''Nikolai Filchenkov'' () is a of 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 ...

and part of 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 ...

. Named after

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

, a posthumous

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

killed in action during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the ship was built in

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

. She is classified as a BDK () for . She is one of the Tapir class designated Project 1171/IV by the Russian Navy, with the

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

Alligator.

Construction and commissioning

''Nikolai Filchenkov'' was built by

Yantar Shipyard Yantar Shipyard () is a Russian shipbuilding company based in Kaliningrad, Russia. Yantar Shipyard builds military ships, including antisubmarine and patrol craft, as well as civil vessels such as fishing trawlers and seiners. It is a part of th ...

, being laid down on 30 January 1974 and launched on 29 March 1975. She was commissioned into 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 ...

on 30 December 1975 as part of its

. She was named in honour of

, a posthumous

killed in action during operations around the Siege of Sevastopol during the

. She was

homeport A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull. In the cruise industry the term "home port" is also oft ...

ed in

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 ...

, and with the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in late December 1991, she went on to serve in the Russian Navy.

Career

''Nikolai Filchenkov'' was often deployed into the Mediterranean and further afield during the Soviet period, serving as part of Soviet responses to conflicts in the Middle East. From March to July 1976, and again from November 1977 to January 1978, she visited ports in Angola during the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

. She was rated as excellent eight times in annual reviews between 1975 and 2004, and the best ship in the Black Sea Fleet in her rank in 1996 and 1997. In August 2000, she made four voyages with other Black Sea Fleet ships from Gonio,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, to Utrishenok, Russia, carrying equipment of the Russian Transcaucasus Group of Forces. On 23 March 2005, she entered Ukraine to carry out landing exercises around

Feodosia Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...

, causing protests from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. Russian commanders claimed that the exercises had been agreed with the competent Ukrainian authorities. The ship was again the cause of a diplomatic problems in September 2009, when it was reported that the ''Nikolai Filchenkov'' had brought a cargo of cruise missiles to Sevastopol, with the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announcing checks into the claims. In December 2012, ''Nikolai Filchenkov'' deployed into the Mediterranean as part of the Russian naval group there. She carried out exercises in June 2013 with the destroyer ''Vice-Admiral Kulakov'', which had been detached from the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

. ''Nikolai Filchenkov'' entered Syrian waters on a visit on 25 September 2013. She began a refit at the 13th Ship Repair Plant in Sevastopol in July 2014, returning to the fleet the following year. In February 2015, complaints about the poor quality of food and other violations resulted in an investigation, which uncovered a number of violations on the ship. In October 2015, she was part of the Syrian Express with a number of other Russian landing ships, conveying supplies to the

Russian naval facility in Tartus Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, Syria, during the

Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the war against the Islamic State , image = , image_size = , border ...

. Her sister ship ''Saratov'' and the Ropucha-class ''Yamal'' also made supply deliveries that month. She made further visits the following year, and again in 2017. On 24 May 2017, she exercised in the Mediterranean with the landing ships ''Azov'' and ''Tsezar Kunikov'', the frigates ''Admiral Essen'' and ''Admiral Grigorovich'', and the destroyer ''Smetlivy''. She returned from a deployment with the Russian naval group in the Mediterranean in April 2018, and carried out mine warfare and gunnery exercises in August that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolai Filchenkov Alligator-class landing ships 1975 ships Ships built at Yantar Shipyard Amphibious warfare vessels of the Soviet Navy Amphibious warfare vessels of the Russian Navy