Russian landing ship Novocherkassk

Novocherkassk (BDK-46) is a Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy. It is a part of the Black Sea Fleet and was damaged while in port during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Novocherkassk in port at Novorossiysk in 2010
History
Russia
Name	Novocherkassk
Builder	Stocznia Północna, Gdańsk, Poland
Yard number	142
Launched	17 April 1987
Commissioned	30 November 1987
General characteristics
Class and type	Ropucha-class landing ship
Displacement	2,768 long tons (2,812 t) standard 4,012 long tons (4,076 t) full load
Length	112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam	15.01 m (49 ft 3 in)
Draught	4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
Ramps	Over bows and at stern
Installed power	3 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) diesel generators
Propulsion	2 × 9,600 hp (7,159 kW) Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZVB40/48 diesel engines
Speed	17.59 knots (32.58 km/h; 20.24 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Endurance	30 days
Capacity	10 × main battle tanks and 340 troops or 12 × BTR APC and 340 troops or 3 × main battle tanks, 3 × 2S9 Nona-S SPG, 5 × MT-LB APC, 4 trucks and 313 troops or 500 tons of cargo
Complement	98
Armament	2 × AK-725 twin 57 mm (2.2 in) DP guns 4 × 8 Strela 2 SAM launchers 2 × 22 A-215 Grad-M rocket launchers
Service record

Description

Novocherkassk has a displacement of 4,080 t (4,020 long tons), a length of 112.5 metres (369 ft 1 in), a beam of 15 metres (49 ft 3 in), and a draft of 3.7 metres (12 ft 2 in). It has two diesel engines which allow a maximum speed of 17.8 knots (33.0 km/h; 20.5 mph), and a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). It is capable of carrying up to 500 tons of cargo and 225 embarked soldiers. It is armed with two AK-725 57 mm artillery mounts and two 122 mm multiple rocket launch systems.^[1]

History

 

Novocherkassk in Sevastopol in 2015

Novocherkassk took part in an operation with other Black Sea Fleet ships in anchoring off the coast of Gaza in November 2012. The ship movement was ostensibly to prepare to evacuate Russian citizens from Israel in case the Israeli-Palestinian conflict there escalated. Other ships in the operation included Saratov and Moskva.^[2] In 2015, Novocherkassk was a part of Black Sea Fleet exercises in the Mediterranean which corresponded with a Russian buildup of military forces in Syria.^[3] The ship once again set out for Syria in March 2020, with sister landing ship Caesar Kunikov and frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Makarov, in response to growing tensions with Turkey and a withdrawal of American troops from Syria.^[4] The ships' movement spurred concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 virus from and to Russia.^[5]

In March 2022, roughly a month into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Novocherkassk was docked in the port of Berdiansk in southern Ukraine with several other Russian warships. Ukrainian shelling on 25 March damaged several Russian ships there, sinking Saratov and damaging Novocherkassk.^[6][7] By June 2022, Russian state media outlet TASS claimed that Novocherkassk was one of twelve landing ships in the Black Sea that could launch an amphibious operation on Ukraine. However, Novocherkassk was not confirmed to be repaired and its status remained unknown.^[8]

On 24 August 2022 it was reported Novocherkassk and sister ship Caesar Kunikov were out of action due to lack of spare parts to repair the ships. The lack of spare parts was attributed to the sanctions imposed on Russia.^[9]

References

1. . Korabli. Archived from the original on 30 June 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
2. Kelley, Michael B. "Russia Sends Warships Off Coast Of Gaza In Response To Israel-Palestine Tensions". Business Insider. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
3. "Russian Black Sea Cruiser Moscow, Amphibs Heading to Drill in Eastern Mediterranean, MoD Warned Planes Away from Syria". USNI News. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
4. "Russia reinforces Syria before Putin-Erdogan talks - flight and shipping data". Reuters. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
5. Sutton, H. I. (2020-03-24). "The Russian Navy's Bosphorus Relay Resupplying Syria Continues". Naval News. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
6. Mezzofiore, Andrew Carey,Tim Lister,Celine Alkhaldi,Olga Voitovych,Gianluca (2022-03-24). "Ukrainians claim to have destroyed large Russian warship in Berdyansk". CNN. Retrieved 2022-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. Vakil, Caroline (2022-03-25). "Ukrainian military clarifies which Russian landing ship it destroyed". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
8. "Large Russian naval landing force ready for 'intended tasks' - report". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
9. "Польша поставила России контрафактные детали для десантных кораблей" [Poland supplied Russia with counterfeit parts for landing ships]. mash.ru (in Russian). 2022-08-24. from the original on 2022-08-28.