Black Sea Shipyard

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Monument to the shipbuilders of Mykolaiv.
Monument to the shipbuilders of Mykolaiv.

The Black Sea Shipyard (Russian: Черноморский судостроительный завод; Ukrainian: Чорноморський суднобудівельний завод) is located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine and is the largest shipyard on the Black Sea. It is most often referred to as the Nikolayev South Shipyard and was known as Soviet Shipyard No. 444.

This shipyard constructed the legendary Stalingrad-class battlecruiser, Moskva-class helicopter ships, Kiev-class VSTOL aircraft carriers, naval auxiliaries, commercial ships, and submarines.[1]

Today, the shipyard is a major enterprise consisting of shipbuilding, machine-building, and metallurgy. The shipyard has its own design center with a qualified engineering staff and modern computer equipment. Their integrated shipbuilding system (FORAN) includes computer-aided design (CAD), engineering (CAE), and manufacturing (CAM) of vessels.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

Shipbuilding dock (c. 1900)
Shipbuilding dock (c. 1900)

In 1897, the shipyard was established as the Nikolayev Shipbuilding, Mechanical, and Iron Works––a Belgian-owned enterprise. By 1901, it was constructing ships including the battleship Potemkin.[1]

After the October Revolution and the beginning of the Soviet era, the shipyard was renamed to the Marti Yard (Shipyard No. 198).[3] During these early years, the yard constructed surface warships and Dekabrist-class submarines.

In the 1950s, an estimated 65 Whiskey-class submarines, the Sverdlov-class light cruisers[1], and the Stalingrad-class battlecruiser were built.[3]

During the 1960s, the Moskva-class helicopter ships and the Kiev-class VSTOL aircraft carriers were constructed.[1] The Kiev-class Admiral Gorshkov was launched in 1982 and later in 1985 the Admiral Kuznetsov class aircraft carrier was launched. The Kuznetsov's hull design is based on the Admiral Gorshkov but is larger with a full load displacement, 58,500 tons as compared to Gorshkov's 40,400 tons.[4]

Commercial ships and naval auxiliaries were, and continue to be constructed there. Commercial ships are primarily dry-cargo ships, fish-factory ships, and large trawlers.[1] In the late 1970s, the shipyard constructed two large trawlers for the State Committee of Fisheries of Ukraine.[5]

[edit] Facilities and Services

The State joint stock company Chernomorsudoproekt is one of the leading ship design firms in Ukraine. The firm was founded in 1956 around the design personnel of Nikolayev shipbuilding enterprises.[5] The enterprise has built and exported vessels to Sweden, Bulgaria, Norway, Romania, Great Britain, Germany, Portugal, Kuwait, India and Greece.[2]

The shipyard has two main areas covering 500 acres (2.0 km²). The first slipway (No.0) has end-launch building ways and blocking docks. The second is a horizontal building slip (No.1) with a covered launch.[2]

Length Width Lifting Capacity
Slipway No. 0 330 meters (1,100 ft) 40 meters (130 ft) Two gantry cranes each capable of lifting up to 900 tons
Slipway No. 1 400 meters (1,300 ft) 18 meters (59 ft) Horizontal, launching effected with the help of floating dock
Floating dock 120 meters (390 ft) 41.5 meters (136 ft) Up to 7500 tons
3 quays 860 meters (2,800 ft) total - Portal cranes with a lifting capacity of 25-40 tons

The largest slipway (No.0) is capable of constructing tankers, bulk carriers, supply vessels, and roll-on/roll-off ships.[5] There is also a high-capacity pre-slipway area of 14,000 square meters (150,000 sq ft), where blocks up to 1,500 tonnes (1,500 LT/1,700 ST) can be assembled.[2]

The second slipway (No.1) is a flow-position line, which is located in the sheltered slipway and is actually a closed-loop autonomous production line. Launching of vessels is effected with the help of the floating dock. The final fitting-out is performed near the South outfitting quay which is 546 meters (1,790 ft).[2]

The shipyard consists of several work-shops to include: the slipway work-shop, assembly and welding work-shop, plating work-shop, and an outfitting work-shop.[5] The assembly and welding work-shop is capable of manufacturing flat and volumetric sections up to 180 tonnes (180 LT/200 ST).[5]

According to their public website, the shipyard also includes:[2]

  • Specialized services to include the manufacturing of propeller shafts with length up to 30 meters (98 ft) and the manufacturing of unit-cast and welded anchor chains.
  • A multi-branch network of 43 kilometers (27 mi) of railways and 29 kilometers (18 mi) of roads.
  • Tug boats capable of 60 ton bollard pull which can provide escort services to tankers up to 70,000 DWT in the narrow waters.


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Norman Polmar, Guide to the Soviet Navy, Fourth Edition (1986), United States Naval Institute, Annapolis Maryland, ISBN 0-87021-240-0
  2. ^ a b c d e f (English) Official Chernomorsky Shipbuilding Yard Website
  3. ^ a b Milan L. Hauner, Stalin's big-fleet program (Spring 2004), Naval War College Review, Online
  4. ^ Kuznetsov Class (Type 1143.5) Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruiser, Russia, Naval-technology.com, (Accessed 6/4/2008), SPG Media PLC
  5. ^ a b c d e Chernomorsky Plant, GlobalSecurity.org Website, (Accessed 6/4/2008)

[edit] External links