| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Pyotr Velikiy |
| Laid down: | 1986 |
| Launched: | 1996 |
| Commissioned: | 18 April 1998 |
| Status: | in active service, as of 2012[update] |
| Class and type: | Kirov-class battlecruiser |
Pyotr Velikiy (Пётр Великий) is a heavy nuclear-powered cruiser (TAKR), the fourth Kirov class battlecruiser of the Russian Navy, originally named Yuriy Andropov (Юрий Андропов). Although the ship is not a battlecruiser by the traditional definition of the type, but a missile cruiser (official: "Heavy Rocket Cruiser"), its size has given it the unofficial designation of a battlecruiser in the mass media of many countries. Pytor Velikiy is the flagship of the Northern Fleet.
Because of economic problems both before and after the fall of the Soviet Union, work on the ship was severely postponed. It was not commissioned until 1996, ten years after the construction started. It had by then been renamed Pyotr Velikiy, Russian for Peter the Great.
After completing its acceptance trials in November 1996, the vessel was transferred to the Northern Fleet at Severomorsk becoming the flagship of the Northern Fleet.
In August 2000 Pyotr Velikiy was in the Barents Sea involved in the largest naval training exercise since the fall of the Soviet Union. The ship was to be the designated target of the Oscar-II class submarine K-141 Kursk, and was conducting evasive maneuvers when communication with Kursk was lost, the submarine apparently having suffered a catastrophic torpedo detonation with all hands lost. Pyotr Velikiy guarded the area where the submarine sank during the subsequent salvage operation in 2001.
In March, 2004, Russian Navy chief Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov declared Pyotr Velikiy unfit for service due to problems with the ship's engineering maintenance.[1] On April 19, 2004, it was docked in the floating drydock PD-50 for painting of the underside of the hull, repairs and examination of the steering system. The repairs were completed later that year, and it was carrying out missions again by August. Pyotr Velikiy has been known to carry two pennant numbers during its service; "183" and currently "099".
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On September 8, 2008, it was announced that Pyotr Velikiy would sail to the Caribbean Sea to participate in naval exercises with the Venezuelan Navy, along with the destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and other support ships. This action would represent the first major Russian show of force in that sea since the end of the Cold War.[2]
On September 22, 2008, Pyotr Velikiy and Admiral Chabanenko left their homeport of Severomorsk.[3]
On October 22, 2008 Pyotr Velikiy made a port visit to Aksaz Karagac, Turkey.[4] and on November 6–9, 2008 the nuclear cruiser and Admiral Chabanenko made a port visit to Toulon, France.[5] before departing the Mediterranean on November 10, 2008 passing through the Strait of Gibraltar.[6]
The Pyotr Velikiy arrived in La Guaira, Venezuela on November 25, 2008[7] coincident with a visit by Russian President Medvedev and a combined exercise VENRUS-200 with the Venezuelan Navy took place on December 1–2, 2008.[8] After finishing the exercises, Admiral Chabanenko made a short visit to Panama December 5–10, 2008 then to Bluefields, Nicaragua December 13 to 15[9] and Havana, Cuba from December 19 to 23.[10]
Pyotr Velikiy continued alone to Cape Town, South Africa. On January 11, 2009, the chief of the Russian General Staff announced that Pyotr Velikiy and six other Russian warships would participate in a joint naval exercise with the Indian Navy later the same month.[11]
On the way to India, the Kirov-class cruiser made a three-day visit to Cape Town, South Africa.[12]
On January 31, Pyotr Veliky left the port of Mormugao in the Indian state of Goa. After a two-day visit that included a naval exercise with the Indian guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi the cruiser left for African waters where the vessel joined other warships from the Russian navy and conduct the INDRA-2009 exercise.[13][14]
On February 12, 2009, the ship captured 10 pirates in three boats off the coast of Somalia[15]
On March 10, 2009 Pyotr Velikiy returned to its homeport of Severomorsk, ending a six-month deployment.[16]
On March 30, 2010 Pyotr Velikiy left the Northern Fleet for a new six month deployment. During its six-month tour of duty, the warship passed through the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea before entering the Indian Ocean via the Suez Canal. In the Indian Ocean the Cruiser conducted maneuvers with other Russian warships from the Black Sea Fleet.[17]
On April 14 the missile cruiser visited the Mediterranean port of Tartus in Syria. In September 2008, Russia was reported to be in talks with Syria about turning Tartus into a permanent base for Russian warships in the Middle East.[18]
In early May 2010 Pyotr Velikiy met up with the Russian missile cruiser Moskva in the South China Sea. There they conducted joint exercises and held a traditional farewell ceremony on May 5. The two vessels are due to arrive in Russia's Far Eastern port of Vladivostok to take part in the Vostok-2010 large-scale strategic exercise.[19]
On 29 September Pyotr Velikiy returned to its home base in the Northern Fleet after six months at sea. The flagship of the Northern Fleet had covered about 28,000 nautical miles since the beginning of the mission on March 30, 2010.[20]
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