The destroyer "Persistent" of the Baltic Fleet of Russia

The flagship of the Baltic Fleet of Russia - the destroyer "Persistent" - is a representative of the class of destroyers of the type "Modern". According to the classification, this is a class 1 warship equipped with missile weapons and capable of independently operating away from groups in the far ocean zone. In the Navy, he received the unofficial name of "Nastya."

Compromise

At the end of the 60s, when existing fleet ships with obsolete artillery weapons were approaching the physical limit of their operation, it was decided to start creating a new class of military ships. First, the naval authorities ordered ships, the main task of which would be to support landings and combat aircraft. In addition to this type, there was a desire to additionally receive ships capable of fighting submarines and surface ships of a potential enemy. However, after appropriate calculations, I was forced to conclude that the country simply would not be able to sustain such massive expenses. As a result, they agreed that it was necessary to build universal ships capable of solving both the tasks of supporting ground units and counteracting the enemy fleets.

The result of this conditional compromise between the desires of the military and the capabilities of the country were destroyers of the "Modern" class. An additional impetus for the adoption of such a decision was the beginning of the design of similar universal destroyers of the "Spruence" class in the USA. As a result, it was not possible to make a fully universal ship; the protection from submarines was “limping”.

Destroyer in numbers

In total, 21 vessels of the "Modern" class were built at the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg, of which 4 serve in the PRC fleet. The destroyer "Persistent", launched in 1991, is still in service and is the flagship of the Baltic Fleet. Its main characteristics are shown in the following table:

The ship is equipped with a rather archaic boiler-turbine plant, generating a total of 100,000 horsepower and desperately smoking when starting and changing the operating mode. In the city of Baltiysk, the place of its deployment, even peculiar jokes appeared: “Nastya” is visible beyond the horizon ”or“ the whole city knows when “Nastya” is launched ”. That is, there is enough smoke from him. Nevertheless, it is the presence of such a powerful ship that allows us to call the fleet a fleet, not a flotilla. Its armament makes it possible to support ground forces with artillery fire from two AK-130MR-184 installations, firing 130 mm shells at a rate of 90 rounds per minute over a distance of 23 km.

In addition, there are two AK-630 multi-purpose artillery mounts with a caliber of 30 mm and a firing rate of 5,000 rounds per minute, which can also protect the ship from air attacks. To combat surface ships, the destroyer is equipped with Moskit-M missiles, four launchers from each side, and for air defense, the armament includes a Hurricane-Tornado system with 48 missile ammunition.

The situation with the struggle against enemy submarines is somewhat worse. Despite the RBU-1000 anti-submarine bomber mounted both at the stern and on the bow of the ship, as well as two torpedo launchers, the destroyer Nastoichny of project 956 is able to protect itself only from torpedo attacks and destroy the submarine only at short distances and at short range depth. Initially, it was assumed that these destroyers would act together with anti-submarine ships of Project 1155 Udaloy, mutually complementing each other's capabilities. The list of weapons on board the Ka-27 helicopter.

Battle path of the ship

Destroyer destroyer (610 aircraft number) spent at sea more than two years out of 25 years of service in the Navy. This quarter-century anniversary was celebrated in Baltiysk in 2018.

Until 1991, the destroyer was called the "Lenin Komsomol." The ship traveled over 70,000 nautical miles, more than a quarter of this total distance in 1997, on one long voyage to southern Africa, in Cape Town, where he took part in the celebration of South African Navy Day. Nelson Mandela himself, the then president of that country, even boarded the board. And before that, the ship was demonstrated at the international arms exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where it made an extremely strong impression on the audience.

"Persistent" participated in many campaigns, went on a visit to the ports of Germany, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, France. It was the first Russian warship to pass through the Kiel Canal. He was twice recognized as the best surface ship of the Russian Navy in 1996 and 1997, and three presidents of the countries were received on his deck three times. In addition to President Mandela, in 1996, B. Yeltsin boarded the plane, and in 2011, D. Medvedev.

The destroyer "Persistent" took part in numerous exercises and live firing, always showing excellent results. The ship was the base for training Chinese crews in 1999. And also provided testing of new models of naval equipment. However, recently, sea trips are episodic. The destroyer "Persistent" is clearly unlucky in connection with the events in Syria. Twice it was announced that he would enter the Mediterranean Sea to strengthen the Russian group, and twice this campaign was canceled. This was the case in 2013 and was repeated in 2018.

Repair, repair again

For a person 25 years old is still youth, but for a ship it is already late maturity. Separate systems fail, metal wears out, wiring is damaged. In 2018, the destroyer was at the 33rd shipyard at its home base in Baltiysk. Judging by the procurement plan published by this enterprise, it can be understood that the main problem was the boilers of the main power plant, as well as the automatic control system for boilers and radio stations from the Cadmium-R complex. Component deliveries were supposed to be made before August 2018. It can be assumed that it is technical problems that prevent the destroyer Nastoyashchiy from joining a group of ships in the Mediterranean Sea. A full commissioning of it is possible (taking into account the time for testing and extremely probable delays) no earlier than the beginning of 2019.

Yellow press

The yellow press did not miss the description of the destroyer "Persistent". The emphasis is on the abundance of sons of high military commanders on this ship. The service there is considered prestigious, because it is the main battle ship of the Baltic Fleet, and gives a "green light" for the rapid career of young officers with family ties. For sailors, the destroyer is not very attractive. Certain "ceremonial" status of the ship imposes additional requirements on them. Cases of hazing were noted, one of which was the punishment of ordinary sailors for drinking beer by placing them in a cold compartment. There were cases of the death of personnel due to negligence, the last of them in 2014, when, due to the late delivery of a sailor to the hospital, he fell into a coma and died.

Russian with Chinese - brothers forever

The "youngest" destroyers - the "brothers" of the "Persistent" - serve in the Chinese Navy. They were completed from the Soviet backlogs, previously intended for their own fleet, and received the names "Hangzhou", "Fuzhou", "Taijou" and "Ningbo." The Chinese press immediately dubbed them “killer aircraft carriers.” The last two ships were put into operation in 2004-2006. The Chinese paid $ 1.5 billion for them.