Photos by Pan.bg

The Russian training Perekop undergoes repair in Varna, Bulgaria. The contract for the repair of the ship was signed on 18th July 2013, according to www.blackseanews.net. At the time of contract signature it was presumed that the repair would be completed in 2015. As early as 2012 some sources even reported that "According to unverified information, after repair in Bulgaria, training ship Smolny will head for French naval base Toulon to be used as floating barracks for Russian naval servicemen trained in France as a future crew of Mistral-class amphibious ship Vladivostok." Now since the Mistral-class contract between Russia and France was not completed, the Perekop training vessel would obviously not serve that purpose. Anyway, Perekop remains in Varna with repair works on the vessel superstructure and hull going on as the three photos below show.







General characteristics of Project 887 training ships:

Standard displacement - about 6,120 tons

Full displacement – about 7,270 tons

Dimensions: length – 138 m, beam – 17.2 m, draft – 5.5 m

Full speed – 20 knots

Cruising range at 14 knots – about 9,000 nautical miles

Endurance - 45 days

Powerplant: 2 x 8,000-shp diesels, 4 x 800-kW diesel generators, 1 x 120-kW diesel generator

Armament: 2 x 76-mm gun mounts AK-726 (load 1,200 shells), 2 x 30-mm automatic guns AK-230 (load 4,000 shells), 2 antisubmarine rocket launchers RBU-2500 Smerch (load 128 depth charge rockets RGB-25), 2 x 45-mm salute guns 21KM

Crew - 135 men including 12 officers, 300 trainees