Russian landing ship Azov

Azov (BDK-54) is a Ropucha-class landing ship of the Russian Navy and part of the Black Sea Fleet. Named after the Sea of Azov, the ship was built in Poland and launched in 1989.

Azov in port, 2008
History
Russia
Name	Azov
Namesake	Sea of Azov
Builder	Stocznia Północna, Gdańsk, Poland
Laid down	22 November 1988
Launched	19 May 1989
Commissioned	12 October 1990
Homeport	Sevastopol
Identification	Hull number: 151
General characteristics
Class & type	Ropucha-class landing ship
Displacement	3,450 t (3,396 long tons) standard 4,080 t (4,016 long tons) full load
Length	112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam	15.01 m (49 ft 3 in)
Draught	4.26 m (14 ft 0 in)
Ramps	Over bows and at stern
Installed power	3 × 750 kW (1,006 hp) diesel generators
Propulsion	2 × 9,600 hp (7,159 kW) Zgoda-Sulzer 16ZVB40/48 diesel engines
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Endurance	30 days
Capacity	10 × main battle tanks and 340 troops or 12 × BTR APC and 340 troops or 3 × main battle tanks, 3 × 2S9 Nona-S SPG, 5 × MT-LB APC, 4 trucks and 313 troops or 500 tons of cargo
Complement	98
Armament	2 × AK-725 twin 57 mm (2.2 in) DP guns 4 × 8 Strela 2 SAM launchers 2 × 22 A-215 Grad-M rocket launchers
Service record
Part of:	Black Sea Fleet 197th Landing Ship Brigade[1]
Operations:	Russian Invasion of Ukraine

History

Russian invasion of Ukraine

In 2021, it was reported that Azov was a part of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Crimea, participating in amphibious warfare training.^[2] In June 2022, Azov was among the Black Sea Fleet vessels reported to be operational and available for amphibious landings in the Black Sea by Russian sources.^[3]

On 24 March 2024, the Ukrainian general staff and open-source intelligence sources reported that Azov and her sister ship Yamal were hit by cruise missiles while they were in their home port of Sevastopol.^[4][5] Eyewitnesses reported explosions during the night.^[6] Recent^[when?] satellite images did not reveal any damage, showing that the missile hit the pier next to the ship presumably due to the electronic warfare system.^[7][8]