By http://uvb-76.net - this is a collection of photos about a largest space tracking ship belonging to a once prominent "Space Fleet" (Kosmicheskij Flot) of USSR, "Kosmonavt Yuri Gagarin".From http://machineagechronicle.com/2011/03/the-last-voyage-of-kosmonaut-yuri-gagarin/ :"Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, with a displacement of 45.000 ton and two 9500 shp Kirov steam turbines, was launched from the Baltic Shipyard in 1971. With 230m in length and a beam of 31m Yuri Gagarin was only slightly smaller than the ill-fated RMS Titanic. She had an operation crew of over 300 who lived in relatively luxury (Soviet space scientists and technicians were often treated as royalty -- the cosmonauts as gods). Since space flight in the early 70s were high bursts of energy followed by long periods of waiting Yuri Gagarin was equipped to cater for this lifestyle. A 10.000 volume library, 120 laboratories/ workshops and a 300 seat lecture hall provided intellectual stimulation on the long journeys. An indoor football field and three swimming pools saw to it that the crew remained fit for their task.Besides the main task of tracking Soviet manned and unmanned space flight Yuri Gagarin was equipped to carry out its own experiments and research both in the upper atmosphere and space. The nature of their work saw the crew enduring prolonged oceanic journeys and live onboard might have been less glamorous than that of those who worked in the Soviet Union, but when Yuri Gagarin entered a friendly port (the USSR had many friends around the world and the ship was often moored in Havana) the space flight mariners had their fair share of celebrity.Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin served the Soviet space program well throughout the 70s and 80s. She was part of both the Soyuz and Cosmos missions and even tracked the magnificent sole Buran mission (the soviet version of NASA's Shace Shuttle). In 1975 she participated in the Soviet/American Apollo-Soyuz program and archived some international fame.After the fall of the Soviet Union things did not fare well for the distinguished control-monitoring ship. The previously bottomless budget quickly dried up and within a few years Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had tracked its last satellite. In 1996 the proud ship was unceremoniously sold for scrap at $170 a ton."