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Russian Ship Designations

Nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser “Peter the Great” – sounds glorious! Fleet destroyer “Persistent” – invigorating! Submarine missile-carrier “Yuri Dolgoruki” – impressive! Integrated supply tanker “Ivan Bubnov” – somewhat dull… Ship names are a special topic. Some of them are self-sufficient like “Varangian” or “Aurora”. Others are named in commemoration of great people of the past or in honor of some Russian cities, down to Kondopoga and Morshansk. There are many abstract names claiming the artistic taste – from adjectives like “Inquisitive” and “Quick-Witted” to nouns like meteorological “Whirlwind” or carnivorous “Cheetah”.

Occasionally you come across funny and gawky names or even invidious ones. Just ask someone with a striped vest looking out from under the collar of his shirt, what vessel he served on. As you hear his reluctant “Vepr” (“Boar”) in response, you suddenly remember that this is the name of an atomic submarine. It’s somewhat awkward to think of the nickname which could be conferred on members of its crew by their colleagues from Gadzhievo naval base. Yet “Vepr” is better than the missile carrier “Spill” – such names provide a good occasion to wags, so numerous in the Navy, to go wild.

In the US Navy, cruisers are primarily air defense ships, destroyers are surface warfare, and frigate for ASW. The Soviet classification system was more complicated, and less stable over time. Missile cruiser Project 1134 (code "Berkut", the lead ship - "Admiral Zozulya" code word NATO - Kresta I class) - type missile cruisers Soviet military - the Navy. Before 1966, it was classified as air defense ships, ASW, from 1966 to 1977, all four of the project cruisers built for the Soviet military - marine classification assigned to divisions of large anti-submarine ships, and later they were transferred to the Division of missile cruisers.