#nakhimov

[orangepterodactyl]

nakhimovvvvv

[shanks]

CACAO

[a-titty-ninja]

「アドミラル・ナヒーモフ」 by 轻舞wu | Twitter

๑ Permission to reprint was given by the artist ✔.

[cursedalthoughts]

i don't wanna be annoying (proceeds to be annoying) but NAPOLI AND ADMIRAL NAKHIMOV

my girlies..... i knew they were gonna get added

[alex-the-bard]

[REDACTED] test log.

Dose: 1 gram administered via gas.

Subject: adult human male.

Test log:

-120 seconds: subject was introduced to testing chamber.

-60 seconds: Nakhimov personnel exited testing chamber.

0 seconds: release of [REDACTED] initiated.

+20 seconds: subject began to panic, pounding on the door and begging to be let out. One member of attending personnel attempted to comply and was promptly terminated.

+60 seconds: subject collapsed to the floor, and began convulsing violently.

+72 seconds: subjects skin began to liquefy, collecting into a puddle at the foot of the door. Seal integrity maintained.

+120 seconds: subject fully liquefied, decontamination procedures initiated.

Result:

Test successful.

[ashvalentine16]

Priority Research Series 7 is installed~!!!

I'm so excited!

Is this Battle Simulation new? I don't remember this being an option.

[sovietpostcards]

In the library of the Leningrad Nakhimov Naval School (1945)

[captain-price-unofficially]

The Nakhimov Naval Academy teaches cadets naval warfare with World of Warships

[tegarrianlore]

do you have like, a summary of your oc shipgirls? as in how many there are and how they're related? (maybe even how they look? 👀)

ohhh boi there's a lot of them and for the vast majority i only have small lore bluffs about them (which is intentional as i dont wanna focus on, like. 60 or so OCs. i just wanna have a few be protagonistic). i'm just gonna list some of the OC shipgirls i have below, in no particular order

for the ones who are from completely made-up factions or nations we've got a few interesting ones.

the Pax Tenora-class super-heavy battleships are the epitome of Tenoran shipbuilding. The nation isn't very big nor very populated, so to compensate for that they aim for high-tech. Developed late into the 60s (i just didnt want battleships dying out even if carriers are a thing), Pax Tenora and Oransje Harold are the only members of this class. They are equipped with three quadruple 510mm gun turrets that fire super-heavy shells, have a speed of 31 knots, and a very thick armor belt. This translates into both of them being rather big shipgirls with very noticeable musculature.

the Thule-class battleships are similar in design to the Pax Tenora-class, but overall smaller. Instead of 510mm guns, they have 430mm guns; their armor is weaker and their overall size is much smaller. Despite this, their speed is also 31 knots due to being more antiquated post Great War designs (which ended in 1940). Thule is, usually, the de-facto admiral of the Tenora Basmu fleet; while Mittilagart enjoys being a lone wolf.

DFNV Ulysses is a nuclear-powered super-aircraft carrier, a Priority Research of the Dämmerung Foundation. She is an expert among experts at dealing with the Sirens.

DFNV Irkalla is a heavy cruiser of the Suffragan-class. Despite her hellish appearance - pale skin, deep red eyes, four massive horns sprouting from her head - she is a rather lively and bubbly shipgirl. However, for some reason, the Sirens fear her presence and try to avoid her. Neither Irkalla nor the Foundation knows why.

of the nations every AL player is familiar with (in no particular order)

The Preussen-class is a pair of PR sisters belonging to the Ironblood. Preusen herself is a military genius, single-handledly dealing with all the armed forces of the Ironblood. Großer Kurfürst, however, is not as gifted as her sister; instead prefering to deal with the enemy one-on-one. This is because of the two (in WoWs), Preussen is a decisively better battleship overall, while GK is a brawler first and foremost.

Admiral Nakhimov started as a proposal for converting a Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship into an aircraft carrier. Like the rest of the Parliament CVs, Nakhimov uses single-attack squadrons that deliver devastating blows; but she's the biggest of the 5 CVs they have (Admiral Serov, Chkalov, Pobeda, Volga and Nakhimov). Nakhimov is an arrogant woman hiding deep self-hatred issues, as she believes herself to be unnecessary among the Parliament fleet.

Kremlin and her sister Slava are a pair of PR battleships. Kremlin utilizes much bigger 457mm guns, while Slava enjoys much more accurate 406mm guns. Kremlin is the right hand of Soyuz, the leader of the fleet when Soyuz can't deploy herself; a bit of a workaholic, she is extremely loyal to the Soyuz-class. Slava is a bit more of an outcast.

Satsuma is part of the larger Yamato-class family. They are all divine kitsunes - Musashi, Yamato, Shinano and Shikishima have massive flooffy tails and all that; however, Satsuma is an oni. A very stupid oni. You can imagine her as female Itto, because that's the main inspiration for her design (yes, with muscles)

CEFV Patrie and CEFV Empereur (you may know her in WoWs as République) are the biggest battleships ever produced by Sarthale, even if they are only PRs. Both are equipped with quadruple 431mm gun turrets, although Patrie is considerably bigger, slower, and more well armored. Empereur is the right hand of the Emperor in many regards, acting as the leader of his anti-anomalous organization. Patrie, however, is a reclusive woman, highly devout to the Church and close to Richelieu.

[pwlanier]

Azovstal plant. H. Khorunzhiy. Zhdanov. 1960.

Nikolai Konstantinovich Khorunzhiy (1907-1979) - Soviet photographer. One of the first to lay the foundations of scientific and artistic photography, "Science is Khorunzhiy," colleagues said about him. Soviet photographer Nikolai Konstantinovich Khorunzhiy liked to draw and at the age of 12 brought his drawings to the famous artist Apollinary Vasnetsov, brother of the famous author of "Three Heroes" Viktor Vasnetsov. A.M. Vasnetsov headed the children's painting club. He believed that the boy had talent and undertook to teach him, Nikolai became interested in painting and painted several large paintings. His second hobby was cinema: after school, Nikolai decided to enter film courses named after P.I. Tchaikovsky. He was greatly influenced by the head of the camera department, the legendary Anatoly Golovnya, who directed the films "Mother", "Suvorov", "Minin and Pozharsky", "Admiral Nakhimov". His work is close to the traditions of Russian realistic painting, taking into account the specifics of cinema.

Auction BiC

[syrakhanistan]

She was a demon

———

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

———

BATTLE OF DEEP LAKE - Wikipedia.sq

(part of the 6th Army War)

Images (clockwise from top-left):

Still image from footage of a bombing run over the battlefield by Soviet bombers, resulting in friendly fire; colour photo of mass grave of unidentifiable dead; thermal imaging, blurry, reportedly of the Soviet Union's foreign mercenary black ops unit codenamed 'XV7-b'; still coloured image of the aftermath of the Karelian Annhilation Incident, revealing the banks of the newly formed lake stained red.

———

Date: 18th November 1961 – 20th November 1961

Location: Plains between former Lake Glubokoe and former Lake Nakhimov (current-day Lake Kirillov)

Result: Pyrrhic Soviet-Loyalist/Finnish Victory (Rogue 6th Army completely destroyed, along with virtually all combatants on both sides); leads directly to the Secret December Accords between Finland and the USSR.

Belligerants:

Aggressors: 6th Combined Arms Army of the Leningrad Military District (disavowed/declared traitors); foreign mercenary corps ([REDACTED])

Defenders: Finnish Armed Forces (5th Brigade of the Karelian Military District); Soviet Union (Loyalists of the 6th Army; elements of the Leningrad Military District and the Volga-Ural Military District, such as the 16th and 20th Guards Regiment as well as the 22nd Air Army); foreign mercenary corps ([REDACTED], including Projekt XV7-b).

Commanders:

Aggressors: Marshall Kirill Meretskov (POW); General Fyodor Polynin (KIA); [REDACTED] (KIA (disputed - likely MIA; Cmndr. of the [REDACTED] Mercenary Corps)

Defenders: Lt. General Johan Woldemar Hägglund (WIA - injuries in battle would lead to his death two years later); Commander Dmitri Yazov (disputed, WIA); Colonel-General Valerian Frolov (KIA); Marshall Rodion Malinovsky (nominal; Secretary of Defence); [REDACTED] (KIA; CEO of the [REDACTED] Mercenary Group); [REDACTED] (WIA, later MIA; Cmndr. of the [REDACTED] Corps); [REDACTED] (MIA; Mercenary Leader of 'Projekt XV7-b').

Strength:

Aggressors: ~100,000, including ~1,000 pieces of materiel

Defenders: ~150,000 of the Finnish Armed Forces, with only a few hundred WW2-era tanks; plus ~25,000 6th Army Loyalists with a contingent Air Wing, and ~50,000 supporting forces and materiel reinforcements from nearby districts

Casualties and Losses:

Aggressors: Disputed (over 99% of all forces KIA - between 50-200 survivors, although figures vary)

Defenders: Disputed (Between 95% and 99% of all forces KIA - roughly 1,000 survivors, although figures vary)

Note: Terrain massively changed due to Karelian Annhilation Incident; creation of new lake formed by joining the two nearby lakes through the creation of a massive crater on the former plains. Forests within 50km utterly devastated due to firestorm; windows from over 100km away blown out. Terrain permanently left desolate due to the sheer concentration of dead left to rot.

———

The Battle of Deep Lake, sometimes known as the Battle of the Two Lakes, the Battle of Glubokoe Lake and the Battle of Kamenka, as well as the Karelian Annhilation Incident, was the conclusive battle of the undeclared 1961 conflict, fought between Finland and the Soviet Union against rogue elements of the Soviet 6th Army (for more information on the 1961 conflict, see: 6th Army War, or Third Finno-Soviet War (disambiguation)).

Following the Finnish Armed Forces routing of the rogue 6th Army, and the diplomatic communications between the Finnish and Soviet governments leading to revelations, predominantly due to the cooperation of Commander Dmitri Yazov of the Leningrad Military District, that the 6th Army had been acting outside of the orders of the Soviet High Command.

As a result, a contingent of armed forces from the 6th Army made up of loyalists were sent by the Soviet High Command to redeem themselves, by cooperating with Finnish armed forces in terminating the remains of the rogue elements.

As a result, roughly 80 kilometres outside the walls of Leningrad (modern day St Petersburg), on the plains between Lake Glubokoye and Lake Nakhimovskoye-ozero, the allied forces of the Soviet Loyalists and the Finns met the rogue 6th Combined Arms Army of the Leningrad Military District. The battle lasted just over 48 hours, and bore witness to the largest battle of armed forces since the Second World War - a battle that wouldn't be topped until the Caucasian Conflict of the 2000s.

The Battle, already unique for several reasons, was also ingrained further into military history due to the intervention of armed foreign mercenary corps on both sides (a point of controversy for Soviet/Russian military politics - see: Narva Affair) - including the Soviet hiring of a black ops unit that directly lead to the Karelian Annhilation Event that ended the battle by killing roughly 99% of all combatants.

The dramatic end of the battle with less than 5,000 survivors directly lead to the Secret December Accords - a secret and long-denied diplomatic summit between Finland and the USSR that, while never acknowledged, is reported to have lead to rapproachment between the two nations, including a personal apology from the leader of the USSR to the survivors on the Finnish side, and the USSR's payment of reparations and funeral costs.

———

...

[Damaged diary entry of [REDACTED], the former leader and Commander of the Mercenary Corps and Eversor Rank Leader for the [REDACTED] who were hired by the rogue 6th Army. [REDACTED] survived the battle at great personal cost, and has since been MIA, although some evidence suggests that they are receuperating under the solemn but gentle hands of the Seventh Officio.]

...

———

It was a cold fucking day.

I remember it well. How could I not?

The soil was already stained a crimson red from the corpses left to lie around. The sounds of gunfire and magic bursts became as sweet as honey, rhythms daring us to fall asleep.

A bomb here, a flying head there. The last few days had been a mess, but that day was a nightmare.

We should have never taken this fucking contract - if we'd known the full details, especially HER deployment, we would have gotten the hell outta dodge by yesterday.

I recalled a rocket hitting the side of a transport chopper, a Mil Mi-2, little scrawny but loud thing. It fell rapidly, sputtering along until it hit the ground with a solid thunk, fuselage instantly detonating.

I held my hand up to pause my group's approach through the forest, staying hidden, watching the flames.

Out of the fire, a single figure, brushing ash and pieces of corpse off their blackened combat fatigues. Pitch black hair waving in the wind, a claw coated in gold flexing fingers in anticipation.

One of my girls gasped... or maybe just sighed. Breathed loudly.

Just once. Within mere moments, her entire upper body was plastered across the trees and her comrades, a beam of unfamiliar purple light eviscerating her.

Another moment, a blink. This time, she stood, one of my girls held aloft by her claw, dribbling crimson across the snow from an agape mouth, whispering unheard apologies. As quick as she died, she was tossed aside by the woman, a simple wrist motion all that was needed for the bloodstained golden razors to dislodge the corpse.

I gripped my rifle, and ordered a retreat to my comrades, while I myself charged the woman in the flames.

She smiled. That... there was something, something deeply wrong with her. A kind smile. A gentle one. A knowing one. A worn smile that'd seen too much of the world to care anymore.

With a simple sweep of the hand, she had flexed her claw, burning a golden flame, barrels emerging from a mechanism within. I dodged by the skin of my teeth - my comrades were not so lucky, reduced to cinders by several simultaneous explosive rounds seemingly teleporting from the claw's gun-barrels into the earth below my girls.

The forest, the trees, the snow. Ablaze. My heart beating, a drum. Foolish, madness. This was insane.

Comms chatter. Gibberish in Russian. Hurting my ears. I tossed it away, giving up on my mercs and allies alike.

It was irrelevant now. A demon had arrived.

"You... a heretic. Anomaly. Shouldn't be here." I spoke, my throat dry like sandpaper.

That smile again. Hidden. Hiding. Wrong, so wrong.

"You one of the big man's goons? Come to hunt me down? For what, a bunch of dead commies in the snow?"

More gibberish, this time from the demon in front of me. I continued to step forward. She didn't attack. Odd. Dangerous.

"Oh... You don't know, do you? Well, whatever."

Whatever, indeed. I pounced as she finished her last words, my gun barrel front facing towards the enemy--

--not there, where did she--

Finger gone, just the little one, fastest dodge, heart again pounding. Danger. Danger.

"Oh?"

Whisper behind me, treading soft, not cautious, not cautious enough--

Blink, step back, dance, dance. Finger healing, can't be helped, waste of energy, barrels barking through the trees, darting like rabbits in the moonlight, shadows and light.

"Fast. Very fast. Wrong. You... You are an irregular."

"Not fast. Just good, my friend of few words."

Another flash of light, not light, darkness that glows, corrupting purple like a burst of--

--bouncing, dodging, bark flayed from tree, splinters, coughing. Neck, shoulders, moving but only just.

"I was hired to do job. A job... Russians wanted blood, I give blood." You murmur to the smiling killer who you know is inches--

--away, that smile once again right in front, dodging, weaving, out of--

--the way, out of harm's--

"You're keeping up. Isn't it disorienting for you?"

Russian isn't my mother tongue. I didn't quite understand one of those words. How annoying. Bemusing. Ignore, distraction, dodge and--

Ah, flesh. Knife.

"Ah, I see, I see." You whimper, shaking shoulders, blades removing, gushing blood.

"Oh... I see. Reflexive dodging... That is quite neat. No wonder he hired you to merc me."

Irrelevant. More drivel. How would this lunatic be related to a revanchist Russian bunch's quest? What have the Soviets unleashed on this forest? Beginning, odd, questions, moving--

--more blades, this time from inside. Painful, extracting, pushing, pulsing, hopping, tree and tree, movement between--

--missed, closed distance but jittery, excited?

"Too fast. Odd. Irregular. Wrong." You continue. Blathering. Out loud thinking. Madness. Bad habit.

That dreaded light again. Frying the air around, catching a hip, feel smell bone, flesh cauterising, rotting in an instant.

Purple light. Light that isn't light. Dodging instantly.

Upwards, upwards. Air is gas. Gas is matter, energy, feel the breeze, the movement, the moves--

--grabbed my blood-stained shoulder, tossing over--

--air flies by, knee in the--

--tooth spat out, smile covered in--

--smoke rising from forest, from guns, from bullets flying--

--plane exploding nearby, falling apart, detonating--

--skin peeling, flayed, rotting, corpse-alive, pain, pain, movement, air flows around like water, water and air becomes blade and--

--cut cheek, smile falters, even as my ear flies away, as knee pops, as leg flails around by a string.

The air around you feels comfortable, wanting, needing, begging. You want to stop, you wish to stop, but danger, so much danger, can't breathe, the pain, you have to keep killing, the mission isn't done, you were paid well, they'll die without you, and the demon can't stop you, so you have--

--to give up, other foot removed, held in bloodstained hand, smile gone but genuine chuckle.

"You're... pretty good, mercenary."

No. I'm the best.

"Not good enou--"

Blink, miss, wait for the--

--jump, opportunity, launch, ignore, splatter, gives cover, gives way, catches, blade like water coming down, coming down, faster, gun pulled, trigger tense, she can't dodge, she can't...

Dead. Silent. Grey.

What...?

The smile returns. Not her smile.

Feathers. Light from something that isn't there. Grinding of gears. Yet--

Holds you tight. Warm, even. Genuine smile.

The forest below continues to burn. Tanks meet flesh, planes fly low, missing in the mess.

You can't feel left leg. Right left is felt, not good felt. Arms numb, perhaps broken or even gone. Barely hear. Flesh stopped rotting, no longer burning.

...Mercy?

She looks at you. "I haven't seen something like that in quite a while."

Purple. Grey world. Feathers.

You remember your reading. Your training. Guidance. Old words from old books, long dead writings of fallen soldiers, legends...

"You. It's... Not just heretic. The heretic. You're--"

"My! For your few words, you're pretty intuitive, eh?"

Small nod. Calm demeanour.

Sudden overwhelming feeling. Like energy, full unbridled hate emanating, sins unbound, like walking on the ocean floor, pressure.

Subsides. Held tighter once more.

Let go. Limbs grown back, barely, slowly. Back to rotting. Kept in air.

"...If he'd let me choose people like you, I'd almost be tempted."

Lifts head high. Looks around. Sighs. Says something, not with words. Shaking head. Irritated, not at you, but at another.

"Too bloody stubborn."

She looks back at you, floating above the ashes. "Fine... fine. I killed your girls, so it's only fair that... Well, I'll do the rest as well, eh? You gave it your all... So I shall do the same."

You squint. That pressure again... not directed at you. Not malicious... at least, towards you.

Hate. Unending hate, want for power, lust, jealousy, she wants it all, she will burn it all if she could just have it, just wants it all and has it all but can't understand, won't understand, tired, so tired of everything yet so...

"Enough. I think... I think that's enough for a while." She turns back to you.

"You showed me something wonderful: your most impressive feats..."

She opens her hands, reaching out to the air.

"Let me show you the height of all your fears."

Light grows from underneath her feet. Expanding.

It moves, shapes itself. Words... symbols...

You know that one. This...

“T-that’s forbidden magic! You can’t—"

"Oh, but I can. If you see your man, my current opponent... Whatever that creature calls itself these days. Tell him he's still much too early. I have better things to do than to prance around the snow... although I'll have to apologise to poor Nikita-san for the mess I'm about to make."

The circle continues to expand, writing appearing from think air, burning your eyes, symbols unseen, words unspoken, heresies held tight from sight.

The Shieldmaiden's magic awakens, chains of history snapping. How? The legend... The one who brought Heaven to Earth. A remnant? Who was this demon? Who had I been fighting?

Could it be…? The Slayer? The Wanderer of Worlds?

She can't be her... Can she?

"Demon...! Heretic, shield-wielder, hated villain...!"

She smiled. "I am all those things, and more."

Closing her eyes, she waved her hands, writing a novel, composing a symphony, playing for an unseen band, as the circle continued to expand, the air rippling as energy unfurled, darkness evolving, overflowing.

You... You can't understand this. This isn't something you can... you want... to...

"You...! The Slayer, Wanderer…! You are...!"

Her smile changed.

A grin. Something cruel. Hateful. The gaze of someone who'd given up, who wanted the world and more all for a singleminded insanity. You can't... No. You won't understand this feeling. You refuse. It... She... She isn't human.

She's a demon. A devil. Shieldmaiden... returned. Made flesh. Demon.

Heretic.

The circle falters. Holds steady.

"You're...!"

"I am..."

She spoke the words, that which should not be, the names of the holy and the most unholy.

The demon bowed lowly to you, before spreading her arms aloft, gazing to the sky.

Then she cocked her head, and spoke.

"Memories of Labyrinth's Manipulation... Golden Purification...

Activate."

The world around you rippled. The gates of hell opened, just briefly, untold magicks let loose for a moment before quickly imprisoned once more... But only a drop was needed. Energy pulsated from the magic circle. Rippling, blurring, pulsing, screaming.

And then all shadows were extinguished.

A cup that should not be dropped, overflows to the floor.

A demonstration... Her response to me, to human perseverence...

In that moment, as the very world shattered underneath our feet, reduced to less than the atomic level, as she let me go, falling into the abyss with a kind and gentle nod...

I knew. I knew.

She was not just evil. An opponent.

She wasn't a magical girl, or even a witch.

She was a demon.

[enriquemzn262]

Apparently Russia is considering scrapping Pyotr Velikiy due to the costs of modernising her sister Nakhimov ballooning beyond a joke. Not surprising, honestly.

10 years under modernization and Nakhimov still isn’t finished, I honestly can’t blame them for just downright giving up on PV.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 8.31 (after 1950)

1950 – TWA Flight 903 crashes near Itay El Barud, Egypt, killing all 55 aboard. 1957 – The Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia) gains its independence from the United Kingdom. 1959 – A parcel bomb sent by Ngô Đình Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm, fails to kill King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia. 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent. 1963 – Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah) achieves self governance. 1972 – Aeroflot Flight 558 crashes in the Abzelilovsky District in Bashkortostan, Russia (then the Soviet Union), killing all 102 people aboard. 1986 – Aeroméxico Flight 498 collides with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Cerritos, California, killing 67 in the air and 15 on the ground. 1986 – The Soviet passenger liner Admiral Nakhimov sinks in the Black Sea after colliding with the bulk carrier Pyotr Vasev, killing 423. 1987 – Thai Airways Flight 365 crashes into the ocean near Ko Phuket, Thailand, killing all 83 aboard. 1988 – Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 crashes during takeoff from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, killing 14. 1988 – CAAC Flight 301 overshoots the runway at Kai Tak Airport and crashes into Kowloon Bay, killing seven people. 1991 – Kyrgyzstan declares its independence from the Soviet Union. 1993 – Russia completes removing its troops from Lithuania. 1994 – Russia completes removing its troops from Estonia. 1996 – Saddam Hussein's troops seized Irbil after the Kurdish Masoud Barzani appealed for help to defeat his Kurdish rival PUK. 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, her partner, Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris. 1999 – The first of a series of bombings in Moscow kills one person and wounds 40 others. 1999 – A LAPA Boeing 737-200 crashes during takeoff from Jorge Newbury Airport in Buenos Aires, killing 65, including two on the ground. 2002 – Typhoon Rusa, the most powerful typhoon to hit South Korea in 43 years, made landfall, killing at least 236 people. 2005 – The 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge stampede in Baghdad kills 953 people. 2006 – Edvard Munch's famous painting, The Scream, stolen on August 22, 2004, is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police. 2016 – Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is impeached and removed from office. 2019 – A sightseeing helicopter crashes in the mountains of Skoddevarre in Alta Municipality in Northern Norway killing all 6 occupants.

[cursedalthoughts]

hi hello

this blog isn't dead,

i still haven't finished farming my first PR7 (Nakhimov),

i still have some weird headcanons and ships i would like to post about

i'm just either beaten by work irl or enjoying my vacations (like right now)

[jcmarchi]

Why the Russian Kirov-class Battlecruisers Flood Their Missile Shafts Before Launch? - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/why-the-russian-kirov-class-battlecruisers-flood-their-missile-shafts-before-launch-technology-org/

Why the Russian Kirov-class Battlecruisers Flood Their Missile Shafts Before Launch? - Technology Org

Russia’s Kirov-class nuclear-powered battlecruisers fill their missile launch shafts with seawater prior to firing them. This seems like a weird extra step in the launch sequence – many other ships don’t do that. What is that water for Kirov warships?

The Kirov class ships were built in 1974-1998. The first battlecruisers of this class entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1980. Kirov ships were considered a formidable force in their time. Nuclear-powered, able to sail until the sailors ran out of supplies, armed with powerful anti-ship missiles – Kirov ships still look intimidating today. True, there are not many of them left.

HMS Dragon (background) with the Russian Kirov Class battlecruiser ‘Pyotr Velikiy’. It is armed with P-700 Granit cruise missiles. Image credit: Royal Navy/MOD via Wikimedia (OGL v1.0)

There were a total of four Kirov-class nuclear battlecruisers ever in service. There were supposed to be five, but the construction of the last one was cancelled. The Pyotr Velikiy is now the only Kirov-class battlecruiser in active service, while the Admiral Nakhimov is undergoing reconstruction and should return next year.

By the way, it has not sailed since 1999 and has been in modernization since 2015. With the war in Ukraine taking a significant amount of the Russian military effort and funding, it is foreseeable that Admiral Nakhimov will remain dormant for longer. It won’t be armed with the original P-700 Granit missiles – they’ve been replaced with Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and Kalibr cruise missiles.

The Kirov-class battlecruisers are armed with P-700 Granit anti-ship cruise missiles. No one will be surprised by the fact that this is not an entirely new weapon – the P-700 Granit has been in service since 1983. What is surprising is that the Kirov ships launch these missiles from flooded launchers. Why?

Oscar-class submarines, like the Omsk, were all armed with P-700 Granit missiles. Image credit: Alex omen via Wikimedia (CC BY 3.0)

The P-700 Granit missiles were originally designed for submarines. Submarines fill their missile launch shafts with seawater prior to launch just to be able to open them without surfacing – the P-700 Granit can be launched from a completely submerged submarine. Therefore, the Granit was designed for wet launch.

This gave the developers of this missile the opportunity to not think about possible damage to the launcher, because the water protects the shaft from heat damage.

When the Soviets came up with the idea of arming the Kirov ships with the same Granit missiles, they could have chosen to modify the missile so that it would not damage the ship when launched from a dry shaft. But why modify it when there is a much simpler solution? It is easier to just flood the shaft and not change the P-700 Granit launch technology.

There are ship-launched cruise missiles that are launched from dry shafts, but that’s what they were designed to do without damaging the infrastructure. The P-700 Granit was designed for wet launching, as it had to come from submerged submarines. This is why the Kirov-class nuclear battlecruisers also flood their shafts before missile launches.

Written by Povilas M.

Sources: Kirov-class battlecruiser (Wikipedia), P-700 Granit (Wikipedia)

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