In the second half of the twentieth century, 180 independent states appeared on the world map, but from this wild variety of countries and peoples, only two superpowers had a powerful ocean fleet - the Soviet Union and the United States. For example, no one except us and the Americans massively built missile cruisers. Four more European countries, in order to maintain the former status of "sea powers", made efforts to create their own missile cruisers, but all their attempts ended with the construction of a single ship with mainly American weapons and systems. "Ships of prestige", nothing more.
The pioneers in the field of creating missile cruisers were the Americans - by the end of the 40s, their military industry had created the first combat-ready air defense systems suitable for installation on a ship. In the future, the fate of the missile cruisers of the US Navy was determined exclusively by escort functions as part of aircraft carrier groups; American cruisers never counted on a serious naval battle with surface ships.
But the missile cruiser was especially respected in our country: during the existence of the USSR, dozens of various designs appeared in the vastness of the World Ocean: heavy and light, surface and submarine, with a conventional or nuclear power plant, there were even anti-submarine cruisers and aircraft carrier cruisers! It is no coincidence that missile cruisers have become the main striking force of the USSR Navy.
In a general sense, the term "Soviet missile cruiser" meant a large multipurpose surface ship with a powerful anti-ship missile system.
The story of the seven best missile cruisers is just a short excursion into the maritime history associated with the development of this unique class of warships. The author does not consider himself entitled to place any specific assessments and create a rating of the "best of the best". No, this will be just a story about the most outstanding designs of the Cold War era, indicating their known advantages, disadvantages and interesting facts associated with these death machines. However, the nature of the presentation of the material will help the reader to independently determine which of this "magnificent seven" is still worthy of the highest pedestal.
Albany-class missile cruisers
Three American bogeymen rebuilt from WWII heavy cruisers. After the first successful experiments with missile weapons, the US Navy decided on a global modernization of the Baltimore-class artillery cruisers - all weapons were dismantled from the ships, the superstructure was cut off and their insides tore apart. And now, after 4 years, an incredible "thug" with a tall superstructure and mast-pipes, strewn with secret electronic equipment, entered the sea. The fact that this ship was once a heavy artillery cruiser of the Baltimore class was reminded only of the shape of the bow end.
Despite its ugly appearance, the "Albany series" of cruisers were cool warships capable of providing high-quality air defense of aircraft carrier formations in the near zone (by the standards of those years) - the Talos air defense system's range of fire was more than 100 km, and two hundred missiles on board allowed fight off enemy aircraft for a long time.
Advantages:
- 15-centimeter armor belt inherited from the heavy cruiser Baltimore, - 8 radar fire control, - high installation height of radars, Disadvantages:
- lack of strike weapons, - superstructures made of aluminum alloys, - archaic, in general, design.
Belknap-class missile cruisers
A series of 9 light escort cruisers, on which great hopes were pinned - already at the birth of the Belknap-class cruiser, they received a universal complex of naval weapons, including the original computerized BIUS, unmanned helicopters and a new sub-keel sonar station AN / SQS-26, supposedly capable of to hear the propellers of Soviet boats tens of miles from the side of the ship.
In some ways, the ship justified itself, in others it did not, for example, the daring project of an unmanned helicopter DASH turned out to be of little use for real application on the high seas - the control systems were too imperfect. The hangar and the helipad had to be expanded to house a full-fledged anti-submarine helicopter.
It is noteworthy that after a short disappearance, 127 mm guns returned to the ship again - the American sailors did not dare to completely abandon artillery.
In the 60s and 70s, cruisers of this type regularly patrolled off the coast of Vietnam, firing anti-aircraft missiles at North Vietnamese MiGs that inadvertently flew into the cruisers' engagement zone. But the Belknap became famous not for its feats of arms - in 1975 the lead ship of this type was crushed in the Mediterranean by the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy.
The cruiser cost dearly its navigation error - the flight deck of the aircraft carrier literally "cut off" all the superstructures, and a kerosene shower from the ruptured fuel lines of the aircraft carrier fell on the mangled remains of the ship from above. The ensuing eight-hour fire completely destroyed the cruiser. The restoration of the Belknap was a purely political decision, otherwise such a stupid loss of the ship could undermine the prestige of the US Navy.
Advantages of Belknap:
- computerized combat information management system NTDS;
- presence on board the helicopter;
- small size and cost.
Disadvantages:
- the only launcher, the failure of which left the ship essentially unarmed;
- fire hazardous aluminum superstructures;
- the lack of strike weapons (which, however, is dictated by the appointment of the cruiser).
Missile cruisers of project 58 (code "Grozny")
Favorite ship of Nikita Khrushchev. A small Soviet cruiser with colossal striking power for its size. The world's first combat ship equipped with anti-ship missiles.
Even with the naked eye, it is noticeable how much the kid was overloaded with weapons - according to the plans of those years, "Grozny" was almost alone to carry out the watch in the far latitudes of the World Ocean. You never know what tasks may arise before the Soviet cruiser - "Grozny" must be ready for anything!
As a result, a universal complex of weapons appeared on board the ship, capable of fighting any air, surface and underwater targets. Very high speed - 34 knots (over 60 km / h), universal artillery, equipment for receiving a helicopter …
But the P-35 anti-ship complex was especially impressive - eight four-ton blanks capable of breaking off the guides at any moment and being carried over the horizon at supersonic speed (firing range - up to 250 km).
Despite doubts about the long-range target designation capabilities for the P-35, powerful electronic countermeasures and anti-aircraft fire from the American AUG, the cruiser posed a mortal threat to any enemy squadron - one of the four missiles of each launcher had a megaton "surprise".
Advantages:
- exceptionally high saturation with fire weapons;
- great design.
Disadvantages:
Most of the shortcomings of "Grozny" were somehow connected with the desire of the designers to place a maximum of weapons and systems in the limited hull of the destroyer.
- short cruising range;
- weak air defense;
- imperfect weapon control systems;
- fire hazardous construction: aluminum superstructure and synthetic interior decoration.
Missile cruiser "Long Beach"
The world's first nuclear-powered cruiser is undoubtedly worthy of mention in the list of the best ships of the twentieth century. Concurrently, "Long Beach" became the world's first specialized missile cruiser - all previous designs (missile cruisers of the "Boston" type, etc.) were just improvisation based on the artillery cruisers of the Second World War.
The ship turned out to be gorgeous. Three missile systems for various purposes. An unusual "box" shape of the main superstructure, dictated by the installation of SCANFAR phased radars, also unique radio systems of their time. Finally, the nuclear heart of the cruiser, which made it possible to accompany the nuclear aircraft carrier "Enterprise" everywhere, for interaction with which this miracle was created.
However, for all this, an incredible price was paid - 330 million dollars (about 5 billion at the current exchange rate!), In addition, the imperfection of nuclear technologies did not allow in the 50s to create a compact nuclear power plant of the required power - the cruiser was rapidly "growing" in size, finally reaching 17 thousand tons. Too many for an escort ship!
In addition, it turned out that Long Beach was unable to realize its advantage in practice. First, the ship's autonomy is limited not only by fuel supplies. Secondly, the carrier's retinue contained many ships with conventional propulsion systems, which made it difficult for the nuclear cruiser to move quickly.
Long Beach has served honestly for 33 years. During this time, he left a million nautical miles astern, while managing to fight in Vietnam and Iraq. Due to its exceptional complexity and cost, it remained a lonely "white elephant" of the fleet, however, it had a significant impact on the development of world shipbuilding (including the birth of our next "hero").
Long Beach advantages:
- unlimited autonomy for fuel supplies;
- radars with HEADLIGHTS;
- versatility.
Disadvantages:
- monstrous cost;
- less survivability compared to conventional cruisers.
Heavy nuclear missile cruiser pr. 1144.2 (code "Orlan")
For comparison, the TAVKR "Peter the Great" was chosen - the last and most advanced of the heavy nuclear missile cruisers of the "Orlan" class. A real Imperial cruiser with an amazing range of weapons - on board it contains the entire range of systems that are in service with the Russian Navy.
Theoretically, in one-on-one combat, the Orlan has no equal among all the ships in the world - a huge ocean killer will be able to deal with any enemy. In practice, the situation looks much more interesting - the enemy against whom the Eagles were created does not go one by one. What will the Orlan expect in a real battle with an aircraft carrier and her escort of five missile cruisers? Glorious Gangut, Chesma or the terrible Tsushima pogrom? Nobody knows the answer to this question.
The appearance of the first "Orlan" in 1980 excited the whole world a lot - in addition to its cyclopean dimensions and heroic stature, the Soviet heavy cruiser became the world's first warship with under-deck vertical launch systems. A lot of fears were caused by the S-300F anti-aircraft complex - nothing of the kind at that time simply did not exist in any country in the world.
As in the case of the American "Long Beach", when discussing "Orlan" there is often an opinion about the adequacy of creating such a Miracle. Firstly, for the destruction of AUG, the nuclear submarine missile carriers of the project 949A look more attractive. The stealth and security of the submarine is an order of magnitude more, the cost is less, while the salvo of 949A - 24 Granit missiles.
Secondly, 26 thousand tons of displacement is a direct consequence of the presence of nuclear reactors, which do not provide any real advantages, only occupying space in vain, complicating maintenance and worsening the survivability of the ship in battle. It can be assumed that without the YSU, the Orlan's displacement would have been halved.
By the way, a paradoxical coincidence, the bald eagle is the national emblem of the United States!
Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser
"Stand by admiral Gorshkov:" Aegis "- at sea!" - "Beware, Admiral Gorshkov: Aegis - at sea!" - it was with such a message that the first "Ticonderoga" went to sea - an unprepossessing ship from the outside, with the most modern electronic filling.
For comparison, the cruiser CG-52 "Bunker Hill" was chosen - the lead ship of the second series "Ticonderogo", equipped with UVP Mk.41.
A modern ship, thought out to the smallest detail, with unique fire control systems. The cruiser is still focused on providing anti-aircraft and anti-submarine defense of aircraft carrier formations, but it can independently deliver massive strikes along the coast using Tomahawk cruise missiles, the number of which can reach hundreds of units on board.
The highlight of the cruiser is the Aegis combat information and control system. Coupled with fixed phased panels of the AN / SPY-1 radar and 4 fire control radars, the ship's computers are capable of simultaneously tracking up to 1000 air, surface, and underwater targets, while carrying out their automatic selection and, if necessary, attacking the 18 most dangerous objects. At the same time, the energy capabilities of the AN / SPY-1 are such that the cruiser is capable of detecting and attacking even fast-moving point targets in low earth orbit.
Advantages of Ticonderoga:
- unprecedented versatility at minimal cost;
- huge striking power;
- the ability to solve missile defense problems and destroy satellites in low orbits;
Disadvantages of Ticonderoga:
- limited size, and, as a result, dangerous congestion of the ship;
- the widespread use of aluminum in the design of the cruiser.
Missile cruiser pr. 1164 (code "Atlant")
With 2, 25 times less displacement than the huge nuclear "Orlan", the cruiser "Atlant" retains 80% of its striking power and up to 65% of its anti-aircraft armament. In other words, instead of building one Orlan super cruiser, you can build two Atlantes!
Two Atlant missile cruisers are, by the way, 32 Vulcan supersonic anti-ship missiles and 128 S-300F anti-aircraft missiles. As well as 2 helipads, 2 AK-130 artillery mounts, two Fregat radars and two hydroacoustic stations. And this is all instead of one "Orlan"! Those. the obvious conclusion suggests itself - the missile cruiser pr. 1164 is the very "golden mean" between the size, cost and combat capabilities of the ship.
Even in spite of the general moral and physical obsolescence of these cruisers, the potential inherent in them is so high that it allows Atlanta to operate on an equal footing with the most modern foreign missile cruisers and URO destroyers.
For example, the S-300F complex, which has no analogues - even modern anti-aircraft missiles of the US Navy, due to the limited size of the standard cells of the Mk.41 UVP, are inferior in energy characteristics to the missiles of the Fort complex (in other words, they are twice as light and twice as slow).
Well, it remains to wish that the legendary "grin of socialism" was modernized as often as possible and remained in combat service as long as possible.
Advantages of "Atlanta":
- balanced design;
- excellent seaworthiness;
- missile system S-300F and P-1000.
Disadvantages:
- the only fire control radar of the S-300F complex;
- lack of modern self-defense air defense systems;
- overly complex design of the GTU.
