Nautical Research Journal 163


Figure 1. Outside the box:


Building Admiral Chabanenko By Chuck Bauer


It is rare for me to buy a kit based upon its box art, but this is one such case. Trumpeter’s 1:350-scale Admiral Chabanenko missile destroyer caught my eye. T e sleek, graceful shape of the hull, the bridge face, and the towering masts with radars and anten- nas—all beckoned. When I saw that a photo-etched metal upgrade set was available, it was a no-brainer. I purchased the kit and the upgrade set, and, when they arrived, I opened up the packages. Everything looked good, so I set them aside. Five years later— one year ago—I reopened what I had, and started my research. Not a lot was available on the real Admiral Chabanenko, but there was—and is—plenty of infor- mation out there about his namesake ship.


Andrey Trofi movich Chabanenko (1909–1986) en- tered the Frunze Naval Offi cer School in 1927 and, in 1931, graduated early and entered the submarine service. He earned his fi rst command in 1933, serv- ing in the Pacifi c Fleet, where he quickly rose to com- mand a submarine division and then its 2nd Subma- rine Brigade during World War II. Aſt er studies at


the General Staff Academy, he was promoted vice- admiral in 1951 and took command of the Northern Fleet in 1952, a post he retained for ten years (he was promoted admiral in 1953). From 1962 to 1972 he was the naval assistant to the Chief of the General Staff and then taught at the General Staff Academy until he retired in 1976.


Russian Udaloy I destroyers were designed as coun- terparts to the United States Navy’s Arleigh Burke- class. Chabanenko was the fi rst Udaloy II, an upgrade equipped with a versatile weapons suite of guided missiles and rapid-fi ring guns. Aſt er weeks of review- ing and downloading photographs and watching videos, I decided I would need to add many details that were not in the kit box or part of the manufac- turer’s upgrade set. Fortunately, I have drawers full of leſt over photo-etched metal frets, and lots of miscel- laneous raw materials for scratch-building purposes.


A few weeks into the project I discovered that the upgrade set was designed for Udaloy I destroyers, so I had to cut up some of this material to suit, and leave the rest alone. Aſt er expending 821 hours on this project I realized I had used 376 parts from the box, 53 parts from the upgrade set, and had fabricated 456 parts from scratch and from my photo-etch in-


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