Festive keel-laying ceremony took place at Severnaya Verf shipyard (St. Petersburg). The name plaque was triumphantly planted on a section of frigate Admiral Golovko constructed for Russian Navy. The ceremony was attended by Navy Commander-in-Chief ADM V. Vysotsky, fleet commanders and top-ranking naval officers, representatives of JSC United Shipbuilding Corporation and JSC United Industrial Corporation, veterans and guests.
The frigate was laid down on the same day with Project 20385 lead corvette Gremyaschiy. According to Admiral V. Vysotsky, frigate Admiral Golovko will be based at Northern Fleet.
Admiral Golovko is a third Project 22350 frigate. Lead ship – Admiral Gorshkov – is being outfitted at the yard’s wall and will start trials in 2012. The second hull – Admiral Kasatonov – will be launched this year.
Project 22350 multipurpose frigates developed by Severnoye Design Bureau are large seagoing warships capable to accomplish wide range of tasks. Design displacement is 4,500 tons; length is 130 m; beam is 16 m; draft is 4.5 m; max speed 30 knots.
The frigate is named after outstanding Soviet naval officer Arseny G. Golovko who headed Northern Fleet during the World War II. Formerly, his name was given to a Project 58 missile cruiser, one of the first Soviet warships armed with antiship missiles.
JSC Severnaya Verf is the only supplier of Project 22350 frigates for Russian Navy. Under State Arms Program 2020, defense ministry and the shipyard tied a contract for six frigates of this type. All of them are to be built and joined the Navy by 2018.
Commissioning of Project 22350 lead frigate Admiral Gorshkov is scheduled late in 2012.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, February 2, 2012;