NEW SHIPBUILDING FACILITIES AT NIKOLAYEV SHIPYARD OKTYABRSKOYE AND KERCH NAVAL BASE AND SHIPYARD KAMYSH BURUN 532 USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78T05162A000200010031-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2011
• Sequence Number: 31
• Publication Date: June 1, 1971
• Content Type: REPORT

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NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION
REPORT
NEW SHIPBUILDING FACILITIES AT
NIKOLAYEV SHIPYARD OKTYABRSKOYE AND
KERCH NAVAL BASE AND
SHIPYARD KAMYSH BURUN 531
USSR
GROUP 1 EXCLUDED FROM
AUTOMATIC DOWNGRADING
AND DECLASSIFICATION
JUNE 1971
COPY NO 1 i J
5 PAGES
PIR-027/71
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INSTALLATION OR ACTIVITY NAME
New Shipbuilding Facilities at Nokolayev Shipyard Oktyabrskoye and
Kerch Naval Base and Shipyard Kamysh Burun 532
NA
Sheet 0249-16_ scale 1:200.000
See below
See below
UR
See below I See below
ACIC. USATC, Series 200, Sheet 0250-9, scale 1:200,000 2d RTS. USATC, Series 200,
NA
None
Installation
Name Geographic Coordinates
Nikolayev 46-51-35N 031-59-32E
Kerch 45-16-06N 036-25-17E
ABSTRACT
1. Two similar shipbuilding facilities, one at Nikolayev Shipyard Oktyabrskoye and
the other at Kerch Naval Base and Shipyard Kamysh Burun 532, were observed under
construction on recent KEYHOLE photography. Each facility consisted of a very large
shipbuilding dock and a large subassembly or platen area. Large fabrication buildings were
under construction at Nikola ev, while none were under construction at Kerch when it was
last observed Both facilities are several years from completion, although
the Nikolayev shipyard appeared to be in a later stage of construction than the shipyard at
Kerch.
2. This report provides a detailed imagery-derived analysis of the new shipbuilding
facilities under construction and an estimate of their appearance and capabilities when
construction is complete.
INTRODUCTION
3. Nikolayev Shipyard Oktyabrskoye is 6 nautical miles (nm) south of Nikolayev on
the east bank of the Yuznyy Bug River. This shipyard has built refrigerator ships, fish
factory ships, and timber carriers. Kerch Naval Base and Shipyard Kamysh Burun 532, 6
nm south-southwest of Kerch, has been building the new Krivak-class guided-missile
destroyer (DDGM) as well as merchant ships.
4. Landfill operations at Nikolayev began immediately south of the yard in the winter
of 1965-66; this area encompasses 110 acres and contains the above-mentioned large
shipbuilding dock, subassembly area, and fabrication buildings. By February 1971 these
facilities were in a midstage of construction. Landfill activity just south and east of the
Kamysh Burun Shipyard at Kerch began approximately 18 months later, between August
1966 and June 1967. In August 1970 the building dock was in early-to-middle stages of
construction, the portal cranes were being assembled in the subassembly area, and landfill
was continuing.
5. These new shipbuilding facilities are several years from completion; however,
enough indicators are present to predict the finished appearance of the facilities and to
make an assessment of the capabilities of the yards.
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BASIC DESCRIPTION
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6. The pilings and foundations for the shipbuilding docks and subassembly areas at
Nikolayev and Kerch are identical (Figures 1 and 2); the only differences appeared in the
fabrication areas and in the size of the subassembly or platen areas.
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dock has a subassembly or platen area beyond the inland end. Kerch has a six-acre platen
area; at Nikolayev the platen area is nearly ten acres.
7. Each dock and platen area will be served by at least two very large portal cranes
and at least one-bridge crane (Figure 3). The portal cranes will run on ways on either side of
the dock, and the bridge crane will straddle the building dock. The floors of the docks have
two large slots which extend the entire length of the dock. These slots will probably house
the mechanism to move the assembled ship along the dock floor as required when new block
sections are added. Another feature of these docks is the four caisson stops spaced
from the head 25X1
of the dock. The massive gate structure will house the winching and pumping machinery
necessary to fill and drain the dock and to move ships to the various construction positions.
8. Two large fabrication buildings, one L shaped, were under construction at
Nikolayev. The larger portion of the L-shaped building
. The second building, 25X1
immediately inland of the subassembly area and adjacent to the L-shaped building,
No fabrication buildings were observed 25X1
under construction at Kerch; however, the large landfill area adjacent to the dock facility
was being graded, possibly in preparation for the construction of fabrication
buildings.
9. The cranes (two portal and one overhead) that serve the building docks will also
serve the subassembly areas at both Nikolayev and Kerch. At Nikolayev the subassembly
area will extend inland from the dock; at Kerch it 25X1
will exten inland.r 25X1
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10. The facilities at Nikolayev and Kerch are strikingly similar to Gotoverken
Shipyard at Arendal, Sweden (Figure 4). The basic principles of block construction and of
changing construction positions are the same. At Gotoverken, however, the subassembly
area is confined to a building, whereas in the Soviet yards subassembly will take place in
the open. There are three practical reasons for this: 1) the weather in the Black Sea region is
better than in Sweden; 2) larger subassemblies can be handled in the open than in a
building; and 3) the cranes can be used both in the subassembly area and over the dock.
11. Another distinguishing feature of Nikolayev and Kerch is the modification of the
dock structure to include caisson stops (Figure 3). This innovation allows portions of the
dock to be used for repair work without interrupting the new construction cycle. For
example, three ships the size of a Poltava-class merchant ship could be drydocked abreast
in the last section of the dock until that section was needed for the new ship under
construction. Larger ships could also be drydocked, but for shorter periods of time. The
largest ship which could be drydocked without stalling new construction would be
approximately 900 feet in length. Another way the caisson stops might be used is to speed
up new construction. If a ship under construction were under 900 feet long, construction
could begin on the next unit before the first unit was launched, thereby reducing building
time.
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ACIC. US Air Target Chart, Series 200, Sheet 0250-9, scale 1:200,000 2d RTS. US Air Target Chart, Series 200,
Sheet 0249-16, scale 1:200,000
Department of Commerce. JPRS 50078, Modern Dock Structures for Large and Medium-Size Ships, 16 Mar 71,
Complete translation of book by Gleb Anatolyevich Vakharlovskiy, Petr Filippovich Kucheryavenko, and Valentin
Filippovich Buzik, Leningrad, 1968 (UNCLASSIFIED)
NPIC/IEG/WGD/SSB Project 251031AC
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Tna Ulr_UT
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