Zelenodolsk Shipyard

[Marianna]

Designedby Central Marine Design Bureau Almaz (Saint-Petersburg, part of USC), the Karakurt corvettes of 800-tonne displacement have been built for RF Navy since 2015 at three shipyards: Pella (Leningrad Region), Zelenodolsk Plant (Tatarstan) and Amur Shipyard (Khabarovsk Territory). Ships of Project 22800 are intended for missions in the littoral zone.

Zelenodolsk Plant became an important military shipbuilder when equipment was evacuated there from the western USSR early in World War II and the yard began building Artillerist-class submarine chasers.[4]

After the war, the shipyard specialized in building submarine chaser and small escort ship classes designed by its collocated design bureau, including the Kronshtadt, SO-1, Poti, and Grisha classes. Following expansion of the yard in the early 1970s, Zelenodolsk Plant produced the larger escorts of the Koni class, which was intended exclusively for export. The Koni class was succeeded by the Gepard class.[4]

Zelenodolsk Plant also built the large missile-armed surface effect ships of the Dergach class (designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau in St. Petersburg), as well as some naval auxiliaries. It has generally also had at least one civilian ship type in production, including Zelenodolsk-class river tugs in the 1950s, Meteor-type passenger hydrofoils (designed in Nizhniy Novgorod) and Caspian Sea trawlers during the 1960s, and 3,700-ton Tatarstan-class refrigerator ships for the fishing industry in the 1970s.[4]

Zelenodolsk Shipyard has to build another three boats of project 21980 by a contract with the Defense Ministry by late 2022. One boat is to be ready in 2021 and another two in 2022. The shipyard laid two boats in August 2020.

Displacing 800 tons standard and 870 tons fully loaded, the Karakurts measure 220 feet long with a 36-foot beam and an 11-foot draft. The first boat was laid down in 2015 at Pella Shipyard in St. Petersburg for the Baltic Fleet. Originally named the Uragan, she was renamed the Mytishchi and entered service in December 2018. Sister ships Sovetsk and Odintsovo (pictured) followed soon thereafter and were commissioned into the Baltic Fleet in October 2019 and November 2020.

A total of 16 Karakurt-class warships are thought to be planned through the early 2030s. Construction is expected to continue at Pella Shipyard, as well as at Zelenodolsk Shipyard in Tatarstan, at Amur Shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, and Zaliv shipyard in Kerch, occupied Crimea. In July 2023, the Russian Black Sea Fleet took delivery of the fourth Project 22800 craft, the Tsiklon, which also was the first to be completed in Crimea. Just a few months later, in November 2023, Ukrainian Air Force elements attacked the shipyard. Sister ship Askold, which had been launched in 2021 and was nearing delivery, was heavily damaged, most potentially beyond repair.

All Project 22800 units are fitted with a 76-mm gun forward and can operate a small rigid-hull inflatable boat and an Orlan-10 unmanned drone aft. While no antisubmarine warfare (ASW) systems are thought to be carried, an ASW-focused coastal-defense variant is reportedly under consideration. The Karakurt class is powered by three diesels providing a top speed of 30 knots and a maximum cruising range of 2,500 nm. Crew complement reportedly is 39, although some sources register that number as high as 70 sailors and officers.

On January 12, 2015, Zelenodolsk Plant named after M. Gorky laid down the eighth serial anti-terror boat of 21980 project developed by Vympel Design Bureau OJSC (Nizhni Novgorod), the shipyard told IAA PortNews.

Grachonok-class special-purpose boats of Project 21980 have been built for RF Navy by Zelenodolsk Shipyard from 2008. The year of 2014 saw successful official trials of the sixth and the seventh boats of the series, 3 months and 13 months ahead of schedule.

During 2018, numerous reports on the construction of warships at the seized Crimean Zaliv shipyard and other enterprises were published. The publications mentioned the following:

PAO Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant. In July 2018, the diving boat Vodolaz Kuzminykh of Project A160-YaR was completed at the Morye shipyard. The boat's hull was built at the Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant and in the autumn of 2016 transferred to Feodosia for completion. The Yaroslavsky Shipbuilding Plant is the A160-YaR project developer.

AO Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant, named after A.M. Gorky, the Republic of Tatarstan, part of the AO Ak Bars Holding company. It is one of the largest ship manufacturers in Russia and has surfaced in Crimea as a collaborator with Feodosia's Sklopastic.

However, the Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant's main "success" on the peninsula is its illegal seizure of the property of the Kerch Zaliv shipyard in August 2014, where many ships for the Russian Navy are now being built.

PAO Zvezda (St. Petersburg) is the only RF's manufacturer of diesel engines for power plants of Project 22800 Karakurt small-size missile ships that are being built at the Morye shipyard.

AO Kontsern Okeanpribor (St. Petersburg) is Russia's leading enterprise in the development and supply of hydroacoustic weapons to the Russian Navy and for export. In 2017, the Morye shipyard began the construction of an experimental multi-role high-speed vessel of Project 03550 Sleming-2, which is being built under a state contract for the experimental development concluded between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and AO Kontsern Okeanpribor.

A panoramic view of the Zaliv shipyard facitities. On the right-hand side of the largest shipbuilding docks in Europe: at 364 metres long and 60 metres wide, Zaliv has one of the largest shipbuilding docks in Europe that has no equivalents in the RF. The Sevastopol and Vladivostok attack helicopter carriers for Russian Black Sea fleet to be built here in May of 2020. Photo from the BlackSeaNews archive, February, 2020.

The imposion of sanctions has complicated military production in Crimea. Since the suspension of the construction of the corvettes at the Morye shipyard, the Zaliv shipyard seized by the Russian Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant (Tatarstan) has remained the main military shipbuilder.

Of course, military production at Crimean plants has not stopped. Since the unplanned suspension of the construction of the missile corvettes at the Morye shipyard in Feodosia, the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch has remained the only Crimean plant where a large-scale military shipbuilding programme continues.

With that, we must point out that at 364 metres long and 60 metres wide, Zaliv has one of the largest shipbuilding docks in Europe that has no equivalents in the RF. Therefore, we anticipate that its use for the needs of the Russian military will continue growing.

As of 1 January 2020, the programme to construct warships for the Black Sea Fleet of the RF at the Zaliv shipyard, as part of the Zelenodolsk Shipyard Plant's state defence contract, is as follows:

A general view of the open slipways of the Zaliv shipyard. In the foreground, from left to right, are the three missile corvettes, Tsiklon, Askold, Amur, of Project 22800 Karakurt. In the background is the construction of the Sergey Kotov corvette of Project 22160, January 2020. The photo from the BlackSeaNews archive

Tsiklon missile corvette of Project 22800 Karakurt, yard number 801 at the open slipway of the Zaliv shipyard. The construction has been performed as planned. February, 2020. The photo from the BlackSeaNews archive

The Zaliv shipyard dry dock. The contruction of Volga and Vyatka cabel vessels for the Russian Navy with a deadweight of 8,000 tons, a length of 140 metres, and a width of 19 metres. The deadlines have been postponed to 2021-2022. January, 2020. The photo from the BlackSeaNews archive

In May 2020, for the first time in the history of the Russian Navy, the construction of two Landing Helicopter Docks carrying 20 attack helicopters and 1000 marines is scheduled to begin at the seized Zaliv shipyard.

The monitoring of violations of international sanctions against Russia and of the legal regime of the Crimean temporarily occupied territory, as well as the publication of this book, have been supported by the European Program of the International Renaissance Foundation. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of the International Renaissance Foundation.

In the near future, russia will launch two ships intended for the Black Sea Fleet. These are Taifun small missile ship of Project 22800 Karakurt class and Viktor Velikiy patrol ship of Project 22160 Vasily Bykov class.

This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of the russian federation, noting that the launch will take place on one day in May, without specifying the exact date. This event is to take place at the Zelenodolsk shipyard in Tatarstan near Kazan.

It should be noted that thanks to the network of rivers and canals, russia has the ability to reinforce and deploy ships of these classes to any fleet and flotilla, except only the Pacific Fleet. In practice, ships from the Zelenodolsk shipyard have been constantly reinforcing russian Black Sea Fleet, Baltic Fleet, and Caspian Flotilla.

But the launch of these ships means the completion of only one phase of work. Then the work will be finished afloat, and then they will be tested. Usually, it takes quite a while between the launch and the actual handover to customer and entry into service for such ships in russia.

For example, Askold ship of the Project 22800 was launched in September 2021 and was at the Zaliv Shipbuilding Yard in occupied Kerch at the time of the attack on November 4, 2023. A period of three years between launching and entering service is common for such ships.

Ships of Project 22160 enter service much faster and it takes less than a year. For instance, Sergey Kotov patrol ship, that was sunk on March 5, 2024, by naval kamikaze drones attack, had been launched in January 2021 and handed over to customer in July 2022.

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