USS KIROV Namesake

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USS KIROV Namesake

History

Kirov Class Light Cruiser: This Kirov was commissioned in 1938. She served in the Baltic fleet of the Soviet Navy during World War II. She was decommisioned in 1974.

The Kirov Class (Type 1144.2) Nuclear Battlecruiser: This Kirov was commissioned in 1977. She served in the Soviet Navy during the "Cold War" of the late 20th Century. Renamed Admiral Ushakov in 1989, she suffered a nuclear accident in 1990 that left her inoperable. She was decommisioned in 1998 for refit parts for the Admiral Nakhimov, the last of the Kirov class cruisers.

The name "Kirov" originates from a city of west-central Russia east-northeast of Moscow. Founded circa 1174 A.D., it became the center of a medieval principality that was conquered by Ivan III in 1489.

In the early 20th Century, a man called Sergei Kirov (his last name changed from Kostrikov) lived as a leader of the Leningrad Communist Party of the former Soviet Union on Earth. Having been appointed by Josef Stalin in 1926, he wielded power second only to Stalin himself. As time went on, Kirov became a major opponent to the repressive rule of the Communist government, publicly speaking out against Stalin at a Party conference in 1934.

Sergei Kirov was murdered in his office in Leningrad (known after the fall of the Soviet Union as St. Petersburg) on December 1, 1934. Though the murderer was a disgruntled party member, it is still debated whether or not this was in fact, an orchestrated execution by Stalin to prevent the popular Kirov from challenging him for the head of the Communist Party.

Two Soviet/Russian naval vessels were named for of the communist party leader and the city who's name he had adopted.

Notes

Information and pictures courtesy of Jospeph Baker, formerly of the USS KIROV.