Russian landing ship Orsk
{{Short description|Russian Navy landing ship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = File:USN 1144921 Soviet "Alligator" Class.jpg | Ship caption = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = Russia | Ship flag = {{Shipboxflag|Russia|navy}} | Ship name = {{ubl|BDK-69 (1968-2002)|Orsk (2002-present)}} | Ship namesake =Orsk | Ship ordered = | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Yantar Shipyard, Kaliningrad | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number =296 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 30 August 1967 | Ship launched = 29 February 1968 | Ship sponsor = | Ship christened = | Ship completed = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 31 December 1968 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = Sevastopol | Ship identification = Hull number {{ubl|515 (1968)|421 (1968-1971)|438 (1971)|415 (1971)|411 (1971-1974)|424 (1974)|405 (1974)|412 (1974-1976)|400 (1976-1977)|413 (1977-1978)|410 (1978-1980)|142 (1980-1982)|141 (1982-1988)|144 (1988)|146 (1988)|150 (1988-1997)|148(1997-present)}} | Ship motto = | Ship nickname | Ship honours = | Ship fate = | Ship status = In service | url = | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = {{sclass2|Tapir|landing ship}} | Ship type = | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = *3,400 tons standard
| Ship length = {{cvt|112.8 |
| 113.1|m|ftin}}
| Ship beam = {{cvt|15.3 |
| 15.6|m|ftin}}
| Ship height = | Ship draught = | Ship draft = {{cvt|4.5|m|ftin}} | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship ice class = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = 2 diesels, 2 shafts, {{cvt|9,000|bhp}} | Ship sail plan = | Ship speed = {{convert|16 |
| 18|kn|km/h}}
| Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = 1,000 tons | Ship troops = 300–425 troops and 20 tanks, or 40 AFVs, or 1,000 tons | Ship complement = | Ship crew = 55 | Ship time to activate = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = *Missiles: 1 × 122 mm naval Grad bombardment rocket launcher in some, 3 × SA-N-5 SAM positions in some.{{cite book |last=Polmar |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Polmar |year=1991 |title=Guide to the Soviet Navy |edition=5th |publisher=Naval Institute Press |page=219 |isbn=978-0-87021-241-3}}
| Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
Orsk ({{langx|ru|Орск}}) is a {{sclass2|Tapir|landing ship|1}} of the Russian Navy and part of the Black Sea Fleet.
Named after the city of Orsk, the ship was built in Kaliningrad as BDK-69 ({{langx|ru|БДК-69}}) for {{langx|ru|Большой десантный корабль|translit=Bolshoy desantnyi korabl'|translation=large landing ship|link=no}}, before being renamed Orsk in 2002. She is one of the Tapir class designated Project 1171/II by the Russian Navy, with the NATO reporting name Alligator.
Construction and commissioning
Orsk was built by Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad, being laid down on 30 August 1967 and launched on 29 February 1968 as BDK-69.{{cite web|url=https://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_1171.htm|title= Large landing ships Project 1171 Tapir|publisher=russianships.info|accessdate=12 April 2025}} She was commissioned into the Soviet Navy on 31 December 1968 as part of its Black Sea Fleet. She was homeported in Sevastopol, and with the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late December 1991, she went on to serve in the Russian Navy.{{cite web|url=https://flot.com/nowadays/strength/orsk.htm|title= "Орск"|publisher=flot.com|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}}
Career
BDK-69 was deployed on eleven combat missions during her Soviet surface, also taking part in the naval exercises {{ill|Okean-70|ru|Океан-70}}, {{ill|Yug-71|ru|Юг (учения, 1971)}}, Krym-79, Zapad-81, and {{ill|Shchit-83|ru|Щит (учения, 1983)}}. She was often deployed into the Mediterranean as part of the responses to military conflicts in the Middle East, transporting peacekeepers during the Yugoslav Wars, and delivering humanitarian supplies to Guinea, Syria, and Bulgaria. In the 1990s she evacuated people during the War in Abkhazia. In August 2000, she made four voyages with other Black Sea Fleet ships from Gonio, Georgia, to Utrishenok, Russia, carrying equipment of the Russian Transcaucasus Group of Forces. On 20 October 2002 she was renamed Orsk.
Orsk has undergone several refits during her career, at the Tuapse plant in 2004, and the 13th Ship Repair Plant in Sevastopol in 2009. On 8 August 2014, she started another refit at the 13th Ship Repair Plant, beginning trials on 27 October 2017 prior to rejoining the fleet.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/bolshoy_desantnyy_korabl_chernomorskogo_flota_orsk_vyshel_v_more_posle_planovogo_remonta.html|title=Большой десантный корабль Черноморского флота "Орск" вышел в море после планового ремонта|publisher=korabel.ru|date=27 October 2017|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} She was commissioned back into service in December 2017.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/orsk_chernomorskogo_flota_vklyuchen_v_sostav_korabley_postoyannoy_gotovnosti.html|title="Орск" Черноморского флота включен в состав кораблей постоянной готовности|publisher=korabel.ru|date=26 December 2017|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} In April 2018, she entered the Mediterranean, headed for the naval facility at Tartus, Syria, carrying BTR-80 armoured personnel carriers, KamAZ trucks, a Ural fuel tanker, and a Tigr armoured vehicle.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/korabl_orsk_bespokoit_zarubezhnye_smi.html|title=Корабль "Орск" беспокоит зарубежные СМИ|publisher=korabel.ru|date=17 April 2018|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} On 13 March 2019, she carried out gunnery exercises in the Black Sea.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/korabl_chernomorskogo_flota_vypolnil_strelby_v_more.html|title=Корабль "Орск" беспокоит зарубежные СМИ|publisher=korabel.ru|date=13 March 2019|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} In September that year she and more then ten other fleet vessels carried out exercises.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/chernomorskie_korabli_vernulis_na_bazu.html|title=Черноморские корабли вернулись на базу|publisher=korabel.ru|date=23 September 2019|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} She returned to Syria in late 2019, but suffered a breakdown of one of her two diesel engines, returning to the Black Sea under tow of the ocean tug MB-304 in January 2020.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/na_desantnom_korable_orsk_chernomorskogo_flota_slomalsya_dvigatel.html|title=На десантном корабле "Орск" Черноморского флота сломался двигатель|publisher=korabel.ru|date=9 January 2020|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} In April 2020 Orsk{{'}}s crew rescued a fisherman whose boat had capsized off Sevastopol.{{cite web|url=https://www.korabel.ru/news/comments/moryaki_s_bdk_orsk_spasli_zhizn_tonuschemu_rybaku.html|title=Моряки с БДК "Орск" спасли жизнь тонущему рыбаку|publisher=korabel.ru|date=6 April 2020|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}}
Orsk was one of the Black Sea Fleet's landing forces used to support the Russian invasion of Ukraine from February 2022. The Port of Berdiansk was captured, and on 21 March, Russian media Zvezda reported on the arrival of amphibious transports in Berdiansk.{{cite news |first=Marc |last=Santora |title= Ukrainian forces claim to destroy a Russian landing ship. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/world/europe/russian-landing-ship-berdyansk-ukraine.html |work= The New York Times|date= 24 March 2022|accessdate=3 April 2022}} Orsk was the first Russian warship to enter the port, delivering armoured personnel carriers.{{cite news |title= Российский боевой корабль впервые доставил в Бердянск военную технику |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/21/03/2022/623876779a7947668bd7e44c|publisher= RBK Group|date= 21 March 2022|accessdate=12 April 2025|language=Russian}} At 7:45 on 24 March the port was struck by what Ukrainian officials claimed was a OTR-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missile.{{cite news |first=Trevor |last=Filseth |title= Ukrainian Attack Sinks Large Russian Landing Ship |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/ukrainian-attack-sinks-large-russian-landing-ship-201451 |publisher= The National Interest|date= |access-date=3 April 2022}}{{cite news |title=Ukraine conflict: Large Russian ship, the Orsk, destroyed by Ukrainian military - reports |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/world/ukraine-conflict-large-russian-ship-the-orsk-destroyed-by-ukrainian-military-reports-3624749 |publisher=The Scotsman |date=24 April 2022|access-date=24 April 2022}}{{cite news |first=Joseph |last=Trevithick |title= Russian Amphibious Ships Arrive In Captured Ukrainian City |url=https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/44737/russian-amphibious-ships-arrive-in-captured-ukrainian-city |publisher= The Drive|date= |accessdate=3 April 2022}} A Tapir-class ship, initially thought to be Orsk, was seen to catch fire and suffer a large explosion.{{Cite news |title=Russia dredges up landing ship hit by Ukraine missile fire |author= |website=BBC News |date=2 July 2022 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62022476}}{{Cite news |title=Украина заявила об уничтожении российского корабля "Орск" в порту Бердянска|author= |website=BBC News |date=24 March 2022 |url= https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-60853044|language=Russian|accessdate=12 April 2025}} It was later confirmed that the ship hit was not Orsk, but her sister ship Saratov.{{Cite news |title=Maxar показала, как выглядит сгоревший российский корабль в порту Бердянска (фото)|author= |website=focus.ua |date=25 March 2022 |url= https://focus.ua/voennye-novosti/510503-maxar-pokazala-kak-vyglyadit-sgorevshiy-rossiyskiy-korabl-v-portu-berdyanska-foto|language=Russian|accessdate=12 April 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Tapir class landing ship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orsk}}
Category:Alligator-class landing ships
Category:Ships built at Yantar Shipyard
Category:Amphibious warfare vessels of the Soviet Navy