The Kresta I class, Soviet designation Project 1134 Berkut (golden eagle), was a class of guided missile cruiser built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy. The ships were designed for a surface warfare role, but Soviet priorities were changed to an anti-submarine role and only four ships were built in this configuration. They were followed by the, an anti-submarine warfare variant.
Though considerably larger, more effective and reliable than the previous Soviet cruiser class, the, the Kresta I surface warfare cruisers carried only half as many Shaddock launch tubes and one-fourth the total number of missiles. Initially it was planned to fit the SS-N-12 Sandbox (P-500 Bazalt) missile but the protracted development of this missile led to the older SS-N-3 being shipped. The self-defence armament was considerably increased as were command and communications facilities.
The Kresta Is could launch four SS-N-3b SLCMs and 44 SA-N-1 surface-to-air missiles with two twin launchers fore and aft, and had ten 21inches torpedo tubes. A single Ka-25 Hormone B helicopter was carried for targeting the cruise missile, and mid-course corrections.
The initial plan was for a single squadron of seven ships armed with long range missiles and two squadrons of fourteen ships armed with shorter range missiles. Only four ships were built before production switched to the anti-submarine variant the Kresta II class.
All the ships were built by the Zhdanov Shipyard in Leningrad.
| Name | Russian | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Адмирал Зозуля | 26 July 1964 | 17 October 1965 | 8 October 1967 | 15 December 1994 | ||
| Владивосток | 24 December 1964 | 1 August 1966 | 1 August 1969 | 1 January 1991 | ||
| Вице-Адмирал Дрозд | 26 October 1965 | 18 November 1966 | 27 December 1968 | 1 July 1990 | ||
| Севастополь | 8 June 1966 | 28 April 1967 | 25 September 1969 | 15 December 1989 |