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Name	Sadko (Садко)
Namesake	Sadko
Operator	Pacific Fleet
Builder	Admiralty Shipyard (Leningrad, USSR)
Yard number	777
Laid down	20 June 1967
Launched	28 June 1968
Completed	6 November 1968
In service	1968–2022
Fate	Expended as target in 2022
General characteristics
Class and type	Dobrynya Nikitich-class patrol icebreaker
Displacement	3,350 t (3,300 long tons) (full load)
Length	67.7 m (222 ft)
Beam	18.1 m (59 ft)
Draught	6.3 m (20.7 ft)
Depth	8.3 m (27.2 ft)
Installed power	3 × 13D100 (3 × 1,800 hp)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric; three shafts (2 × 2,400 hp + 1,600 hp)
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range	6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km; 7,700 mi) at 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Endurance	17 days
Complement	39
Armament	1 × twin 57 mm AK-257 1 × twin 25 mm 2M-3M
Notes	Later disarmed

Sadko (Russian: Садко) was a Soviet and later Russian Navy patrol icebreaker built in 1968. The ship was expended as target during the Umka-2022 military drills in September 2022.

Sadko had a 1970-built sister ship Peresvet.

Description

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union began developing a new diesel-electric icebreaker design based on the 1942-built steam-powered icebreaker Eisbär to meet the needs of both civilian and naval operators. Built in various configurations until the early 1980s, the Project 97 icebreakers and their derivatives became the largest and longest-running class of icebreakers and icebreaking vessels built in the world. Two of the 32 ships built were armed patrol icebreakers with increased autonomy time and operating range that enabled them to patrol the western and eastern ends of the Northern Sea Route.

Project 97AP patrol icebreakers were 67.7 metres (222 ft) long overall and had a beam of 18.1 metres (59 ft). Fully laden, the vessels drew 6.3 metres (20.7 ft) of water and had a displacement of 3,350 tonnes (3,300 long tons). Their three 1,800-horsepower (1,300 kW) 10-cylinder 13D100 two-stroke opposed-piston diesel engines were coupled to generators that powered electric propulsion motors driving two propellers in the stern and a third one in the bow.

Project 97AP icebreakers were initially armed with one twin 57 MM AK-257 and one twin 25 mm 2M-3M naval guns, but later disarmed.

History

The first of two Project 97AP patrol icebreakers was laid down at Admiralty Shipyard in Leningrad on 20 June 1967, launched on 28 June 1968, and delivered on 6 November 1968. The ship was named Sadko after the principal character in a Russian medieval epic bylina and joined the Soviet Navy Red Banner Pacific Fleet.

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Sadko was passed over to the Russian Navy on 26 July 1992.

Sadko was expended as target during the Umka-2022 military drills in September 2022. A photograph dated 5 July 2023 shows the fire-damaged wreck moored at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

References

1. ^ Kuznetsov, Nikita Anatolyevich (2009), "От «Добрыни Никитича» до «Отто Шмидта»: Ледоколы проекта 97 и их модификации", Морская коллекция (in Russian), vol. 8, no. 119, Moscow: Моделист-конструктор
2. "Патрульные дизель-электрические ледоколы, проект 97АП". CDB Iceberg. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
3. ^ "Садко". FleetPhoto. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
4. @AkerArctic (September 18, 2022). "Whoever (else) keeps track of Russian #icebreaking fleet may strike one of the few remaining Project 97 #icebreakers from the list: looks like the 1968-built Sadko was expended as a target in the recent Umka-2022 military drills" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
5. "СМ-573". Fleetphoto. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.

• Icebreakers of the Soviet Union
• Icebreakers of Russia
• 1968 ships
• Ships built at Admiralty Shipyard
• Patrol vessels of the Soviet Navy
• Patrol vessels of the Russian Navy
• Ships sunk as targets