Soviet communications ship SSV-33

	SSV-33 Ural underway
History
Soviet Union
Name	SSV 33 Ural
Builder	Baltic Yard, Leningrad
Yard number	810
Laid down	25 June 1981
Launched	May 1983
Commissioned	7 January 1989
Decommissioned	27 December 2002
Fate	Scrapping commenced in 2010, completed by the end of 2018.
General characteristics
Class and type	Project 1941 Titan (NATO "Kapusta")
Displacement	32,780 tons standard; 36,500 tons full load
Length	265 m (869 ft)
Beam	30 m (98 ft)
Draught	7.5 m (25 ft)
Propulsion	2 shaft combined nuclear and steam (CONAS), 66,500 hp (49,600 kW); 2 × KN-3 nuclear propulsion with 2 × GT3A-688 steam turbines; 140,000 shp (100,000 kW);
Speed	21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph)
Range	unlimited
Complement	950 (233 officers, 690 NCOs and enlisted men)
Armament	2 × 76 mm guns,; 4 × 30 mm guns (AK-630),; 9K38 Igla SAM missiles,; 4 × 12.7 mm machine guns;
Aircraft carried	1 × Ka-32 helicopter
Aviation facilities	Hangar and helipad

SSV-33 Ural (ССВ-33 Урал; NATO reporting name: Kapusta, Russian for "cabbage") was a command and control naval ship operated by the Soviet Navy. SSV-33's hull was derived from that of the nuclear powered Kirov-class battlecruisers with nuclear marine propulsion.^[2] SSV-33 served in electronic intelligence, missile tracking, space tracking, and communications relay roles. Due to high operating costs, SSV-33 was laid up in 1989.^[2]

The onboard radio reconnaissance system was called "Coral"; this involved two computer types: "Elbrus" and several "EC-1046" computers.

SSV-33 carried only light defensive weapons. These were two AK-176 76 mm guns, four AK-630 30 mm guns, and four quadruple Igla missile mounts.

SSV-33 was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, but there was no pier large enough for the ship. She was forced to anchor out. Machinery had to remain running while at anchor to support other systems and its crew; the ship became a floating barracks. She never went to sea, while her powerful radioelectronic equipment gradually began to decay.^[3]

The initial value of the ship's disposal contract was $310 million. The work was performed in the Bay of Bolshoy Kamen in Primorsky region and completed by late 2018.

In popular culture

In the novel World War Z, by Max Brooks, Ural is based at Ulithi as the broadcast base for the worldwide radio network, Radio Free Earth.^[4]
A fictional duplicate, Ural II, is seen in the anime movie Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, used as an external command centre for a NERV research base.

References

^ "Kirov (Orlan) class (Type 1144.1/1144.2) (CGN)". Janes.com. 8 September 2000. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009.
^ ^a ^b Pike, John. "SSV-33 Project 1941". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^ Genys, Andrius. "Ural (Command ship)". MilitaryToday.com. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013.
^ Brooks, Max (2010). World War Z (Kindle ed.). Gerald Duckworth. ISBN 978-0-71563-703-6.