Name Hetman Sahaydachniy Ordered 1991 Homeport Sevastopol until 2014 Length 124 m | Operator Ukrainian Navy Commissioned 2 April 1993 Launched 29 March 1992 Builder Zalyv Shipbuilding yard | |
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Namesake Cossack Hetman Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny | ||
Hetman Sahaydachniy (Ukrainian: Гетьман Сагайдачний) is a frigate of the Ukrainian Navy that was originally built as a patrol ship of Nerei / Menzhinskiy-class. Homeported at Odessa (since March 2014), she is the flagship of the Ukrainian Navy.
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Service history
Built at the Zalyv Shipbuilding yard, the ship was intended to be used by the Soviet Border Troops as Kirov. However, on 4 July 1993, the newly named (after Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny) Hetman Sahaydachniy raised the flag of the Ukrainian Navy. She was given the identification number of U130.
In 1994, Hetman Sahaydachniy set sail for France to take part in the 50th anniversary commemorations of the Allied invasion of Normandy.
In 1995, Hetman Sahaydachniy visited Abu Dhabi during the "Idex-95" exhibitions. With Kostiantyn Olshansky, the frigate visited Norfolk, Virginia in the United States.
The vessel has also visited ports in Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Gibraltar, Israel, Portugal, Russia and Turkey.
Between November 2006 and November 2007, she underwent major repairs in Mykolaiv at a cost of 15 million hryvnia.
In 2008, Hetman Sahaydachniy took part in "Operation Active Endeavour" in the Mediterranean Sea.
In February 2013, it was announced that she would be taking part in NATO's "Operation Ocean Shield", an anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa.
Hetman Sahaydachniy joined the Naval Force of the European Union (EUNAVFOR) in early January 2014 for anti-piracy operations. As she refueled in Greece, while Russian forces seized control of Crimea, Russian Senator Igor Morozov claimed on 1 March 2014 that the ship's crew had defected to Russia and raised the Russian flag. Shortly afterwards, independent news organizations reported that the ship was still flying the Ukrainian flag in port in Crete. The commander of the ship confirmed that the crew had never defected to the Russians. It arrived in Odessa under the Ukrainian flag on March 5. On 14 March, the ship encountered a Russian naval group in Ukrainian territorial waters. As Hetman Sahaydachniy approached the group, they withdrew into international waters. In September, the frigate entered Odessa to undergo repairs.