The ''Altay'' class, Soviet designation Project 160, is a class of

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

built for the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

between 1967 and 1972.

Construction

The ''Altay''-class vessels were built for the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by the Finnish

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

Rauma-Repola Metso Corporation (natively ) was a Finnish industrial machinery company focusing on providing technology and services for mining, and aggregates industries. On 30 June 2020, Metso's partial demerger and combination of Metso Minerals business ...

. Over 60 vessels of this type were built for Soviet service, most with the

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing Ship, vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessel ...

and merchant fleet. Only six vessels were ordered for service with the

. Project 160 tankers can refuel one ship at a time from either side or over the stern.''Guide to the Soviet Navy'' (Polmer)''Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'' (Wertheim)russian-ships.info (accessed 29 Feb 2012)

Operational history

1993 ''Yel'nya'' incident

In April 1993, while in reserve with the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

, ''Yel'nya'' was taken over by Ukrainian dissidents. After a brief seizure, control was reestablished by the

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

. ''Yel'nya'' was later transferred to the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

2021 ''Kola'' Gulf of Suez collision and Suez Canal obstruction

On 23 March 2021, ''Kola'', along with ''Steregushchiy''-class corvette ''Stoikiy'', were in the northern part of the

Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez (; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of Aqaba. The gulf was formed within a relative ...

when ''Kola'' collided with civilian

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

''Ark Royal''. The two ships, which were both approaching

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

, sustained light damage, according to the Russian Navy. ''Kola'' and ''Ark Royal'' resumed sailing after the collision. That same day, ''Kola'' and ''Stoikiy'' were in the Gulf of Suez when the

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

Ever Given ''Ever Given'' () is one of the List of largest container ships, largest container ships in the world. The ship is owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha (a ship-owning and leasing subsidiary of the large Japanese shipbuilding company Imabari Shipbuilding) ...

'' ran aground in the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

, completely obstructing the canal. ''Kola'', along with ''Stoikiy'' and around 350 other ships on both sides of the canal, were forced to wait for the ''Ever Given'' to be refloated. Initially, ''Kola'' and ''Stoikiy'' were the only known military vessels to have been affected by the obstruction, however since normally military ships do not transmit their position to commercial websites, an unknown number of military ships were involved, with the

Spanish amphibious assault ship Juan Carlos I ''Juan Carlos I'' is a multi-purpose aircraft carrier-landing helicopter dock (LHD) in the Spanish Navy (''Armada Española''). Similar in role to many aircraft carriers, the amphibious landing ship has a Aircraft ski-jump, ski jump for STOVL o ...

being among the first ships to move through the canal. At the time of the incident, maritime tracking website vesselfinder.com temporarily misidentified ''Kola'' as ''Stoikiy'' (specifically "Russian Warship 545"); this was corrected on 25 March. As of 29 March, ''Kola'' was still anchored in the Gulf of Suez.

Ships in class

There were six vessels in the class.

Gallery

File:Tanker_ALTAI_(russ.)_(Kiel_54.712).jpg, ''Altay'' – the civilian type ship of the class.

References

{{reflist

External links

Project 160 medium seagoing tanker
(English) Cold War naval ships of the Soviet Union Oilers Ships built in Finland Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy Auxiliary replenishment ship classes