Project 61 Kashin class
Project 61 Kashin Mod class
Guided Missile Destroyer
The Kashin class ship was designed to fulfill a variety of roles including anti-air and antisubmarine operations to defend task forces from submarines, low-flying aircraft, and cruise missiles. Primarily designed for ASW, their main weapons were SET-65 533 mm homing anti submarine torpedoes and ASW mortars. Five ships were modified during the 1970s with four SSN-2 Styx SSMs, four 30 mm Gatling CIWS gun system and variable depth sonar.
The ship’s hull is divided into separate compartments by 13 main watertight bulkheads, that extent to the upper deck. These bulkheads ensure that buoyancy remains stable if any three adjacent compartments are flooded. The Kashin class was commissioned in 1962, and was the first class of warship to be equipped with gas turbines. The Kashin’s four gas-outlet pipes allow the gas turbines to be replaced through their access holes. The installation of air coolers in the funnels has reduced the thermal signature of the ship by 50%. It has a top speed of 37 knots.
Six ships were modified with the addition of improved electronics and four rear-firing SS-N-2c Styx missiles. Its armament includes 10 torpedoes, 32-36 SA-N-3 missiles and 4 SS-N-2C missiles. The hull was lengthened by approximately two meters, and a stern-mounted Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) installation and an improved hull-mounted sonar were also fitted.
Five units of a variant on the Modified Kashin class design were built in USSR for export to India in the 1980s. Construction began after an interval of nearly a decade following the conclusion of building this class for the Soviet navy, and significant delays were experienced in the delivery of this ships. The Smely was transferred to Poland. Provorny was used to test the SSN-7 Gadfly SAM.
The Project 61 Kashing class destroyer Otvazhnyy suffered a fire and explosion in her aft SA-N-1 SAM magazine while in the Black Sea on 30 August 1974. Damage to the ship caused her loss, and the deaths of some 200 crew members.
Almost all units of this class have been stricken, and many have been scrapped. The status of the remaining units is obscure. At least one MOD Kashin [Sderzhanny] remains in active service, though it is rapidly approaching retirement age. The Krasnyy Kavkaz is may remain in reserve, though not expected to return to service. Some sources suggest that Krashy-Krym and Skoryy remain in reserve, while other sources suggest that these units have already been discarded.
