Soviet cruiser Molotov
Encyclopedia
Molotov was a Project 26bis of the Soviet Navy
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...
that served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and into the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. She supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Sevastopol, the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation and the amphibious landings at Novorossiysk
Malaya Zemlya
Malaya Zemlya was a Soviet uphill outpost on Cape Myskhako that was recaptured after fierce, bloody battles with the Germans during the Battle of Caucasus, on the night of 4 February 1943...
at the end of January 1943.
The ship was extensively modernized between 1952 and 1955. She was renamed Slava in 1957 after Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
fell out of favour. Slava was reclassified as a training ship in 1961 before being sold for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in 1972.
Description
Molotov and her sister Maxim Gorky had heavier armor and were slightly improved from the first two Kirov-class cruisers of Project 26, and were thus designated Project 26bis.She was 187 metres (613.5 ft) long at the waterline, 191.4 metres (628 ft) long overall, with a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 17.66 metre and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
between 5.87 metre. She displaced 8177 tonnes (8,047.8 LT) at standard load and 9728 tonnes (9,574.3 LT) at full load.
Her steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s produced a total of 129750 shp during her sea trial
Sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft . It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and can last from a few hours to many days.Sea trials are conducted to measure a vessel’s...
s, reaching a maximum speed of 36.72 knots (20 m/s), just shy of her designed speed of 37 knots, mainly because she was overweight by 900 tonnes (885.8 LT). Molotov normally carried 650 tonnes (639.7 LT) of fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
, 1660 tonnes (1,633.8 LT) at full load and 1750 tonnes (1,722.4 LT) at overload. This gave her a range of 4220 nautical miles (7,815.4 km) at 18 knots (9.8 m/s).
Molotov carried nine 180 millimetres (7.1 in) 57-calibre
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
B-1-P guns in three electrically powered MK-3-180 triple turrets. Her secondary armament consisted of nine single 100 millimetres (3.9 in) 56-calibre B-34 anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
guns fitted on each side of the rear funnel. Her light AA guns consisted of six semi-automatic 45 millimetres (1.8 in) 21-K
45 mm anti-aircraft gun (21-K)
The 45 mm anti-aircraft gun was a Soviet design adapted from the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 . This was a copy of a German weapon designed by Rheinmetall that was sold to the Soviets before Hitler came to power in 1933 that had been enlarged to in increase its penetrating power...
AA guns and four DK
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
12.7 millimetre (0.5 in) machine guns. Six 533 millimetres (21 in) 39-Yu torpedo tubes were fitted in two triple mountings.
Molotov was the first Soviet ship to carry radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, a Redut-K air warning system, which she used for the entire war. Soviet-designed Mars-1 gunnery radar systems were added by 1944.
Wartime modifications
By 1943 three of Molotov's 45 mm semi-automatic guns were replaced with twelve fully automatic 37 millimetres (1.5 in) 70-K AA guns with one thousand rounds per gun and two extra DK machine guns. Her aircraft catapultAircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
was removed in 1942 to make room for more light AA guns.
In 1943 an improved ZK-1a catapult was fitted and successfully test-launched a Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
fighter
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
. However, in 1947 the concept was abanonded and the catapult was removed.
World War II
Molotov was laid down at the Marti SouthBlack Sea Shipyard
The Black Sea Shipyard is located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine and is the largest shipyard with near direct access to the Black Sea. It is most often referred to as the Nikolayev South Shipyard and was known as Soviet Shipyard No...
, Nikolayev
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:...
on 14 January 1937, launched on 4 December 1939 and was completed on 14 June 1941. As the only ship in the Soviet Navy with radar Molotov remained in Sevastopol for the initial period of Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
to provide air warning. The advance of German troops into the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
in late October 1941 forced her to transfer to Tuapse where she continued to provide air warning. However, the ship did bombard German troops near Feodosiya with nearly 200 180 mm shells on 9 November before returning to Tuapse. Molotov helped to carry the 386th Rifle Division from Poti
Poti
Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also...
to Sevastopol between 24 and 28 December 1941. While off-loading troops on 29 December her stern was damaged by German artillery and she shelled Axis positions in retaliation, firing 205 180 mm and 107 100 mm shells. The ship evacuated 600 wounded upon her departure on 30 December.
Molotov reprised her role as a transport during the first week of January. Her bow was damaged during a heavy storm in Tuapse when she was thrown against the jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
on 21–22 January 1942. The ship spent most of the next month under repair, although her bow could not be straightened; the residual damage reduced her speed by several knots. She made a number of bombardment sorties in support of Soviet troops on the Kerch Peninsula until 20 March when she returned to Poti for more permanent repairs. On 12 June Molotov transported 2998 men of the 138th Rifle Brigade to Sevastopol, shelling German positions while unloading. She evacuated 1065 wounded and 350 women and children as she departed. On 14–15 June the ship returned, carrying 3855 reinforcements in company with other ships, bombarded German positions again, and evacuated 2908 wounded and refugees. On 2 August, while returning from another bombardment mission near Feodosiya, 20 metres (65.6 ft) of her stern was blown off by Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
torpedo bombers of 6./KG 26
Kampfgeschwader 26
Kampfgeschwader 26 "Löwengeschwader" was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II .Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in September–October 1944. It operated two of the major German bomber types; the Heinkel He 111 and the Junkers Ju 88...
acting in concert with Italian MAS torpedo boats
MAS (boat)
Motoscafo Armato Silurante , commonly abbreviated as MAS was a class of fast torpedo armed vessel used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II...
. The damage reduced her speed to 10 knots (5.4 m/s) and Molotov had to be steered by her engines. Molotov was under repair at Poti until 31 July 1943 and used the stern of the incomplete Frunze, the rudder of the incomplete cruiser Zheleznyakov, the steering gear from the cruiser and the steering sensor from the submarine . The loss of three destroyers to German air attack on 6 October 1943 resulted in Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's order that forbade the deployment of large naval units without his express permission; this meant the end of Molotovs active participation in the war.
Postwar career
Molotov was refitted in November 1945 to repair the last of her wartime damage. She suffered a fire in the shell handling room for Turret #2 on 5 October 1946 that had to be extinguished by flooding the magazineMagazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
and handling room at the cost of 22 dead and 20 wounded. The ship served as the test bed for the radars intended for the and s during the late 1940s. Molotovs postwar modernization began in 1952 and lasted until 28 January 1955.
As part of this modernization Molotov received a radar suite composed of Gyuys for air search, Rif for surface search, Zalp for main-armament gunnery and Yakor' for anti-aircraft gunnery. All of her light anti-aircraft guns were replaced by eleven twin gun water-cooled 37 mm V-11 mounts and her 100 mm guns were reinstalled on fully powered B-34USMA mountings. Her anti-aircraft fire-control system was replaced by a Zenit-26 with SPN-500 stabilized director
Director (military)
A director, also called an auxiliary predictor, is a mechanical or electronic computer that continuously calculates trigonometric firing solutions for use against a moving target, and transmits targeting data to direct the weapon firing crew....
s. In addition she lost her torpedo tubes, anti-submarine weapons, boat cranes and all remaining aircraft equipment. This cost 200 million rubles, between half and three-quarters the cost of a new Project 68bis .
On 29 October 1955 the ship participated in rescue efforts after an explosion sank the ex-Italian battleship Novorossiysk
Italian battleship Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare , motto Caesar Adest was a Conte di Cavour-class battleship that served in the Regia Marina in both World Wars before joining the Soviet Navy as the Novorossiysk. Her keel was laid down on 24 June 1910 at Cantieri Ansaldo, Genoa...
. Five of her own men were lost when the battleship capsize
Capsize
Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...
d almost three hours after the explosion. She was renamed Slava on 3 August 1957 after Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
was purged from the government after an unsuccessful coup against Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
that same year.Vyacheslav Molotov joked: "Firstly the cruiser was named on my family name, now she is named on my first name". ("Slava" means in Russian not only glory, but also is a diminutive of Vyacheslav.) She was reclassified as a training cruiser on 3 August 1961. Slava was deployed to the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
between 5–30 June 1967 to show Soviet support of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
during the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. She returned to the Mediterranean between September–December 1970 where the ship assisted the Kotlin-class
Kotlin class destroyer (Project 56)
Kotlin class destroyers were Cold War era ships built for the Soviet Navy. The Russian name for this class was Project 56 Spokoinyy . 27 ships were built between 1955 and 1958; they were all decommissioned in the late 1980s. The Kildin class is based on the design of the Kotlins...
destroyer Bravyi after the latter's collision with the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
on 9 November 1970. Slava was sold for scrap on 4 April 1972.