Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov


Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov is an frigate of the Russian Navy and the lead ship of the class. She was laid down on 1 February 2006, launched on 29 October 2010 and was first expected to join the Russian Navy in November 2013. However, problems with delivery of the main naval gun, engine fire and testing of the ship's Poliment-Redut air defence system delayed the commissioning date several times. She was finally commissioned on 28 July 2018 with the Russia's Northern Fleet. The ship is named after Hero of the Soviet Union Sergey Gorshkov.

Service

From 23–25 December 2017 Admiral Gorshkov conducted sea trials near UK waters in the North Sea, where she was shadowed by.
On 28 July 2018, Admiral Gorshkov was officially accepted into the service with the Russian Navy, the day before its debut at the Main Naval Day parade in Saint Petersburg. In total, the ship performed 16 firing exercises during the entire period of its state trials.
On its maiden distant deployment, the ship travelled some 35,000 nautical miles in what turned out to be the first globe circumnavigation the Russian Navy performed since the Stepan Makarov's 1886–1889 voyage on the cruiser Vityaz. Accompanied by medium sea tanker Kama, logistics support vessel Elbrus and large ocean tug Nikolay Chiker, during the historic mission Admiral Gorshkov visited the following ports: Djibouti, Colombo, Qingdao, Vladivostok, Puerto Bolívar, Havana, Praia and Kronstadt, before returning to its homeport Severomorsk. The 175-day long journey took place between 26 February and 19 August 2019. On its route home, she also participated in the "Ocean Shield 2019" major naval exercise of the Russian Navy held in the Mediterranean Sea, thought to be the largest in the independent Russia with some 70 warships, submarines and auxiliary ships participating.
In early January 2020, Admiral Gorshkov has test-launched the 3M22 Zircon hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile from the Barents Sea, as part of the missile's state trials. It was the first time the Zircon was launched from a naval vessel.