110421-G-6458F-007-Bertholf and Vorovsky

KODIAK, Alaska – The crews of the ships Bertholf and Vorovsky sail west to the Bering Sea on a joint exchange April 21, 2011. The Vorovsky is a Krivak-class frigate commissioned in 1990 for the Russian Federal Security Service and the Bertholf is the first of the Coast Guard’s National Security Cutters, Legend-class, commissioned in 2008. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis

This photo was taken during an exchange visit by the Russian Federal Security Service ship Vorovsky to Kodiak. This is the latest in a regular series of bi-annual port visits between the Coast Guard and the Russian Security Service, alternating visits between Alaskan and Siberian ports. The Seventeenth District Commander and the Chief of the Northeast Border Directorate of the Federal Security Service of Russia and some of their staff members used the opportunity to meet.

As the Russian equivalent of our National Security Cutter or Maritime Security, Large (WMSL), I find it interesting to compare the Russian vessel with the Bertholf. The Vorovsky, almost 20 years older, is the newest of seven “Krivak III” (NATO designation) class frigate, derived from the Soviet Navy’s “Krivak” class, but with modifications for “coast guard” tasks, primarily the addition a helicopter deck and hanger. Continue reading →