Russia sends guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk to the Black Sea
On Wednesday morning, the guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk (hull number 519) of the Russian Northern Fleet entered the Black Sea, as reported by Bosphorus Strait marine spotter Yoruk Isik, on his Twitter blog.
“Russia brings real fire power to Black Sea. Backbone of the Fleet: Project 1155 Northern Fleet Udaloy class destroyer, armed with SA-N-9 Gauntlet/Kinzhal & SS-N-14 Silex/Rastrub & 533mm torpedoes, Severomorsk 619 transited Bosphorus en route to Sevastopol,” Yoruk Isik wrote.
The guided-missile destroyer Severomorsk with the dimensions of 163x19 meters was laid in Kaliningrad in the summer of 1984, and it joined the USSR Navy 31 years ago. The crew consists of 293 people. The ship was formerly named “Simferopol.”
The warship is armed with 2 SS-N-14 "Silex" anti-submarine/anti-ship missile launchers and 8 SA-N-9 "Gauntlet" surface-to-air missiles, 2 100mm /70 caliber Dual-Purpose guns as well as 4 x 30mm Ak-630 Close-In Weapon Systems. It has 2 553mm torpedo tubes capable of firing torpedoes or SS-N-15 missiles.
As noted on Facebook, by Andrei Klimenko, the head of the Ukrainian monitoring project “Maidan of Foreign Affairs”, this is the first time after the annexation of the Crimea, that not just a landing ship of a different Russian fleet entered the Black Sea (landing ships of other Russian fleets are constantly used for transport from the Crimea and Novorossiysk to Syria). This is a ship that is part of the main striking force of the Russian Navy in the far sea zone.
“The monitoring group “Maidan of Foreign Affairs, the “Institute of Black Sea Strategic research,” and the BlackSeaNews edition report a very interesting event: On the morning of January 9th, 2019, the Russian Northern Fleet missile anti-submarine destroyer Severomorsk (619), NATO classification Udaloy entered the Black Sea,” Klimenko wrote.
On January 6th, the American USS Fort McHenry landing ship entered for the Black Sea.