| Indonesian cruiser Irian | |
|---|---|
 KRI Irian (201) | |
| Career (Soviet Union) |  |
| Name: | Ordzhonikidze |
| Namesake: | Sergo Ordzhonikidze |
| Builder: | Admiralty Shipyard, Leningrad |
| Laid down: | 19 October 1949 |
| Launched: | 17 September 1950 |
| Commissioned: | 18 August 1952[1] |
| Out of service: | Sold to Indonesia in 1962 |
| Career (Indonesia) |  |
| Name: | Irian |
| Namesake: | Irian Barat |
| Acquired: | 1962 |
| Commissioned: | 24 January 1963[1] |
| Identification: | 201 |
| Fate: | Put on a disposal list in 1972 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class & type: | Sverdlov-class cruiser |
| Displacement: |
|
| Length: |
|
| Beam: | 22 m (72 ft) |
| Draught: | 7.38 m (24.2 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 32.7 knots (60.6 km/h; 37.6 mph) |
| Range: | 5,700 nautical miles (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,270 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
|
| Armament: |
12 × 152-millimetre (6.0 in)/57 cal B-38 guns mounted in four-triple Mk5-bis turrets[2][3] 12 × 100-millimetre (3.9 in)/56 cal guns mounted in six-twin SM-5-1 turrets[2][3] 32 × 37-millimetre (1.5 in) anti-aircraft guns mounted in sixteen-twin V-11 turrets[2][3] 10 × 533-millimetre (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in two-quintuple PTA-53-68-bis tubes (five each)[2][3] |
| Armour: |
|
KRI Irian (201),[note 1] previously named Ordzhonikidze (Russian: Орджоникидзе) was a Sverdlov-class cruiser, Soviet designation "Project 68bis", of the Soviet Navy that was acquired by Indonesian Navy in the 1960s.
Design[]
The Sverdlov-class cruisers were enlarged versions of the pre-war Chapayev class. They had same machinery, main armament and side protection, but had much increased fuel capacity and introduced an all-welded hull and a new type of underwater protection (including a double bottom over 75-per cent of their length and twenty-three watertight bulkheads).[3]
These ships had new fire control radars (Ryf and Zalp for their main batteries, Yakor for their secondaries) as well as new types of directors (stabilised SPN-500s for the 100-mm guns). Their 152-mm turrets were a modified version of the Mk-5 of the Chapayev class. The Zenit-68bis anti-aircraft fire control system could control both the secondary guns and 37-mm light anti-aircraft guns. The torpedo fire control system employed both optical rangefinders and a dedicated radar, Zarya.[3] The units were later fitted with either Top Trough or Big Net long-range air search radars.[3]
Ordzhonikidze main armament included twelve 152-millimetre (6 in)/57cal B-38 guns mounted in four-triple Mk-5 turrets and twelve 100-millimetre (4 in)/56cal guns mounted in six-twin SM-5-1 turrets. The ship's anti-aircraft weaponry is thirty-two 37-millimetre (1 in) V-11 anti-aircraft guns in sixteen-twin configuration and was also equipped with ten 533-millimetre (21 in) PTA-53-68bis torpedo tubes in two mountings of five each.[2][3]
Operational history[]
Ordzhonikidze[]
In April 1956 the ship docked at Portsmouth; aboard were Nikita Khrushchev[4] and Nikolai Bulganin.[5] Former Royal Navy diver Lionel Crabb was recruited to observe the Ordzhonikidze but went missing.[6] Ordzhonikidze was sold to Indonesia in 1962.[7]
Irian[]
KRI Irian arrived in Surabaya in October 1962 and later it was declared decommissioned from service by the Soviet Navy on 24 January 1963.[8]
In the mid-1960s, following the abortive coup by the 30 September Movement and the subsequent transition from President Sukarno to President Suharto, the KRI Irian was extensively used as a floating detention center in Surabaya for suspected communists, especially during the anti-communist purges perpetrated by the Armed Forces in retaliation to the abortive coup. Ties between Eastern Bloc countries and Suharto's New Order regime promptly deteriorated, leading to the flow of spare parts for the ship being cut.[9]
Accounts differ regarding the fate of the KRI Irian. One account states that in 1970, the ship's condition had deteriorated due to lack of maintenance that she began to flood with water. Eventually, when Admiral Sudomo became Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, the ship was sent to Taiwan for dismantling in 1972. Another account from Hendro Subroto, an Indonesian war journalist, states that the ship was sold to Japan after being stripped of its weapons, despite the presence of two remaining spare parts warehouses in Tanjung Priok.
Gallery[]
The crew of the Irian on the deck of the ship
Irian during training
Irian and her crew
An Indonesian Navy Alouette II helicopter aboard the Irian
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "IRIAN light cruiser (1952/1963)". https://www.navypedia.org/ships/indonesia/ino_cr_irian.htm. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 RussianShips.info. "Light Cruisers Project 68bis Project 68bis-ZIF". russianships.info. http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_68bis.htm.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 379
- ↑ Day, Peter (8 March 2006). "How Buster Crabb's fatal spy mission angered Eden". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1512361/How-Buster-Crabbs-fatal-spy-mission-angered-Eden.html.
- ↑ "Frogman files show blunders surrounding Cdr 'Buster' Crabb's death". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 October 2015. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34605107.
- ↑ "FROGMAN MISSING NEAR SOVIET SHIP; British Diver Reported Seen During Russian Leaders' Visit- Feared Dead". The New York Times. May 5, 1956. https://www.nytimes.com/1956/05/05/archives/frogman-missing-near-soviet-ship-british-diver-reported-seen-during.html.
- ↑ Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 178
- ↑ Ramadhan, Bagus (2015). "KRI Irian Kapal Perang terbesar di Asia yang pernah dimiliki Indonesia". GNFI Opini. https://www.goodnewsfromindonesia.id/2015/08/31/kri-irian-kapal-perang-terbesar-di-asia-yang-pernah-dimiliki-indonesia.
- ↑ indomiliter (2009). "KRI Irian : Monster Laut Kebanggaan Indonesia". https://www.indomiliter.com/kri-irian-monster-laut-kebanggaan-indonesia/.
Notes[]
- ↑ Using current prefix of the Indonesian Navy "KRI"
Bibliography[]
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. 1995. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- Muraviev, Alexey; Brown, Colin (December 2008). "Strategic Realignment or Déjà vu? Russia-Indonesia Defence Cooperation in the Twenty-First Century". pp. 42. http://sdsc.bellschool.anu.edu.au/experts-publications/publications/1893/strategic-realignment-or-déjà-vu-russia-indonesia-defence.
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