SEVASTOPOL, September 28 (AVN) - The Admiral Golovko missile cruiser of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will soon undergo repairs at the Lazarevskoye Admiralteistvo ship-repairing plant in the Crimea Peninsula, a spokesman for the Russian Navy Staff said on Thursday.
Even though the cruiser's service life expired long ago, the fleet command decided to repair it, as no other ship can replace it in the Navy, the spokesman told the Military News Agency. The Admiral Golovko is Russia's only operating vessel of Project 58. It came into commission on December 30, 1964.
The vessel's displacement is 5,500t, length 142m, width 16m, height 5.3m and speed 34 knots. Its endurance is 1,500 miles and crew 300 persons. The ship is armed with 16 Progress missiles, the Volna air defence system with 16 missiles, two AK-726 artillery systems, four AK-630 systems, two RBU 600 rocket bomb launchers and three 533m three-pipe torpedo tubes. Its primary mission is to fight aircraft carriers and large surface ships.
The plant is to repair the vessel's four boilers this year, the spokesman said. The repairs will continue in 2001.