The Project 58 missile cruisers (Ракетные крейсера проекта 58), known to NATO as the Kynda class[1] and sometimes referred to as the Grozny class (тип «Грозный»), from the name of the first ship of the series to be constructed, were the first generation of Soviet missile cruisers and represented a considerable advance for the Soviet Navy. Their main role was anti-surface warfare using the SS-N-3b 'Shaddock' missile. The design proved to be top-heavy and was soon succeeded by the larger Kresta I class, but the Kyndas stayed in service until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Design
Groznyy during the height of the Cold War, 1985Admiral Golovko in the Mediterranean Sea
The specifications (TTZ in Russian[clarification needed]) for this class were issued in 1956.
The main armament comprised two trainable quadruple SS-N-3 anti shipping missile mountings; one forward one aft. One set of reload missiles was carried (16 missiles in total). Defensive armament comprised a twin SA-N-1 missile launcher forward and two twin 76mm guns aft. Two RBU-6000 anti submarine rocket launchers and two triple 533-millimetre (21.0 in) torpedo tubes were also fitted. The ships were refitted in the early 1980s with four 30-millimetre (1.2 in) close-in weapon system (CIWS) guns.
Machinery comprised high pressure steam turbines in a unit system with alternating boiler rooms and turbine rooms.
The electronics fit consisted of:
Radar:
MR-500 Kliver air search
MR-302 Rubka surface search
Don DonKay navigation
Sonar:
GAS-372 Gerkules-2M hull mounted
Other systems:
Zaliv ESM
Krab ECM
Uspekh-U aircraft communications
Yatagan SA-N-1 fire control (Peel Group SA-N-1 Target Acquisition /Target Tracking/Missile Guidance (TA/TT/MG) array
MR105 AK-726 fire control (Hawk Screech) Fire Control for 76mm Guns
Binom P35 Progress fire control
Ships
The ships were ordered in 1956 and laid down in 1960–1961. All four ships were built by the Zhdanov yard in Leningrad. Initially classified as destroyers and given traditional destroyer names, they were redesignated as rocket cruisers and renamed in September 1962. A total of 16 ships were planned but eventually only four were built, one for each fleet (Baltic, Pacific, Arctic, Black sea). This was notably caused by a priority change, directed towards anti-submarine warfare and the ships being top heavy. The class was followed up by the larger Kresta I-class ships, sharing the main design but optimized primarily for ASW warfare.
