Russian frigate Admiral Essen

Admiral Essen in 2016
History
Russia
NameAdmiral Essen
NamesakeNikolai Essen
BuilderYantar Shipyard
Laid down8 July 2011[1][2]
Launched7 November 2014[3]
Commissioned7 June 2016[4]
Identification751
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiral Grigorovich-class frigate
Displacement
Length124.8 m (409 ft)
Beam15.2 m (50 ft)
Draught4.2 m (14 ft)
Propulsion
  • 2 shaft COGAG;
  • 2 DS-71 cruise gas turbines 8,450 shp (6,300 kW);
  • 2 DT-59 boost gas turbines 22,000 shp (16,000 kW) ;
  • Total: 60,900 shp (45,400 kW)
Speed30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range4,850 nmi (8,980 km; 5,580 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Endurance30 days
Complement200
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Air search radar: Fregat M2M
  • Surface search radar: 3Ts-25 Garpun-B, MR-212/201-1, Nucleus-2 6000A
  • Fire control radar: JSC 5P-10 Puma FCS, 3R14N-11356 FCS, MR-90 Orekh SAM FCS
Electronic warfare
& decoys
  • EW Suite: TK-25-5;
  • Countermeasures:
  • 4 × KT-216
Armament
Aircraft carried1 × Ka-27 series helicopter
Aviation facilitiesHelipad and hangar for one helicopter

Admiral Essen is a frigate of the Admiral Grigorovich class of the Russian Navy named in honour of Admiral Nikolai Ottovich von Essen. The ship construction begun at the Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad in July 2011, and it was launched in November 2014.[6] It is based with the Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol.

Service

Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war

Main article: Russian military intervention in the Syrian civil war

In May and September 2017, in the course of the Russian military campaign in Syria, Admiral Essen fired Kalibr cruise missile at targets in the Hama and Deir ez-Zor regions, respectively.[7]

On 25 August 2018, the Black Sea Fleet reported Admiral Essen, along with its sister ship Admiral Grigorovich, were making a "planned passage from Sevastopol to the Mediterranean Sea" to join the Russian Navy's Mediterranean task force.[8]

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

Main article: 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Partially destroyed building of Mykolaiv regional council
Mykolaiv regional council building partially destroyed by cruise missiles launched from Admiral Essen on 29 March 2022

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the ship was involved in cruise missile strikes against Odesa.[9]

On 29 March 2022, two Kalibr cruise missiles launched from the ship destroyed the regional council building in Mykolaiv.[10][unreliable source?]

According to an advisor to the Ukrainian President's Office, Oleksiy Arestovich, on 3 April 2022 the ship was allegedly seriously damaged by Ukrainian Armed Forces as a result of an attack using an initially unspecified weapon system, later reported as being a R-360 Neptune anti-ship cruise missile.[11][unreliable source?][12]

On 12 April 2022, Russian Defence Ministry released a video showing Admiral Essen allegedly destroying a Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) off the coast of Crimea, using two missiles of the Shtil-1 surface-to-air missile system. No video of an impact or wreckage were provided.[13][14]

Sometime between 1 and 3 October 2023, Admiral Essen was transferred - along with Admiral Makarov - to Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai.[15]

References

  1. ^ "На заводе «Янтарь» началось строительство корабля для ВМФ России (фото)" [Construction of a ship for the Russian Navy has begun at the Yantar shipyard (photo)]. Kaliningrad.ru (in Russian). 8 July 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  2. ^ ""Адмирал номер два": фоторепортаж" ["Admiral number two": photo report]. Newkaliningrad.ru. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. ^ "Admiral Essen frigate to be handed to Russian Navy by end of 2015". ITAR TASS. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  4. ^ Novichkov, Nikolai (9 June 2016). "Russian Navy receives Admiral Essen frigate". Janes.com. Archived from the original on 10 April 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Российская ракета "Циркон" достигла восьми скоростей звука" [Russian Zircon rocket reaches eight times the speed of sound]. Rossiyskaya Gazeta (in Russian). 15 April 2017.
  6. ^ "В Калининграде спустили на воду сторожевой корабль для ВМФ России" [A patrol ship for the Russian Navy was launched in Kaliningrad]. Аргументы и Факты ('Arguments and Facts'). 7 November 2014. [The ship was laid down at the yard on 8 July 2011]
  7. ^ "Атака с моря: фрегат ВМФ ударил "Калибрами" по боевикам в Сирии" [Attack from the sea: a naval frigate hit militants in Syria with "Kalibers"]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). 5 September 2017.
  8. ^ "Black Sea Fleet missile frigates to join Russia's Mediterranean task force". TASS. 25 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Russian ships bombard Odesa with cruise missiles". The Times. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  10. ^ "A Calibrated Crime". Truth Hounds. Archived 9 July 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Veth (3 April 2022). "Ukrainian defenders damage Russian missile frigate". Ukrainetoday.org. Ukraine Today. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
  12. ^ Sauer, Pjotr; Borger, Julian; Elgot, Jessica (14 April 2022). "Russia says Moskva cruiser has sunk after reported Ukrainian missile strike". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  13. ^ "Russian frigate Admiral Essen destroys Ukrainian Bayraktar TB2 UAV". navyrecognition.com. 12 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Russia claims its frigate destroyed Ukrainian Bayraktar drone off Crimean coast – video". navaltoday.com. 12 April 2022.
  15. ^ "Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 4, 2023". understandingwar.org. 5 October 2023.