Indonesian cruiser Irian

KRI Irian,[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.

KRI Irian (201)
History
Soviet Union
Name: Ordzhonikidze
Namesake: Sergo Ordzhonikidze
Builder: Admiralty Shipyard, Leningrad
Laid down: 19 October 1949
Launched: 17 September 1950
Commissioned: 30 June 1952
Out of service: Sold to Indonesia in 1962
Indonesia
Name: KRI Irian (201)
Namesake: Irian Barat
Acquired: 1962
Commissioned: 1963
Fate: Put on a disposal list in 1972
General characteristics
Class and type: Sverdlov-class cruiser
Displacement:
  • 13,600 tons standard,
  • 16,640 tons full load
Length:
  • 210 m (690 ft) overall
  • 205 m (673 ft) waterline
Beam: 22 m (72 ft)
Draught: 6.9 m (23 ft)
Propulsion:
  • geared steam turbines, 6 x boilers, 110,000 hp (82,000 kW)
  • 2 x shaft
Speed: 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range: 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement: 1,250
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • MR-500 Kliver Big Net or Kaktus Top Trough long range air search radar[1][2]
  • P-8 Knife Rest A early warning 2D VHF air search radar[2]
  • Flut-N Slim Net air search radar[2]
  • Ryf and Zalp fire control radar for main batteries (152-mm guns)[1][2]
  • Yakor fire control radar for secondaries battery (100-mm guns)[2]
  • SPN-500 stabilized directors for secondaries battery[2]
  • Zenit-68bis anti-aircraft control system[2]
  • Zarya torpedo fire control system[2]
  • H/F sonar[2]
Armament:
  • Main:
    12 × 152-millimetre (6.0 in)/57 cal B-38 guns mounted in four-triple Mk5-bis turrets[1][2]
    12 × 100-millimetre (3.9 in)/56 cal guns mounted in six-twin SM-5-1 turrets[1][2]
  • Anti-aircraft:
    32 × 37-millimetre (1.5 in) anti-aircraft guns mounted in sixteen-twin V-11 turrets[1][2]
  • Torpedo:
    10 × 533-millimetre (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in two-quintuple PTA-53-68-bis tubes (five each)[1][2]
Armour:
  • Belt: 100 mm (3.9 in)
  • Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in)
  • Deck: 50 mm (2.0 in)
  • Turrets: 175 mm (6.9 in) front, 65 mm (2.6 in) sides, 60 mm (2.4 in) rear, 75 mm (3.0 in) roof
  • Barbettes: 130 mm (5.1 in)
  • Bulkheads: 100–120 mm (3.9–4.7 in)

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).[2]

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.[2] The units were later fitted with either Top Trough or Big Net long-range air search radars.[2]

KRI Irian 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][1]

Operational history

Ordzhonikidze

In April 1956 the ship docked at Portsmouth; aboard were Nikita Khrushchev[3] and Nikolai Bulganin.[4] Former Royal Navy diver Lionel Crabb was recruited to observe the Ordzhonikidze but went missing.[5]

Ordzhonikidze was sold to Indonesia in 1962.[6]

Irian

KRI Irian arrived in Surabaya in October 1962 and later she was declared decommissioned from service by the Soviet Navy on 24 January 1963.[7]

In 1965 there was a change of government in Indonesia. President Suharto took office and replaced President Sukarno. President Suharto's attention to the Indonesian Navy was very different from his predecessor. KRI Irian was left dormant in Surabaya, sometimes even being used as a prison for Suharto's political opponents.[8]

There are different accounts of the final days of the KRI Irian. One, that in 1970, she was so poorly maintained that she begin to fill with water. So that when Admiral Sudomo became Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy, she was sent to Taiwan to be dismantled in 1972 due to lack of spare parts needed to operate the ship. Another that according to Hendro Subroto, an Indonesian war journalist, that Irian was sold to Japan after being stripped of its weapons. Whereas in Tanjung Priok there are still two spare parts warehouses. But because the previous ship's maintenance were conducted by the Soviets, after the Revolution, Indonesian Navy don't have any more technicians left to maintain the ship.[8]

The crew of the Irian cruiser on the deck of the ship
Irian during training
Irian and her crew
an Indonesian Navy helicopter aboard the Irian

References
  1. RussianShips.info. "Light Cruisers Project 68bis Project 68bis-ZIF". russianships.info. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  2. Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 379
  3. Day, Peter (8 March 2006). "How Buster Crabb's fatal spy mission angered Eden". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  4. "Frogman files show blunders surrounding Cdr 'Buster' Crabb's death". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 October 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  5. "FROGMAN MISSING NEAR SOVIET SHIP; British Diver Reported Seen During Russian Leaders' Visit- Feared Dead". The New York Times. May 5, 1956. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 178
  7. Ramadhan, Bagus (2015). "KRI Irian Kapal Perang terbesar di Asia yang pernah dimiliki Indonesia". GNFI Opini. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  8. indomiliter (2009). "KRI Irian : Monster Laut Kebanggaan Indonesia". Retrieved 21 September 2020.

Notes
  1. Using current prefix of the Indonesian Navy "KRI"

Bibliography
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