The Ural reconnaissance ship is the largest surface combat unit of the Soviet Navy. They are proud of the project itself. Unfortunately, "Ural" has become one of the symbols of an alarming transitional era of collapse and extinction. The history of the ship ended far from the sea for which it was created.
How it all began
At the end of the 70s and the beginning of the 80s of the last century, another tension in relations took place between the USSR and the United States. America began to threaten a new generation of nuclear missiles and a missile defense system based in space. The Soviet Union immediately responded with its own project, involving its own defense industry.
Kwajalein Atoll is a place of hundreds of coral islands 3900 km south of Honolulu. This place was used by the US military to manage nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands and to test missile defense systems. In other words, it was an incredibly important training ground and this place was of great interest to Soviet intelligence. It was here that the latest MX Peacekeeper ICBMs were tested.
Ural
The Soviet leadership needed eyes and ears to control the Kwajalein Atoll. In the early 1970s, the command decided to equip a special ship that would become a floating platform for multifunctional electronic reconnaissance. Of course, such a platform had to have a high degree of autonomy and a large power reserve. The conclusion from these requirements was simple - the ship must use a nuclear reactor.
Work on the complex began in 1975. The Vympel Central Scientific and Production Association became the parent enterprise. Mikhail Arkharov was appointed as the chief designer. His task was to create equipment that could collect maximum intelligence information using radar. It was supposed to intercept communication signals, record the movement of air, surface and underwater objects, and also collect as much data as possible on the US missiles that were launched.
The Leningrad Central Design Bureau "Iceberg" worked on the design of the nuclear-powered ship itself. At first the project was called "Coral", the name SSV-33 "Ural" will be given much later. The ship was laid down at the shipyard in 1981. Launching took place already in 1983, but construction continued for three more years after that.
Only on December 30, 1988, an act was signed on the transfer of the ship to the USSR Navy. The ship was very large. Its length was 265 meters. Inside there are more than 1.5 thousand rooms. The permanent crew of the vessel is 930 people. The creators joked that a random person would get out of the Urals for about a week.
End of glory
In the early years, many unpleasant incidents occurred in the Urals, including with a nuclear reactor on board. Nevertheless, all this was easily explained by "growing pains". After all, the ship was truly a unique, unparalleled creation. Unfortunately, at the time of the collapse of the USSR, there was no work for the ship, and the maintenance of a unique reconnaissance installation turned out to be too expensive a pleasure. As a result, since 2010 the ship has been gradually disposed of.
Want to see even more big and cool ships? Here 7 huge ships of our time, in comparison with which "/>
, which will be carried away by the first wave.