Soviet ship Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin
{{Short description|Spacecraft tracking ship of the Soviet Union}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Space control-monitoring ship "Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin" in 1987.png |Ship caption=Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin in 1987 }} {{Infobox ship class overview |Name=Sofiya (Modified) (Soviet Project 1909) |Builders=Baltic Shipyard, Leningrad |Operators=Academy of Sciences |Class before= |Class after= |Subclasses= |Cost= |Built range=1971 |In service range=1971–1991 |In commission range= |Total ships building= |Total ships planned= |Total ships completed=1 |Total ships cancelled= |Total ships active= |Total ships laid up= |Total ships lost= |Total ships retired=1 |Total ships preserved= }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = |Ship country=Soviet Union |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}} | Ship name =*1971–1996: Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin
| Ship owner = | Ship operator =*1971–1992: Academy of Sciences of the USSR | Ship registry =*1971–1992: Odesa, {{flag|Soviet Union}} | Ship route = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Baltic Shipyard, Leningrad | Ship original cost = | Ship yard number = 601 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship acquired = September 1971 | Ship maiden voyage = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship identification =*Call sign: UKFI
| Ship fate = Scrapped in Alang after 1996 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=of Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin |Ship class= |Ship type=SESS / Vigilship (Veladora) |Ship tonnage={{DWT|31,300}} |Ship displacement=53,500 tons standard |Ship length={{convert|760|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|102|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=2 steam turbines (Kirov) with electric drive; {{convert|19,000|shp|abbr=on}}, 1 shaft |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|17.7|kn|km/h|0}} |Ship range={{convert|24000|nmi|km|0|abbr=on}} at {{convert|17.7|kn|km/h|0}} |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=approx. 160 + 180 scientist-technicians |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors=*1 Don-Kay and 1 Okean (Navigation);
|Ship EW= |Ship armament= |Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft=none |Ship aircraft facilities=none |Ship notes= }} |
Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin ({{langx|ru|«Космона́вт Ю́рий Гага́рин»}}) was a Soviet space control-monitoring ship or Vigilship (Veladora) that was devoted to detecting and receiving satellite communications. Named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the ship was completed in December 1971 to support the Soviet space program. The ship also conducted upper atmosphere and outer space research.Norman Polmar, Siegfried Breyer, Guide to the Soviet Navy, Third Edition (1984), United States Naval Institute, Annapolis Maryland, {{ISBN|0-87021-239-7}}{{rp|309}}
It had very distinguishable looks due to two extremely large and two smaller parabolic "dish" antennas placed on top of the hull.
In 1986, Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin was the world's largest communications ship and was the flagship of a fleet of communications ships. These ships greatly extended the tracking range when the orbits of cosmonauts and unmanned missions were not over the USSR.Tracking sites and ships, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070210053105/http://www.suzymchale.com/kosmonavtka/tracking.html Komsmonavtka Website], Retrieved 6/13/2008
In 1975, the ship was a part of the Soviet-American Apollo–Soyuz joint test program.SP-4209 The Partnership: A History of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, (U.S.) NASA, [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4209/ch10-12.htm Online Article]
The communications ships belonged to the Soviet Academy of Sciences. The maritime part fell under the responsibility of the Baltic- and Black sea shipping. The ships had home ports in Ukraine (Kosmonavt Yuriy Gagarin and the other surveillance ship {{ship||Akademik Sergei Korolev}}), so after the fall of the Soviet Union they were transferred to Ukraine – ending their role in spaceflight.
The ship was sold for scrap shortly after the break-up of the Soviet Union along with Akademik Sergei Korolev.
See also
- {{ship|Soviet ship|Kosmonavt Vladimir Komarov||2}}, another Soviet satellite tracking ship
- List of ships of Russia by project number
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- A. Karpenko, ABM and Space Defense, Nevsky Bastion, No. 4, 1999, pp. 2–47, [http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/soviet/990600-bmd-rus.htm Federation of American Scientists (Online)]
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Category:Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy
Category:Maritime vessels related to spaceflight
Category:Ships of the Soviet space program
Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union