laststandonzombieisland

The Russian Cruiser Varyag of the Pacific Fleet, in Pudong, Shanghai, China. May 2014. Click to embiggen.

In the late 1960s, the Soviets envisioned a class of 10 or more massive 12,000-ton guided missile cruisers. Capable of traveling more than 12,000 miles without refueling, these bruisers would be able to sail the world, showing the Red Banner of the worker’s paradise. As a tie-in to the old Tsarist navy, many of these ships were named after classic warships of that fleet, including the lead ship of the class, Slava (Glory). One of the last of these craft completed, the Varyag (Varangian– based on what the Greeks called thVikings), although originally named Chervona Ukraina (Red Ukraine) was given the name of the Pacific fleet cruiser who fought and lost a wonderfully heroic one-sided battle in 1904 against the Japanese.

Commissioned October 16, 1989, Varyag was sent to the Pacific like her namesake and spent most of her life in a caretaker status in Vladivostok, the new Russian Navy being very cash strapped, especially after 1991.

Overhauled in 2008, she has found new life in the past half decade and has sailed from one end of the Pacific to the other, visiting California, Hawaii, Singapore, and all points in between. Equipped with  16 huge carrier-killer P-500 Bazalt (SS-N-12 Sandbox) anti-ship missiles, as well as enough of an anti-air and ASW suite to make most fleets think twice, she speaks softly but carries a big stick.

The Slava-class cruiser Varyag of the Russian Federation Navy Pacific Fleet.