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Sea Based Support

TRACKING AND OTHER GROUND SUPPORT

COMMUNICATIONS NEEDS

1976-1980

SEA-BASED SUPPORT

Because of Soviet reluctance to become too dependent upon foreign land-based stations, or perhaps because not all nations approached were willing to be hosts, the Soviet Union has put considerable emphasis upon developing a sea-based support system. These consist of several classes of ships. One group operates in the mid-Pacific, and has been pictured in Western magazines and books. These are fairly impressive looking, loaded down with radomes and many specialized antennas and theodolites. They serve both to record missile tests, in the area where the dummy warhead is to splash; or in sight of the orbital path of spacecraft over flying the Pacific, usually for their initial revolution.

Other less well-equipped ships in comparison with the missile trackers have for some years operated in the tropical Atlantic and the Mediterranean along the path of orbital flights. Such ships would put into various ports in these parts of the world for supplies and crew rest, and when they left port it was usually an indication that new space launches were pending.

By noting what tracking ships are registered by the Russians as civilian type vessels, and which are treated as naval ships, it appears that the Pacific missile tracking ships whose pictures have been published after being photographed at sea by U.S. aircraft, are under the operational control of Soviet military authorities.

By contrast, the ships seen in the Atlantic and Mediterranean have now been identified as operating for the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Where once these ships were merchant vessels with only a minimum of modifications in appearance to serve the space program, now there has been a marked upgrading and even the development of highly sophisticated big ships with considerable communications equipment on board. In December 1967, the science ships were identified as the Dolinsk, Bezhitsa, Ristna, Aksay, Morzhovets, Kegostrov, Nevel, Borovichi, and Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarou.96 Since that time virtually all of these ships have been named by the Russians as being in particular regions to support certain space flights, especially in the Atlantic, but also in the Indian Ocean. An account of the return to Earth from Salyut 5 of the Soyuz 21 cosmonauts in August 1976 identified two newer and larger ships, introduced in the early seventies, the Kosmonavt Yuri Gargarin and the Akademik Sergey Koroleu, as operating in the Atlantic Ocean with the Bezhitsa and Nevel and maintaining reliable communications throughout the mission. (96)

Four new vessels, former freighters of the Vytegrales class rebuilt as space associated research ships in Leningrad during 1977-78 were added to the fleet to replace the aging Dolinsk, Bezhitsa, Ristna, and Aksay. The first to appear was the Kosmonavt Vladislav Volkov, followed the the Kosmonavt Pavel Belayev, the Kosmonavt Georgi Dobrovolskiy and the Kosmonavt Viktor Patsayev. On the eve of the recovery of the Soyuz 30 crew, the Moscow Home Service reported that the Akademik Sergey Korolev, Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov, Kosmonavt Pavel Belayev, Kegostrov, Nevel and Borovichi had gone to predetermined areas to ensure communications between Soyuz 30 and flight control throughout the flight. (97)

On the previous day Polish radio had reported that, on the night of July 2-3, three of the five ships had set off for their stations; the Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov from Gibraltar for the Libyan coast, the Borovichi to latitude 15 degrees N off Brazil, and the Kosmonavt Pavel Belayev from Dakar out to sea.98 Speaking in a recorded interview for radio, at the close of 1978, veteran cosmonaut Gherman Titov referred only to the three larger ships and the four newer ones, noting that the Kosmonavt Viktor Patsayev was soon expected to join the space service. (99)

A book giving a detailed description of the ships of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences was published in 1980. (100) A Tass announcement describing the book claimed that the flotilla had more than 10 vessels operating in various parts of the world ocean. The need for them was explained by the fact that space vehicles are within direct visibility from Soviet territory only for about 9 hours out of 24. (101) Details on the principal ships follow.

KOSMONAVT VLADIMIR KOMAROV

This was the first of the greatly improved Soviet tracking ships. It was launched in 1966 at Kherson as the Genichesk and operated as a Poltava class dry cargo ship in the Black Sea for about 6 months. It was converted to its present role at Leningrad in 1967. Prominent features are the unusual hull sponsons and the massive plastic radomes enclosing antenna arrays. It was first spotted by the West on a voyage through the English Channel while outbound from Leningrad to Havana, Cuba, which harbor it often frequented.

Tass in June 1970 said the ship has 1,000 or more berths, that it was built in 1967 at Leningrad, and has special computers and laboratories on board. (102) Pravda Ukrainy of June 23, 1970, said that it operated during the Soyuz 9 flight with a total complement of 240 men, including 125 scientists. (103)

The Russians have also said that communications between some spacecraft and Moscow can be maintained on a real time basis even when not in direct view of the Soviet Union by having the Kosmonaut Vladimir Komarov serve as a relay point on Earth, with a further relay from the ship via one of the Molniya 1 satellites which shares mutual visibility between the ship and the Soviet Union. This type of relay was first mentioned in connection with the Soyuz 6-7-8 flights of October 1969.104 A sketch of the vessel appears in figure 24.

On December 26, 1970, the Soviet Union announced the addition to the fleet of the Soviet Academy of Sciences the space satellite control ship Akademik Sergey Korolev. Built at the Chernomorsky Shipyard, Nikolayev, it was described as the largest scientific research ship in the world, 182 meters long and displacing 21,250 metric tons. It was not further described, metric tons. It was not further described, but was to set out on its maiden voyage early in 1971. (105) Details finally were forthcoming in September 1971. It was described as a diesel-engined ship with single propeller, a speed of 17.5 knots, and carrying a crew of 300. It had a radome just aft of the bridge, and two fairly large parabolic dish antennas, one amidships, and the other near the stern. The ship was described as having 28 suites of office, bedroom and bath for senior command staff, 34 single and 124 double cabins for crew and scientists. There was a gymnasium, two swimming pools (one enclosed), a library, reading room, and other cultural amenities. The ship had over 80 laboratories and dual air conditioning systems. The ship was active in the flights of Soyuz 10 and 11 serving as a link with Moscow via a Molniya satellite. It was built at Nikolayev on the Black Sea. With a range of 22,500 nautical miles, it was capable of 120 days of independent navigation without replenishment. (106)

KOSMONAVT YURIY GAGARIN

This vessel is the largest, most ambitious of the Soviet tracking ships. It was built at Leningrad by the Baltic S.B. and Engineering Works to a design based on the Sofia class supertanker in 1970 and made its first voyage in 1971. The first account spoke of its having over 120 laboratories. Its scientific instrumentation came direct from scientific institutes rather than from industrial enterprises, and units were designed for easy installation and replacement so that the ship could keep up to date as technology advanced. It was designed to operate away from home base for as long as 6 months at a time. It had a 19,000 horsepower turbine power plant. The library had 10,000 books. Its theater seated 300 people. There were nine elevators, three swimming pools, and a sports hall big enough for a football match. There was also an automatic telephone exchange. (107)

The ship was described as having over 100 antennas, and via Molniya satellites could reach almost any telephone in the Soviet Union around the clock. It was capable of receiving high data rates from satellites and amplifying weak signals at planetary distances. There were over 1,240 compartments in the ship.

The Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin has a displacement of 45,000 tons, a speed of 18 knots, has a length of 231 meters, and a width of 31 meters. (108)

Late in December 1971, a photograph appeared showing this ship anchored in Odessa, getting ready for its first operations. The first big dish antenna just behind the bridge was like a regular Orbita antenna for communication with Molniya. One of similar size was apparently intended to make trajectory and orbital data measurements. The two largest dishes further back were intended for deep space work. In the same photograph were the 17,500 ton Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov and the almost 21,500 ton Akademik Sergey Koroley. An accompanying article noted the new ship had 11 decks, and spoke of its many marvels, including a precision navigation system; which permitted the antenna to correct for movements of the ship, movements of star fields, and also correct for angles of list and yaw in relation to the ship's course, and even for distortions in the ship's hull caused by heavy seas. This ship is also air conditioned throughout. Slightly different statistics credited it with 8 elevators and 260 seats in its theater.(109)

Still another account accounted 130 antennas in addition to the four main dishes. The ship's horsepower was listed as 19,500. It also has roll dampers and two maneuvering rudders in the bow and a third in the stern. (110)

The major antennas were listed as ranging from 12 meters to 25 meters in diameter. (111) A sketch of the vessel appears as figure 25.

The Bezborodov and Zhakov book quotes different numbers for the antennae and laboratories from those in the accounts mentioned above; 75 computer controlled antennae and 86 laboratories. Doubtless the explanation lies in the specification of computer control for the antennae and differences of opinion as to the designation of some of the accommodation as laboratories. Its automatic systems are said to make it possible to pick up signals from space with high precision even during Force 7 storms and communications are possible simultaneously with two or more satellites. With all four dish antennae facing forward the speed is reduced by two knots.

KOSMONAVT VLADISLAV VOLKOV, KOSMONAVT PAVEL BELAYEV, KOSMONAVT GEORGI DOBROVOLSKIY, AND KOSMONAVT VIKTOR PATSAYEV

The four latest vessels to be added to the flotilla of space associated ships are all named after cosmonauts who have died. Pavel Belayev died as a result of complications following surgery. The other three were the ill-fated crew of Soyuz 11. Although similar in dimensions to the Borouichi, Kegostrou, Morzhovets and Novel, which had been converted from timber carriers by the addition of tracking, direction finding and directional antennae, and the building of additional laboratories above the forward holds in 1967, these ships have more sophisticated antennae, including a multi-dish antenna amidships, reflecting the developments in space technology over the intervening years. The four-dish antenna amid-ships has four electrical feeds for the dishes, indicating the use of the monopulse autotrack principle for following transmitters across the sky. The feeds are log-periodic antennae providing wide-band coverage from the VHF to UHF ranges up to microwave frequencies. The Kosmonavt Pavel Belayev was said to be equipped with a new device which, unlike its predecessors, keeps its main antenna constantly fixed on its orbiting target even in the roughest seas. The prime function was said to be to receive signals from Soyuz spacecraft, while they are out of range of tracking stations on Soviet territory, and to transmit commands to them, acting as a relay between the crew in space and flight controllers on the ground. (112)

One of the first illustrations of this class of ship to appear was of the Kosmonavt Vladislav Volkov on the 6 Kopek value stamp in a set of six depicting research vessels issued in 1980. Another sketch is reproduced as figure 27. The other three support ships in the series are similar in appearance.

The new tracking ships were a great advance over such vessels as the Ilichevsk and Krasnodar, used for space support in 1957 and long since disappeared. Table 21, which follows, summarizes what is known from public sources about all the Soviet tracking ships.

NOTES

1. Data in this table are not wholly reliable because of differences among the sources used, but they are generally indicative.

2. The list shows alphabetically both civilian (Soviet Academy of Sciences) and military (Soviet Navy or possibly Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces) ships.

3. Displacements are presumably the weight fully loaded, in metric tons, most commonly applied to naval vessels.

4. Gross tonnage is the permanently enclosed space in a ship, less certain technical exceptions, and is measured in units of 100 cubic feet, not units of weight; this measure is the figure used for registry purposes of merchant ships (or converted merchant ships).

5. The estimates of speed, length, and width; (in knots, meters, and meters, respectively) differ among sources. One reason, even if data are available, is that speed made be that under full power, or used in normal cruising, or actual practice after a ship and its powerplant have aged. Dimensions may be overall, or between perpendiculars, or at the waterline.

6. Where known, the type of ship hull, or former name, or and the city of construction are indicated.

SOURCES.—Jane's All the World's Warships; Talbott-Booth Warship Identification, 1971; Jane's Fighting Ships, 1980-81; Lloyd's Register of Shipping, American Bureau Register; (anonymous) Soviet Merchant Ships, 1945-68, Kenneth Mason, 1969; Weyer's Warships of the World, by Gerhard Albrecht, U.S. Naval Institute, 1969; Tass reports.

OTHER TRACKING SHIPS

It will be noted from table 21 that four military tracking ships are relatively small. The Sibir, Sutchan, and Sakhalin entered service first, the Chukhotka, Chazma, and Chumikan followed with the latter two being larger and faster. The Chukhotka and Chumikan are shown in figure 28. It probably was not coincidence that during the recovery the aborted Apollo 13 flight the Chumikan was in this remote part of the South Pacific, not near known Soviet test areas, when it offered assistance to the Americans. Undoubtedly its reason for being there was the collection of intelligence by studying the Apollo reentry ablation phase.

Other tracking ships which have broken into the news, include the Morzhovets which was put under temporary arrest in a Brazilian port for violating territorial waters. During the Soyuz 9 mission, Trud reported that the Morzhovets, Kegostrov, and Bezhitsa were in the South Atlantic. (113) Sketches of some of these other vessels appear in figure 29.

During the Zond circumlunar flights, the Russians have described how they deliberately plan for these to approach Earth over the polar regions, sometimes dipping into the atmosphere and then skipping out again before making a second reentry and land- ing. In one case, Zond 5 entered over Antarctica, but instead of developing aerodynamic lift to skip out of the atmosphere and home to the U.S.S.R., it made a ballistic reentry and landed in the ocean. The Russians had named five tracking ships as being in that ocean, and it was the Borovichi that made the pickup, but the capsule was transferred to a Soviet meteorological service ship, the Vasiliy Golovnin for carriage to Bombay, from where it was air-lifted home. Zond 8 also landed in the Indian Ocean, after a northern approach, but the ship making the pickup was not named.

Closely related to the Soviet Academy of Sciences ships like the Morzhovets and its three sisters are eight ships with naval crews that are not known to have supported the space program but apparently work on missile programs.

GENERAL LOCATIONS OF SOVIET TRACKING SHIPS

The foregoing paragraphs have referenced several of the places where Soviet tracking ships can be found during missions, but a comprehensive summary of these locations was prepared by James E. Oberg of the United States. (114) Captain Oberg mapped in relation to spacecraft ground traces the favorite places for the tracking ships. For example, he showed that during most of the Soyuz flights, one of the high capacity civilian ships anchors off Sable Island, Nova Scotia (about 44.5 N, 59.5 W) where four successive orbits pass within easy direct communication range. However, in some later phases of the Salyut 6 mission, this station appears to have been abandoned in favor of a new location in the western Mediterranean close to Gibraltar. Another location connected with the manned flights is in the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, to monitor retrofire just before the reentry and landing near Karaganda in the U.S.S.R. In this same Gulf of Guinea area, deep space flights get their acceleration out of Earth orbit, so are often monitored there. When a deep space flight occurs, the ground trace reflects the combined effects of the acceleration to escape and the turning of the Earth itself. The ground trace goes east over Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, but as it climbs away from Earth, velocity is lost and the ground trace makes a U-turn over the South Atlantic and heads west over Central America. Hence, there are often tracking ships strung along this South Atlantic trace which otherwise would be unobservable with ease from Soviet territory. The Zond type of low G reentry from the Moon requires monitoring and potential pickup near Madagascar in the Indian Ocean when flights approach Earth over Antarctica. They also must be in the Indian Ocean between South Africa and Australia when such flights come in over the Arctic and land in the Indian Ocean. A large tracking ship either in a Cuban port such as Havana or Santiago, or in Trinidad gives added coverage to these deep space flights during early critical phases of the escape mission. During the ASTP mission, a large tracking ship was located off the coast of Honduras (at approximately 16 N, 87.5 W) to supplement the Sable Island position. A picture of the Soviet mission control center showed a ship location of the upper Delaware-area location during the Soyuz 35 docking. (115)

The radio horizons of the various tracking stations within the Soviet Union and of the ships in their deployed positions are shown as ovals on the large world map display in the Kaliningrad control center. Pictures released at the time of manned missions to Salyut 6 appear from time to time in the technical press. One of these shows a previously unannounced ship location in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. (116) This location is also shown together with another to the north of New Zealand on the 32 k value of the set of three stamps designed by G. Komlev to commemorate the Intercosmos joint flight of the Soviet and Polish cosmonauts, Petr Klimuk and Miroslav Hermaszewski, in June 1978. Also depicted on the same stamp is the Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov. (117) Figure 30 is a map showing the location of the ground stations and tracking ships during the flight of Soyuz 39.

Soviet ground stations at Yevpatoria (EVP 4S.2°N 33.4°E), Tbilisi (TBL 41 7°N 45 0°E1,Dzhusaly (DZhS 4S.5 N 4.0°E), Kolpash.vo (KLP 58.3°N 82.9°E), Ulan Ude (ULD 51.8°N 107 6''E),Ussuriysk (uSK 43.8°N 31.9°E), and Petropavlovsk (PPK 53.0°N 158.7°E) provide communications coverage over Asia, during a space mission. Ocean going tracking ships extend this coverage. For this mission, ship have been deployed off Nova Scotia, French Guiana, west Africa the south Atlantic, Gibraltar, and the western Pacific.