Russian frigate Admiral Makarov replaces sunk Moskva as Russia’s flagship in Black Sea

Europe, News May 24, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Russian Navy has selected a new flagship for its Black Sea Fleet after its previous flagship missile cruiser Moskva sunk in mid-April.

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet suffered an internal explosion and sunk around April 15 as it was being towed back to the port after sustaining damage. Two different accounts of events were quoted by Russian and Ukrainian officials respectively. According to the Ukrainian military sources, the ship was hit by the Ukrainian military’s Neptune anti-ship missile, while Moscow claimed that the ship sank due to an internal fire and was never hit by any external missile.

According to some reports from the U.S.-led media groups, it was also claimed that the U.S. military provided critical intelligence information on the Russian flagship Moskva that helped Ukrainians sink the warship.

Russia has now selected a Grigorovich-class frigate Admiral Makarov as its new leading ship for the Black Sea Fleet. The Grigorovich-class is also known as the Krivak IV class. Admiral Makarov was built under Project 11356 at the Russian Navy’s Sevastopol port by the Yantar Shipyard and commissioned into the Russian Navy in December 2017.

The frigate is 124.8 meters long and has a beamwidth of 15.2 meters with a 4.2 meters draft. The frigate is powered by two COGAG shafts, two DS-71 cruise gas turbines, and two DT-59 boost gas turbines. The ship can cruise at a maximum speed of 30 knots while covering a range of 8,980 kilometers at an average speed of 14 knots. Admiral Makarov requires at least a 200 members crew to operate at its full potential.

*^{A satellite image of the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva in the port of Sevastopol, Crimea, on April 7, 2022. (Image Credit: Maxar Technologies)}*

The ship is also equipped with modern armament, navigation, and radar systems. The main armament consists of a 100 mm A-190 Arsenal naval gun, 8 UKSK VLS cells for Caliber, Oniks, or Zircon anti-ship, cruise missiles, 24 3S90M VLS cells for 9M317M surface-to -air-missiles, two AK-630 CIWS, 8 Needle-S or Verba, two double 533 mm torpedo tubes and one RBU-6000 rocket launcher. The ship can also accommodate the takeoff and landing of one Ka-27 series helicopter.

Russia has been preparing its new and advanced Project 23900 versatile amphibious assault ship Mitrofan Moskalenko to take charge as the flagship of the Russian Navy’s Black Sea fleet after Moskva had completed its service. However, due to an early debacle of the Moskva, Admiral Makarov has been charged with leading the Black Sea fleet. Mitrofan Moskalenko is being constructed by the Zaliv Shipyard in Crimea’s Kerch and it is expected to be commissioned into the Russian Navy in 2028.