Kerch (Керчь) is a Kara-class

Kara class cruiser

The Kara is a class of Cold War era Soviet guided missile cruisers. The Soviet designation is Project 1134B Berkut B - Беркут Б and the Soviet mission description is "large anti-submarine warfare ship" and not "cruiser".-Design:...

 missile cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 of the Soviet

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 and later Russian Navy. The cruiser is in active service with the Russian Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 as of 2011.

History

Kerch was laid down in the Soviet Union on 30 April 1971, launched on 21 July 1972 and was commissioned in the Soviet Black Sea Fleet on 25 December 1974. The ship was constructed in the 61 Kommunar Shipyard

Shipyard named after 61 Communards

Shipyard named after 61 Communards is a major shipyard located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. In modern times, the shipyard has been most commonly referred to as Nikolaev North Shipyard but was also known as Soviet Shipyard No. 200.- History :...

 at Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...

 (Nikolayev) on the Black Sea

Black Sea

The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...

. She was in service with the Soviet Fleet until 1991, and then joined its successor, the new Russian Navy. As of 2011 she is the last active Kara-class cruiser.