DEPLOYMENT OF THE SOVIET TRACKING FLEET JANUARY 1981 TO
SEPTEMBER 30, 1987
The eleven ships of the Soviet Academy of Sciences made a total of 87 voyages during this period, taking them to worldwide locations in support of both the piloted and automated space programs. Their primary objectives were to provide communication relay links for cosmonaut activities and participation in the tracking, command and control operations required for specialized launches.
1981
The main activity of 1981, the Salyut 6/Soyuz T-4/Soyuz 39/Soyuz 40 missions, required vessels in the primary areas of Gibraltar, West Africa, and South Atlantic, these being filled by the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin, Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, Morzhovets and Kegostrov respectively. All were deployed specifically for the occupation of Salyut 6, the Gagarin and Morzhovets leaving their home ports of Odessa and Leningrad six weeks before the T-4 launch in order to be on station and settled into a daily routine. The Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy also slipped her moorings at Leningrad to proceed to the Caribbean for the whole mission, while the Kegostrov arrived on station off Montevideo halfway through the T-4 flight to bolster capacity in that area, and ultimately to relieve the Morzhovets.
After the last crew left Salyut 6, the Komarov and Morzhovets rapidly departed for the U.S.S.R., while the Dobrovolskiy stayed on in the Caribbean until the end of August, and the Kogostrov proceeding to the coast of Africa. This would be the last voyage of the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov for eleven months.
The voyage of the Akademic Sergei Korolev which arrived in Colombo on April 29 for a seven month deployment, before passing into the Black Sea for Odessa on November 19, apparently appeared to be unconnected with supporting piloted spaceflight.
While Salyut communications could have benefited in that area, it is noticeable that the launch of the Indian Rohini 3 satellite took place only a month after the Korolev appeared in the vicinity: whether this was for launch support, or tracking for intelligence gathering has still to be determined, but neither the Korolev, nor any other large tracking ship, had previously been in Indo-Asian waters, or has been deployed there since.
1982
New Year's Day 1982 dawned upon three of the fleet at sea. The Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev was in the Caribbean, the Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov was completing a six month deployment off the West African coast before returning to Leningrad via Hamburg, and the Borovichi was drifting off the Congo. However, a rapid dispersal of six boats was noted in late March and early April prior to the launch of Salyut 7, as anchorages in the Caribbean, Gibraltar Straits and off South America were taken up. By the time of the Soyuz T-5 crew launch to Salyut 7, another two boats had been put to sea.
Initially, this was a puzzling case of overkill until June, when the Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev was tracked passing out of the Suez Canal, and the Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy was reported leaving Singapore for the Suez Canal on the 15th. Obviously, these particular vessels were ignoring the Salyut mission and were concentrating on other matters—in this case, support for the first spaceplane test, Cosmos 1374, on June 3 during the terminal phase of its flight toward a landing off the Cocos Islands where another tracking ship, the Chumikan was located. After this unique launch, the Dobrovolskiy returned to Leningrad, and the Patsayev relocated to the Caribbean in order to relieve the Akademik Sergei Korolev. Another unique first was chalked up in early July, in that all eleven boats were at sea, the first and only time that this has occurred.
The Borovichi and Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov, off Africa, were supporting retrofire for the short duration flights of Soyuz T-6 and T-7/T-5. The Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, after being substituted off Gibraltar by the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin which came out of the Black Sea on June 2, headed into the North Atlantic to provide coverage off Ireland, interspersed with calls into Amsterdam, Hamburg, and Rotterdam, at approximately six week intervals This first occupation of Salyut 7 continued the policy of late Salyut 6 missions of not stationing a large vessel off Sable Island NS, (3) and it is interpreted that the positioning of the Komarov at this time was to help fill gaps in coverage in this region. Subsequent endurance flights have since benefitted from having a vessel assigned this responsibility, for at least a good proportion of the flight, if not all.
The imminent landing of the Soyuz T-5/T-7 crew on December 10 was signalled by the return of the Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov and Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayeu to Leningrad, with the Nevel and Borovichi already bound for home. The Komarov, now shifted to Africa, and the Dobrovolskiy, two and a half months into an eight month deployment in the Caribbean, only remained on station to provide retrofire support.
1983
The arrival in orbit on March 29, 1983, of the Cosmos 1443 module destined for the Salyut 7 station indicated that piloted flights would soon be resuming, and with mission durations expected to increase, it would be interesting to note how the support ships would cope. Thirteen days later, the second spaceplane test was conducted, again with the landing scheduled for the Indian Ocean, and the accompanying task force as before. This time, the civilian fleet was represented by the Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov in the Middle East, and the Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev off Singapore. The Volkov transited the Suez Canal two weeks after the test, heading for Rotterdam and Tallinn, while the Belyayev steered for Montevideo and the South Atlantic to be on station when the Soyuz T-8 crew was launched to the orbiting complex on April 20.
It should be noted that the remaining spaceplane tests were conducted when Salyut 7 was unoccupied, and two boats could be released for this activity. Having the Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy and Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev involved in the Cosmos 1374 flight during the Soyuz T-5/T-7 long duration flight placed a severe strain on the tracking fleet coverage.
Soyuz T-8 failed to dock, however, and had to return quickly after only a two day flight, with contingency support for such an occurrence being provided by the Patsayev off Africa, and by the Komarov recently out from Odessa, in the Mediterranean. With such an unexpected delay and no crew to track, the ships were forced to sit and wait, in the case of the Belyayev, Kegostrov and Borovichi, off South America, though the crew of the Belyayev relieved the monotony with a run ashore in Buenos Aires in early
June.
The Akademik Sergei Korolev returned to Odessa later in the month from Nova Scotia, exchanging location with the outbound Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin. The boat to benefit from the hiatus was the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov—having been at sea for ten weeks in the Mediterranean, the crew was allowed to return for a week's break in Odessa before resuming normal duties back off Gibraltar just before the launch of Soyuz T-9.
As this flight progressed, and with the expected crew rotation failing to take place following the Soyuz T-10A launch abort, Lyakhov and Aleksandrov had only Flight Control and the crews spread beneath them for company, as boats headed in and out of the U.S.S.R., until only the Nevel in the South Atlantic, the Dobrovolskiy and Korolev in the Caribbean, and Morzhovets off Dakar, were at sea to check the return of the crew. Interestingly, the responsibility for conducting the re-entry phase was assigned to the Morzhovets; it was unusual that a Belyayev class boat, or even a larger class vessel was not off Africa for this purpose. In the intervening two and a half month gap between Soyuz flights, the Korolev, Morzhovets, and Dobrovolskiy all stayed on station to overlap the completed Soyuz T-9 mission, and the upcoming Soyuz T-10 launch. All other vessels were back in the U.S.S.R. for the end of year festivities. During this time, the third spaceplane test was conducted, with the final landing point in the Black Sea. No civilian vessels were located in unusual areas on December 27, although the boats at sea could well have been involved.
1984
The first piloted launch of 1984, Soyuz T-10 on February 8, again produced the advance guard of the Kegostrov heading for South America, the Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev for West Africa, and the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov passing through the Bosphorus on January 28 for the Mediterranean and its now usual residence in the Gibraltar Straits. Further departures in March from the U.S.S.R. were the Borovichi and Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov for the Caribbean, the latter to take over from the Dobrovolskiy which called into Hamburg on March 16, inbound from Cuba, and destined for Leningrad. Three days later, the Akademik Sergei Korolev departed from Rotterdam in order to drift in the North Atlantic before the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin arrived off Nova Scotia two months later. The launch of the Soyuz T-ll crew, and the flurry of EVAs that followed, required maximum coverage in April and early May, provided in the South Atlantic by the Kegostrov off Montevideo, the Mediterranean by the Komarov, the Belyayev anchored off Togo, and her sister ship, the Patsayev moored further north off Senegal, the Atlantic by the Korolev, and the Borovichi with the Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov near St. Anna Bay in Curacao. After this phase of the mission ended, the Gagarin slipped out of the Black Sea headed for Cuba and then Nova Scotia, while the Akademik Sergei Korolev turned South for a call into the Canaries on July 10, and home to Odessa 10 days later, completing the longest deployment made by a civilian tracking ship of 11 months. It would be over a year later before the Korolev would put to sea.
July also saw the Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev return to Leningrad and the Kegostrov to Tallinn; the Dobrovolskiy call into Amsterdam outbound from Leningrad and steering for Las Palmas and the Gulf of Guinea; the Komarov visit Rotterdam for four days on July 4, and then deploy into the Atlantic to cover for the Gagarin making her way up the Eastern Seaboard of the United States from Cuba; and the Morzhovets depart Leningrad for Amsterdam, and its destination for the Caribbean, and later the South Atlantic.
Among this maritime "musical chairs" came the launch of Soyuz T-12 for a 12-day flight to Salyut 7, with the boats well placed again for the spacewalk by Dzhanibekov and Savitskaya on July 25. The slowing down of activities aboard the space station for the landing of the T-10/T-11 crew in early October had begun late in September, (4) and this was reflected by the arrival of the Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayeu back to European waters with a visit to Rotterdam, and then to Leningrad. The Komarov had departed into the Black Sea even earlier on August 19. For this mission, the retrofire boat was the Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy, and 12 days after the landing, the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin docked into Rotterdam on October 14 for four days leave after crossing the Atlantic from Halifax NS. A seven month lay-up awaited the crew on their arrival in Odessa.
The end of piloted spaceflight duties brought back to port the vessels supporting the T-10/T-11 flight, and only the standing patrols of the Dobrovolskiy in the Caribbean, soon to be relieved by the Belyayev, and the South America-Equator-Africa region covered by the Morzhovets, were operational on November 1. With Salyut 7 flying automatically, the report that Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was negotiating the Bosphorus and steaming for the Mediterranean on the 25th raised eyebrows; no Soyuz flights were expected. Three weeks later, the first of the Vega probes to Comet Halley lifted off, to be followed on December 21 by Vega 2. This could well have been a deep space assignment, then, as the use of large class vessels for this activity is not new, and would explain the early return of the Komarov from Soyuz T-10/T-11 support.
Slotted between the Vega launches came the fourth spaceplane test, Cosmos 1614 launched on December 19 from Kapustin Yar, and targeted for landing in the Black Sea—conveniently flying over the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov stationed directly beneath the ground track. This six week voyage ended with the Komarov celebrating New Year afloat, and then slipping back to Odessa on January 7, 1985.
1985
The first four months of 1985 saw no unusual activity, with the Belyayev continuing its voyage in the Caribbean, the Borovichi substituting for the Kegostrov off Brazil, and the Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev starting a four month shift as the African boat in March. Mid-May saw the triple departure from the U.S.S.R. of the Nevel and Volkov outbound from Leningrad, and the Gagarin arriving from Odessa at Las Palmas. It departed the Canaries the same time as the Komarov nosed past Istanbul heading for Gibraltar. Again, the "early warning" system of the dispersal of the tracking fleet indicated renewed activity in the Soyuz program, and a new launch on June 6 of the Soyuz T-13 repair crew. Further sailings in June of the Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy to Montevideo and the Morzhovets to the waters of the Caribbean brought groundtrack coverage up to strength, in time for the solar panel EVA conducted on August 2. During this time, the Nevel cruised from South America around southern Africa toward Mauritius, and then passed through the Suez Canal on September 16, for Leningrad. The Brazilian station was tasked to the Kegostrov, arriving at Recife on September 24 from Leningrad and Rotterdam.
The partial exchange of crews aboard Salyut 7 during September 1985 and the return of the T-13 capsule, supported by the Belyayev off Togo, saw the same maneuvers some 300 km below. The Kosmonaut Vladislav Volkov called into Rotterdam inbound from the Atlantic for Leningrad; the Dobrovolskiy and Belyayev transited the same ocean in opposite directions with the Dobrovolskiy taking up the retrofire station off Africa for the T-14 return late in November (an indication that the problems with Vasyutin aboard Salyut 7 were well known), and then to Leningrad, while the Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev arrived off Uruguay. The deployment of the Patsayev at this time, reported passing through the Kiel Canal on November 10 for Curacao, seemed odd since coverage for geostationary injection firings monitored by vessels in the Equatorial region of the Atlantic was adequately provided by the Kegostrov and Borouichi into December, augmented by the Belyayev for two months. However, with Western observers concentrating on the crew activities, the Atlantic exchange of the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin and Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov failed to attract attention—in its own way, a significant step, in that the Gagarin was returned across the Atlantic to the Canary Islands. It had been at sea 115 days, and with onboard reserves capable of carrying 130 days worth of supplies for ocean going duty, a refueling call was required. It may be asked why Halifax NS was not selected as a suitable port of call, but it is known that the Soviet merchant marines do have a refuelling contract at Las Palmas. (5) To cover the North Atlantic region, the Gibraltar slot of the Komarov was forsaken for a two day call into Rotterdam on August 19 and a departure for off Ireland, before returning to Odessa after 145 days at sea. The Gagarin returned to Canada, and one week later on October 19, the Akademik Sergei Korolev arrived in Greece from the Black Sea after a 15 month refit. It left Patras after two days, setting course for Gibraltar and an expected long duration duty—except it re-entered the Black Sea only five days after the return of the Soyuz T-13/T-14 crew, to be followed three weeks later by the Gagarin. The close of 1985, which should have had a crew in space, left four boats spaced between the Caribbean and Argentina waiting for their next mission, and the crew of the Akademik Sergei Korolev enjoying an unexpected shore leave.
1986
January 25, 1986, saw the Korolev retracing its steps through the Bosphorus, destined for the coastline of Nova Scotia, shadowed two weeks later by the Komarov for a shorter trip to the Mediterranean. Coincident with the launch of the new Mir space station on February 20 were the departures of the Volkov and Novel from Leningrad, destined for Africa and South America, and the landfalls of the Kegostrov and Patsayev to the same port. With the launch of the Soyuz T-15 crew, tracking ship activity concentrated on covering the standard areas: the Volkov off Lome for the complete mission, assisted by the Kegostrov for retrofire; the Dobrovolskiy and Nevel in the South Atlantic region for the whole flight, with the Morzhovets entrusted with the Caribbean. The homecoming of the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov to the Black Sea on June 10 necessitated a short cruise by the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin to support the transfer of the T-15 crew from Salyut 7 back to Mir on June 26. This two week run is the shortest ever yet undertaken for support requirements, although it also served a dual purpose as a shakedown passage after six months away from sea.
With the return of the Soyuz T-15 crew in July, maritime activity quieted to a minimum. The Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev embarked on a posting to the South Atlantic in the company of the Borovichi and both were on station at the end of the year. The Car-
ibbean slot was relinquished by the Morzhovets in mid-August, and handed to the Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev until it returned to Tallinn in late November. The intervening time off from seaborne operations enabled the fleet to prepare for the next occupation of
Mir.
1987
After six months grace, the impending occupation of Mir was announced by the Soviets on January 28, 1987. To observers with their attention on the Bosphorus, the news was three weeks late, as the familiar and unmistakable outline of the Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin left Odessa, called into Las Palmas for three days on January 21, and set sail for Sable Island NS. January 27 saw the appearance of the Komarov, headed for the Straits of Gibraltar and a four month stay in the Mediterranean, with visits to Tangier, Marseilles, and Ceuta. The Patsayev had shifted across the Atlantic in the meantime to act as Africa retrofire boat, in case of an unsuccessful docking by the Soyuz TM-2 crew launched on February 5, while the Nevel and Volkov waited off Brazil. The Borovichi continued off Uruguay. With Romanenko and Laveikin settled aboard Mir, the Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev departed the scene after calling into the Canaries for Tallinn. The Kegostrov arrived from Leningrad at Copenhagen, departing April 21 for the Gulf of Mexico.
The Belyayev departed Rotterdam outbound on April 27. Initially this was thought to be destined for Africa, which was not covered, and confidence increased when Las Palmas reported its arrival on June 2 for two days. Two weeks later, the name Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev appeared in the list of vessels having transited the Suez Canal, heading south for an undisclosed location, possibly for a position off East Africa in order to track the orbital insertion phase of sun-synchronous launch. The Soviet launch of the Indian remote sensing satellite, IRS 1, had been announced for August or September. Its arrival into Aden on July 1 strengthened this theory, and on August 1, a 97 degree polar launch occurred—but of Cosmos 1871, and not IRS. Immediately dubbed a new style photo reconnaissance flight by some Western analysts, it seems hard to believe
that a tracking vessel would be sent to such a specific location unless the launch were something unusual. Soon after, the Belyayev returned into the Mediterranean, with the Indian launch still awaited and leaving the distinct impression that it had been supporting a launch vehicle test. As of September 30, it was situated off Guinea. (6)
The Nova Scotia position was vacated by the Gagarin m May, after a 125 day voyage only interrupted by a two-call into Sydney NS on March 5. Again, as two years previously, a refueling trip was arranged for Las Palmas with approximately five days supply of fuel left on board. No coverage was performed in the North Atlantic by any other vessels at this time. The Gagarin subsequently departed back for Canada on May 29.
The week-long trip of the Syrian crew to Mir between July 22-30 again required re-entry assistance, and the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov relocated from Gibraltar to Africa, via a stop in the Canaries to perform this task. Only a call in Greece awaited the crew before the Komarov returned to the Black Sea on August 14.
With the duration of the TM-2/TM-3 crew setting new space records, the tracking fleet also had to pace itself. The Kosmonaut Yuriy Gagarin eventually headed through Istanbul on August 31 after over 150 days on duty. By this time, the Akademik Sergei Korolev had been settled on station for a month in the region of Sable Island after an 11-month refit in Odessa. As of September 30, it was drifting off Sydney NS after a two day call there a week earlier The same date saw the Nevel less than a month out of Leningrad destined as the Caribbean vessel, with the Borovichi on station off Buenos Aires. The Kegostrov was inbound for Tallinn after six months in the Lesser Antilles, both the Kosmonaut Georgiy Dobrovolskiy and Kosmonaut Pavel Belyayev were completing tours off Africa—in the case of the Dobrovolskiy over eight months at sea, and the Kosmonaut Viktor Patsayev was outbound from Leningrad. This produced yet another first in the tracking fleet program, with it taking up position in the Mediterranean. Never before had this been done by a Belyayev class boat in place of a larger vessel, showing still the necessity of seaborne tracking stations on a daily basis, and the flexibility of the Soviet fleet.
References
3. U.S. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Soviet Space Programs 1976-80, Part 1, December 1982, p. 136.
4. Kidger, N. Spaceflight, March 1985, p. 134.
5. White, M. Locations of the Soviet Tracking Ships. May-Aug. 1987, Kettering Group Tech Memo MW8705, September 1987.
6. White, M., Kettering Group Tech Memo MW8706, November 1987.
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