The unique nuclear-powered ship "Ural" has been rusting for 25 years without use
The Project 1941 nuclear reconnaissance ship Ural is moored to one of the Far Eastern berths with a five-degree heel. There are not enough specialists to maintain nuclear reactors. From the former crew of 1000 people, it is hardly possible to scrape together a hundred sailors in all the compartments. The main systems of the giant ship have been practically inoperative for a long time, and huge funds are required to reanimate them.
In the early 1990s, the Ural naval reconnaissance aircraft was a classified vessel. The Ural's hull and nuclear power plant are similar to the Project 1144 Orlan nuclear-powered missile cruisers. But the electronic stuffing of the ship, the combat missions for which it was created, were a special secret.
Project 1941 "Titan" nuclear reconnaissance ship "Ural" (Nato Codename "Kapusta"), a vessel that has no analogues in the navies of other countries of the world. The hull and nuclear power plant are similar to the nuclear missile cruisers of the Orlan project. The absence of heavy weapons and a well-developed superstructure made it possible to place on the ship many electronic reconnaissance, communications, surveillance systems, turning what is called a reconnaissance ship into a universal ship.
To solve the problems of electronic reconnaissance and to process the received information on a time scale close to real, a computer complex, unique for its time, was mounted on the ship, consisting of several computers such as ES-1046 and "Elbrus"
The ship can conduct electronic reconnaissance (and some tasks can be solved practically without leaving the pier), track the trajectories of ballistic missiles, monitor and control satellites, operate as a repeater with the support of manned space flights, and also perform the duties of the headquarters ship of the fleet.
The ship was laid down on June 25, 1981, launched in May 1983, commissioned in 1988. For various technical reasons, the ship was taken out of service a year after completion of construction in 1989. Plans for its further use are unknown. The possibility of sale or disposal is being considered.
The performance characteristics of CCB-33 "Ural"
Displacement, t 34640
Length, m 265
Width, m 29, 9
Draft, m 7, 8
Speed, knots 21, 6
Nuclear reactor, pcs. 2
Crew, people 923
Armament:
Guns: 2 AK-176
Anti-aircraft guns: 4 AK-630; 4 MANPADS "Igla"
Machine guns: 4 12 mm
Helicopters: 1 Ka-32
Radar equipment:
Locator / Radar: 3 MR-212/201 Vychegda-U; Air target detection radar MR-750 "Fregat-MA".
"Ural" was not created for military operations and can only withstand boats and small ships, helicopters. For this, there are two rapid-fire artillery mounts AK-176 of 76 mm caliber, four artillery 30-mm mounts AK-630, four quadruple launchers of Igla MANPADS, four 12-mm coaxial machine-gun mounts "Utes-M". But the electronic weapons from several electronic stations for detecting air, surface and underwater targets, fire control, as well as several special radars and the corresponding equipment of the Coral system, designed to detect, track missile launches, track space satellites and other objects on near-earth orbits, were of particular value.
"Ural" could walk for an unlimited time without refueling in neutral waters off the coast of the United States and cover American ICBM bases and strategic aviation airfields with an electronic field. Its equipment and computers made it possible to quickly process a huge amount of intelligence information and transmit it to the military-political leadership of our state. Of course, such a ship, which can conduct electronic reconnaissance both from ocean waters and without departing from its pier in a naval base, clearly did not suit Russia's hidden and obvious opponents and new-found partners. But even now, when 25 years have passed since the laying of the Ural, it is very difficult to find reliable information on how it was built.
SCOUT AT THE BALTIC SHIPYARD
Back in 1977, the military-industrial commission under the Central Committee of the CPSU, together with the USSR Ministry of Defense, decided to build a large nuclear reconnaissance ship "Ural" 265 meters long and 30 meters wide. It was designed by the central design bureau "Iceberg". The ship was laid down in June 1981, launched in 1983, and it was accepted into the fleet in 1988-1989. Especially for the implementation of the tasks of electronic intelligence, processing the mass of information received, a unique for that time electronic computing complex of several computers such as ES-1046 and Elbrus was mounted. With the help of the Coral system, the naval reconnaissance officer could track the trajectories of ballistic missiles, manned spacecraft, and work as a relay for data transmission.
In 1988, testing of the entire system began in the Baltic Sea. For this, one enlarged ship research organization was created. This facilitated the leadership of a large scientific team, which during that period of running, design, factory and, finally, state tests was practically without a break on the ship.
In 1989, an act of state acceptance of the ship was signed and its transfer to the port of registry Vladivostok began. Complex teams of specialists were formed, who during the voyage eliminated possible problems. Scientist Vladimir Anikeev was in charge of the management of the two Elbrus computers. The computers did not want to enter the operating parameters in any way and were capricious. For the first time, Anikeev saw the tropical sun on the upper deck only abeam of Singapore. Almost all the time he disappeared in the depths of the ship and brought the equipment up to condition so that it could process and output information in real time. After 59 days, the handsome Ural entered the Strelok Bay near Vladivostok. There was no berth for the gigantic ship, and he was forced to anchor in the bay and begin an invisible fight against corrosion and failing mechanisms that, while staying on a barrel, provided everything necessary for the life and work of a large crew.
PROBLEMS
The Ural's crew immediately began to prepare for real combat work in the area of one of the US missile defense test sites. However, on a brand new ship, breakdowns began to occur, and such that even with the specialists of the Baltic Shipyard, naval engineers could not eliminate the malfunction in the cooling system of the nuclear installation. There was no talk of any trip to combat service. The unique intelligence complex "Coral" and the computer "Elbrus" did not want to work either. Specially trained naval specialists could do nothing with them.
As a result, the ship of the first rank, which was supposed to become the flagship of the Far Eastern Navy, became a floating barracks for young or unpromising naval officers. He did not go out to sea, and its powerful electronic filling, in which the mass of precious metals, gradually fell into disrepair and was plundered. The officers who were sent to serve on this ship, after a year and a half from hopelessness, wrote reports about transfer to other places or about dismissal from the Navy. If the command did not satisfy such wishes, there were cases when officers jumped overboard from the ship and swam to the shore. After such protests, the command did not dare to interfere with the wishes of their subordinates from the "Ural".
There were ideas to use the Ural as a floating nuclear power plant and even sell it abroad for scrap. But nothing came of it because of Russian atomic secrets. The ship still sucks. None of the current Russian naval commanders have found a use for it. They prefer not to talk openly about him. And only the former Chief of the Main Staff of the Russian Navy, Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Khmelnov, in his book of confessions “The Russian Fleet. Valor and Poverty”opened the veil of secrecy over the fate of the giant ship. “On the Ural nuclear-powered ship,” writes the retired admiral, “at power plants, two people serve instead of six.”
Of the crew of 1000 people, less than 100 are now in the Urals, of which 25 are sailors. Refrigerators do not work, only one pump heroically pumps out the accumulated water from huge holds overboard. Rumor has it in the Navy that after the dismantling of the nuclear reactors on the ship, the last reason before the ship is sold abroad will be eliminated.
Several years ago, the Ural had its bottom patched up at a local shipyard. However, the specialists were never able to eliminate the roll of 5 degrees. Then the atomic reconnaissance officer was moored to the wall, where he froze in anticipation of his further fate. According to the shipyard, this is how the conservation of Russian aircraft carriers began before being sold abroad.
