Laid down 30 April 1971 Status In reserve Displacement 8,900 tons Length 173 m Launched 21 July 1972 | Commissioned 25 December 1974 Beam 18.5 m (60.7 ft) Construction started 30 April 1971 Weight 9,043 tons | |
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Builders Shipyard named after 61 Communards, Mykolaiv | ||
Kerch (Керчь) was a Kara-class missile cruiser of the Soviet and later Russian Navy. It served as part of the Black Sea Fleet.
As of 2014, the ship was laid up for scrapping following a large fire which broke out on 4 November 2014.
History
Kerch was laid down in the Soviet Union on 30 April 1971, launched on 21 July 1972 and was commissioned in the Soviet Black Sea Fleet on 25 December 1974. The ship was constructed in the 61 Kommunar Shipyard at Nikolayev (Mykolaiv) on the Black Sea. She was in service with the Soviet Fleet until 1991, and then joined its successor, Russian Navy.
On 4 November 2014 a fire broke out aboard the ship during a routine servicing in Sevastopol. According to officials nobody was injured and the fire was contained to the ship's aft. According to some sources the ship is laid up for scrapping. However, according to others the ship will be repaired and will be returned to active service.