBattle of Berdiansk,Saratov was reported as destroyed by aUkrainian attack on 24 March 2022 while in the port of Berdiansk.[10] Video showed a large fire, smoke, and explosions, with one explosion engulfing the bow of the ship.[11][12] The ship was originally reported as having beenOrsk, but theGeneral Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces later reported thatSaratov had been destroyed, and two Ropucha-class ships,Tsezar Kunikov andNovocherkassk damaged.[13] Russian sources confirmed a missile attack on Berdiansk harbour (without clarification of missile type), which damaged two landing ships—Saratov and unnamed one, as well as sinkingSaratov.[14] On 2 July 2022, Russian official in southern UkraineVladimir Rogov confirmed aTochka-U ballistic missile was used back on 24 March to target the Port of Berdiansk and thatSaratov wasscuttled by her crew in order "to prevent detonation of the on-board munitions by the fire that had started". There are no Russian reports publicly available as to the extent of damage to the ship, but Russian sources state she was salvaged and was to be towed toKerch,Crimea.[15]
| Name | Type | In service | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saratov (BDK-65) | 1171 | 18 August 1966 | Sunk or scuttled on 24 March 2022 in the Port of Berdiansk after sustaining missile damage during operations against Ukraine.[16] |
| Krymsky Komsomolets (BDK-6) | 30 December 1966 | Decommissioned on 19 March 1992, scrapped in 1995 | |
| Tomsky Komsomolets (BDK-13) | 30 September 1967 | Decommissioned on 5 July 1994 | |
| Komsomolets Karelii (BDK-62) | 29 December 1967 | Decommissioned on 1 December 1997 | |
| Sergey Lazo (BDK-66) | 1171/II | 27 September 1968 | Decommissioned on 5 July 1994 |
| Orsk (BDK-69) | 31 December 1968 | In service | |
| 50 Let Shefstva VLKSM (BDK-77) | 1171/III | 30 September 1969 | Decommissioned on 5 July 1994 |
| Donetsky Shakhtyor | 31 December 1969 | Decommissioned on 10 April 2002 | |
| Krasnaya Presnya (BDK-100) | 30 September 1970 | Decommissioned on 30 June 1993, sold to commercial service, sunk in a storm on her way to be scrapped in 1995 | |
| Ilya Azarov (BDK-104) [uk] | 10 June 1971 | Acquired by Ukraine on 10 January 1996 asRivne (U762). Decommissioned and used as a civilian freighter in 2004 before being scrapped in 2007. | |
| Aleksandr Tortsev | 31 December 1971 | Decommissioned on 5 July 1994 | |
| Pyotr Ilyichyov | 29 December 1972 | Decommissioned on 30 June 1993 | |
| Nikolai Vilkov | 1171/IV | 30 July 1974 | In service |
| Nikolai Filchenkov | 30 December 1975 | In service | |
| Nikolai Golubkov | - | Never completed |
Двадцать четвертого марта ВСУ выпустили ракеты по порту Бердянска, повредив два больших десантных корабля. На БДК "Саратов" разгорелся сильный пожар, в результате его пришлось притопить у причала. Фактически этот обстрел — единственный более-менее значимый успех украинских военных в противостоянии с российским флотом.[On March 24, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired missiles at the Port of Berdyansk, damaging two large landing ships. A strong fire broke out at the large landing shipSaratov, as a result she had to be flooded at the pier. In fact, this strike is the only more or less significant success of the Ukrainian military in the confrontation with the Russian fleet.]
Media related toVoronezhskiy Komsomolets class landing ship at Wikimedia Commons
