Stalingrad Class Battlecruiser
Encyclopedia
The Stalingrad-class battlecruiser
, also known in the Soviet Union
as Project 82 , was intended to be built for the Soviet Navy
after World War II
. Three ships were ordered, but none were ever completed.
A heavy cruiser was designed before the Second World War as an intermediate between the light cruiser
and classes and the s. The specification, or OTZ in Russian, was issued in May 1941, but plans were shelved with the invasion of the Soviet Union
by Germany
. Construction was proposed again in 1943. After a lengthy design period, which Premier
Joseph Stalin
—a major supporter of the project—often had a hand in, keels for two ships were laid at the Marti South Shipyard
in Nikolayev
(1951) and the Baltic Works
in Leningrad
(1952) and a third ship was planned for the shipyard in Severodvinsk.
The Project 82 design which was ordered would have been much larger than the original intermediate design, so much so that they were considered the successors to the Kronshtadts, which had been canceled at the outbreak of World War II. As envisioned by Stalin, the Stalingrad battlecruisers' role would be to disrupt and break up an enemy's light cruisers when they approached the Soviet coast. However, after his death in March 1953, the ships were canceled by the Ministry of Transport and Heavy Machinery. Only the incomplete hull of Stalingrad was launched
; used as a floating target
for anti-ship missiles, it was scrapped
around 1962.
s of the and classes and the "heavy cruisers" of the in size. It was intended to fulfill the following roles:
To accomplish these missions the Navy expected a ship of 20000 tonnes (19,684.1 LT) or smaller, armed with eight 203 millimetres (8 in) and twelve 100 millimetres (3.9 in) guns, twelve 37 millimetres (1.5 in) anti-aircraft
guns and one triple 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo
mount. It was to be armored to withstand 203 mm shells with a speed not less than 36 kn (43.8 mph; 70.6 km/h), a range of 10000 nmi (18,520 km) at 20 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) and able to carry four seaplanes launched by two catapults
. Three preliminary designs were proposed in response, but only one, which displaced 25000 tonnes (24,605.1 LT), was able to meet all of the requirements. However, the designers recommended an increase in the main armament caliber to 220 millimetres (8.7 in), a strengthened anti-aircraft battery and reductions in the armor protection, speed, and range, but the start of Operation Barbarossa
a month later rendered these plans moot.
The project was revived in 1943 with a new requirement issued on 15 September. This was basically identical to the original, but added one new requirement: "Protect the operations of aircraft carriers and conduct joint operations with them." Estimated characteristics were a displacement between 20000–22000 t (19,684.1–21,652.5 LT), nine main guns between 210 millimetre, a secondary battery of a dozen 130-mm dual-purpose guns and thirty-two 37-mm AA guns. The speed, range and aircraft requirements remained the same, although the torpedo tubes were dropped. Over a dozen preliminary designs had been proposed by May 1944, but none were acceptable. A new tactical requirement was issued in November 1944 that envisioned a more realistic displacement of 25000–26000 t (24,605.1–25,589.3 LT) while the speed was dropped to 33 kn (40.2 mph; 64.7 km/h) and the range to 8000 nmi (14,816 km). Armament was also revised to nine 220-mm guns, sixteen 130-mm guns, thirty-two 45 millimetres (1.8 in) and twenty 23 millimetre (0.905511811023622 in) AA guns. These last guns were changed to 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) in 1945.
Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov
believed that these ships could protect the planned Soviet aircraft carrier
s in bad weather from American cruisers and pushed to have them built, but the Shipbuilding Commissariat balked. It refused to begin detailed design work pleading the uncertainty of the post-war building situation and the already heavy workload of its design bureaux. Undeterred the Navy continued studying cruiser designs and planned a ten-year construction programme for the period 1946–1955. This was based on defensive operations along the periphery of the Soviet Union against Anglo-American carrier groups while submarines would attack their lines of communication. Ten of these large cruisers were envisioned as part of this construction program. When the program was discussed by the Politburo
on 29 September 1945 there was no great disagreement on the large cruisers, although Stalin
favored increasing the size of their main guns to 305 mm (12 in), but did not push the issue when Admiral Kuznetsov resisted.
A bigger problem was the resistance of the Shipbuilding Commissariat which said it would be impossible to lay down any ships of new design until about 1950 and that only incremental changes could be made to the designs currently in production. The Navy saw no reason why new ships, reflecting wartime experience, could not be laid down beginning in 1948. To resolve the dispute a special commission was appointed, led by Lavrentiy Beria
, which mostly sided with the Shipbuilding Commissariat in that most ships of the program would be improved versions of current designs. Four of the large cruisers were to begin construction, two each at Shipyard 402 in Molotovsk
and Shipyard 444
at Nikolayev
with another three planned to be laid down in 1953 and 1955. This compromise was approved on 27 November 1945 and detailed design work began in 1946 for designs equipped with both the 220-mm and 305-mm guns.
This was reaffirmed by a decree of the Council of Ministers
on 28 January 1947. By August 1947 the Navy and the Shipbuilding Ministry had winnowed down design proposals to only three, one from each armed with 305 mm guns and a joint design armed with 220 mm guns. The latter's design was slightly smaller (2000 tonnes (1,968.4 LT)) than the Navy's 40000 tonnes (39,368.1 LT) design, and had an armor belt
50 mm (2 in) thinner, but was otherwise almost identical. The joint design was 2000 tonnes (1,968.4 LT) smaller with a reduced secondary armament, but was about 1.5 kn (1.8 mph; 2.9 km/h) faster. All proposals had a range of 6000 nmi (11,112 km) at 18 kn (22 mph; 35 km/h). These designs weren't reviewed until March 1948, probably because of the need to coordinate reaction to the American Marshall Plan, and Stalin approved the Navy's more heavily protected design. But even this was subject to more delays as the detailed specifications had to be approved and this didn't occur until 31 August 1948, likely delayed by the Tito–Stalin split and the start of the Berlin Blockade
, both in June.
With the approval of the specifications, TsKB-17, the heavy-ship design bureau, began work on the sketch design to be submitted for approval to the Council of Ministers before the start of the technical design could begin. By March 1949 four alternatives had been completed, differing mainly in the arrangement of the 130 mm guns and the boiler layout. The bureau preferred one layout and the Navy and the Shipbuilding Ministry concurred so the bureau began the technical design, without formal approval, in order to be ready to lay down the first two ships in the third quarter of 1950 as already scheduled. However when Stalin reviewed the sketch design in September 1949 he rejected it, ordering a smaller, faster ship capable of 35 kn (42.6 mph; 68.6 km/h). TsKB-17 was able to produce a preliminary technical design that met Stalin's demands by the end of the year, an amazingly fast amount of time for what should have been a very involved process. The most likely explanation is that the designers retained as much of their original work as possible and found room for the more powerful turbines and more numerous boilers necessary to attain Stalin's specified speed by deleting the two rear twin 130 mm turrets, and their magazines, as revealed by a comparison of the 1949 and 1951 sketches.
The Navy didn't like the compromises made to reduce the displacement down to Stalin's 36000 tonnes (35,431.3 LT) and to achieve the high speed demanded as revealed in a March 1950 meeting in the Kremlin where Stalin revealed critical points about his thoughts for these ships. When the admirals responded to his question about the purpose of these ships by saying that they were to fight the enemy's heavy cruisers, he contradicted them and said that their purpose was to fight light cruisers: "It is necessary to increase its speed to 35 knots and create a cruiser that will cause panic among the enemy's light cruisers, disperse and destroy them." Furthermore he believed that they would fight close to home, defending the coastal waters of Soviet Union. "You cannot blindly copy the Americans and English, they face different conditions, their ships travel far over the ocean, out of touch with their bases. We are not considering conducting oceanic battles, but instead will fight close to our own shores, so we do not need a large ammunition supply on the ship." The admirals also did not like the reduction in the secondary armament made to accommodate the larger machinery and extra boilers needed to reach the speed desired by Stalin, but he reminded them that most aircraft would attack the battlecruiser at heights below 1500 m (4,921.3 ft) and the ceiling of the 130 mm was far in excess of that. He also ordered a reduction in the light anti-aircraft guns believing that its escorts would defend it. This design was approved by the Council of Ministers on 25 March 1950.
This allowed the technical design process to begin and it was completed in December 1950. Reviews by the Navy and Shipbuilding Ministries in February 1951 led to some significant changes to the design in April. The original form of the bow was similar to that of the light cruisers, but sea trials of the lead ship of that class in December 1950—January 1951 proved that she was very wet forward, which hindered her seakeeping
ability. The Stalingrads bow form was radically altered with a much more raked stem
, its sheer and flare were greatly increased and the ship gained almost 10 metre in length, possibly in response to the Chapayevs problems. In addition the thickness of her belt armor was increased from 150 millimetre, possibly in response to weight savings elsewhere. This final design was submitted for approval on 4 June 1951, but preparations for the working design drawings began before it was approved.
, and displaced 36500 tonnes (35,923.4 LT) at standard load and 42300 tonnes (41,631.8 LT) at full load. They were the first large Soviet-built ships with a flush deck. The hull was completely welded to save weight and they used longitudinal framing throughout. Metacentric height
was estimated at 2.6 m (8.5 ft), presumably in the design load condition. The ships had a triple bottom
underneath the armored citadel that had a height of 2.25 metre and 23 main watertight compartments. They had a crew of 1712 men plus space for 30 when acting as a flagship
.
The cost for each ship was estimated at 1.168 billion rubles, almost four times the 322 million rubles for a . The ship was intended to be commanded by a rear admiral, with its executive officer, political officer and the heads of the gunnery and engineering divisions as captains 1st rank.
s, each producing 70000 shp and driving one propeller
. They were powered by twelve water-tube boiler
s at a pressure of 66 kg/cm2 at a temperature of 460 °C (860 °F). The machinery was arranged on the unit system so that one hit couldn't knock out all the boilers or all the turbines and immobilize the ship. Two boiler compartments, each with three boilers, were situated underneath the forward funnel, with a turbine compartment for the wing shafts immediately aft and this arrangement was repeated for the two center shafts. 5000 tonnes (4,921 LT) of fuel oil
were carried which gave a range of 5000 nmi (9,260 km) at 18 knots (35 km/h). Maximum speed was 35.5 kn (43.2 mph; 69.6 km/h).
Eight 750 kW turbo-generators drove the 380V, 50 Hz electrical system in addition to four 1000 kW Diesel generator
s located outside each end of the armored citadel for a total capacity of 10,000 kW.
shells at ranges between 13000–15000 yd (11,887.2–13,716 m) and 34000 yards (31,089.6 m). The remainder of the armor was intended to resist 6 inches (15.2 cm) high explosive shells and 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) HE bombs.
The belt armor
was 180 mm (7.1 in) thick and inclined outwards at an angle of 15° to maximize its effectiveness against both plunging and horizontal fire. It had a vertical height of 5.25 m (17.2 ft), 1.7 m (5.6 ft) of which was below the design waterline. It covered approximately 60% of the ship's waterline or about 156 m (511.8 ft). 50 mm (2 in) of armor covered the hull side above the belt as protection from splinters. The forward end of the armored citadel was closed off by a 140 millimetres (5.5 in) thick transverse bulkhead
on the forward end and 125 mm (4.9 in) aft. The deck armor in the citadel ranged in thickness, from 50 mm (2 in) for the upper deck, a 70 millimetres (2.8 in) middle deck—increased to 75 mm (3 in) over the handling rooms for the 130 millimetres (5.1 in) gun turret
s—and a lower splinter deck of 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in), which increased outboard to 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in). The waterline forward of the citadel was protected by a 50 millimetres (2 in) splinter belt all the way to the bow, with a similar extension aft to the steering gear compartment. The middle deck behind this splinter belt was 50 mm (2 in) thick. The steering gear was protected by 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor on the sides, a 70 millimetre deck and a 200 millimetres (7.9 in) armored bulkhead aft.
Additional armored plates were fixed to the third bulkhead of the underwater protection system to protect against diving shells hitting below the level of the waterline belt. Their thicknesses varied depending on location and ranged oddly from 100 mm (3.9 in) amidships to 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) over the 305 mm (12 in) magazine
s. The main battery turrets were protected by 240 mm (9.4 in) of armor on the faces and 225 mm (8.9 in) on the sides and 125 mm (4.9 in) of armor on the roofs. Their barbette
s had a maximum of 235 mm (9.3 in) on their forward faces and 200 mm (7.9 in) on the after face. Below the main deck they were protected by only 195 millimetre of armor. The 130 mm turrets were only protected by 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) of armor as splinter protection.
The forward conning tower
had a forward face of 250 mm (9.8 in) that thinned down to 225 mm (8.9 in) on the aft section with a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) roof. Its controls and cable runs were protected by a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) tube and the lower part of the conning tower's supporting structure was protected with 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) plates. Aft there was a lightly protected auxiliary control station with 50 millimetres (2 in) sides. Between the middle and lower decks the funnel uptakes were protected by 100 mm (3.9 in) of armor and 30 mm (1.2 in) between the upper and middle decks. A 125 millimetres (4.9 in) upper and 175 millimetres (6.9 in) lower grating protected the boilers from shells and fragments entering through the uptake openings.
The torpedo protection system was developed on the basis of model tests and full-scale trials using the incomplete hull of the prewar battlecruiser Kronshtadt
and was expected to resist a torpedo warhead equivalent to 400 kilogram of TNT. It was made up of an external bulge with four longintudinal bulkheads. The first was 8 millimetre thick, the second was 8 millimetre, the third was 50 mm (2 in) and the fourth 15 millimetre. Presumably the thinner thicknesses were at the ends of the ships where the bulkheads were squeezed together. The outer space was left empty, but the two middle spaces were filled with oil that was intended to be exchanged with sea water as it was consumed, and the inner space was also to be left empty. One curious feature was that the first and second bulkheads were concave in profile. Apparently this was believed to improve their protective qualities, although there is no indication of how it did this. "The total depth of the system was about 4 metre amidships, which seems rather shallow." The triple bottom underneath the armored citadel was believed to protect the ship against a charge equivalent to 500 kg (1,102.3 lb) of TNT five meters below the ship's hull.
gun as originally planned, or use the 305-mm/54 guns ordered for the Kronstadt, it was decided in 1947 to adopt a new and more powerful 61-caliber
gun of the same size that was to use three newly designed triple SM-6 turrets. Each individual gun weighed 101.58 tonne and the complete turret weighed 1370 tonne. The guns could be depressed to −4° and elevated to 50° at a rate of 10° per second. Traverse speed was 4.5° per second and each turret was ordinarily remotely controlled from the More-82 main fire control director, but could be locally controlled if necessary. They fired 467 kilograms (1,029.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
of 950 m/s (3,116.8 ft/s) to a maximum range of around 53070 m (58,038.1 yd) using 209 kg (460.8 lb) of propellant. Their rate of fire was 3.26 rounds per minute and 80 rounds were stowed aboard for each gun. One barrel was completed in December 1953 for evaluation purposes after the ships were canceled earlier that year.
The 130-mm 58-caliber guns were also a new design. They were to be fitted in a new twin-gun BL-109A dual-purpose mount. Each individual gun weighed 4.88 tonne and the complete turret weighed 65.2 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -8° and elevate to 83° at a rate of 20° a second. Traverse speed was 20° per second. The guns fired 33.4 kilograms (73.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
of 950–1000 m/s (3,116.8–3,280.8 ft/s) to a maximum horizontal range of 32390 m (35,422.1 yd) using 12.92 kg (28.5 lb) of propellant. Their rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute and 200 rounds were stowed for each gun.
Twenty-four 45 millimetres (1.8 in) 78-caliber light anti-aircraft
guns were to be carried by the Stalingrads in six quadruple SM-20-ZIF power-driven, fully enclosed mounts. Two mounts were fitted on each side of the forward funnel and the last two were superimposed above the rear main gun turret. Each individual gun weighed 402.8 kg (888 lb) and the complete mount weighed 9.75 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -13° and elevate to 85° at a rate of 25° a second. Traverse speed was 30° per second. The gun fired 1.41 kilograms (3.1 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
of 1080 m/s (3,543.3 ft/s) to a maximum horizontal range of 12000 m (13,123.4 yd). Its rate of fire was 75 rounds per minute and 800 rounds were carried for each gun.
Forty 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) 79-caliber AA guns were carried in ten quadruple powered BL-120 mounts. These were designed especially for the Stalingrads and were fully, if lightly, armored against splinters. Each individual gun weighed 101 kg (222.7 lb) and the complete mount weighed 4 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -5° and elevate to 90° at a rate of 25° a second. Traverse speed was 70° per second. The gun fired 0.281 kilogram (0.619498956739506 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
of 900 m/s (2,952.8 ft/s) to a maximum effective range of 2400–2800 m (2,624.7–3,062.1 yd). Its effective rate of fire was 240 rounds per minute and 1200 rounds were carried for each gun.
Half Bow) fire-control radar
and Grot rangefinding radars mounted on turrets Nos. 2 and 3. These were backed up by a single KDP-8-10 optical director mount fitted with 8 metres (26.2 ft) and 10 metres (32.8 ft) rangefinder
s. Some of the BL-109A mounts were to fitted for range-finding radars, probably Shtag-B (NATO designation Egg Cup), but they were ordinarily controlled by three SPN-500 directors, one for each pair of gun mounts. The SPN-500s carried a 4 metres (13.1 ft) rangefinder as well as Yakor (NATO designation Sun Visor) fire-control radar. Air search capability was provided by the Fut-N (NATO designation Slim Net) radar with anti-aircraft fire control provided by Fut-B (NATO designation Hawk Screech) radars.
The main air-search radar was the Giuis-2 (NATO designation Cross Bird), a Soviet development of the wartime British Type 291 radar. It had a range of 80 km (49.7 mi) against aerial targets and 20 km (12.4 mi) against surface targets. The main surface-search radar was Rif-A (NATO designation Ball End) that had a range of 40 km (24.9 mi) against surface targets. The Stalingrads also had Neptun and Nord navigational radars. Soviet electronics were still fairly primitive during this period and the trials of the light cruiser Sverdlov, which carried many of these systems, revealed that the effective range of the Rif-A surface-search radar was less than that of the Yakor and Zalp fire-control radars. There were also problems transferring data from the Giuis-2 air-search radar to the Yakor and Fut-B anti-aircraft fire-control radars, which was a serious problem when dealing with high-speed aircraft. The Giuis-2 also interfered with ultra-shortwave radio reception.
Korall radar-jammers
were mounted on either side of the mainmast as well as a Machta system on the foremast. Solentse-1P infrared
detectors were carried on either side of the superstructure. Fakel-MO and Fakel-MZ antenna comprised the IFF
system. A Gerkules sonar
was also fitted in addition to various radio direction finder
s.
The first sections of Stalingrad had been laid down in November 1951 in Slipway
"O" of the Marti South Shipyard
in Nikolayev
where a , Sovetskaya Ukraina, had begun construction in 1938, but the slipway itself was in need of reconstruction and its lower end was occupied by the hull of the Sverdlov-class light cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov which was scheduled for launch at the end of 1952. Moskvas keel was laid down in September 1952 by the Baltic Works
in Leningrad
. The unnamed third ship was laid down at Yard 402, at Molotovsk
around October 1952, Soviet sources refer to her proposed names as the Kronshtadt or Arkhangelsk. A fourth ship was apparently ordered from Yard 402, but was never laid down.
Stalingrads formal keel-laying was on 31 December 1951 and it was hoped that she could be launched on 6 November 1953, the eve of the 36th anniversary of the October Revolution
. But deliveries of steel, armor, machinery and other equipment were delayed or arrived out of sequence, despite extraordinary efforts by the Ministry of Shipbuilding, and slowed construction enough so that she fell about six months behind schedule and the same was more or less true for the other ships. By 1 January 1953 Stalingrad was intended to be 42.9% complete, but was actually only 18.8% done. Moskva was planned to be 11.5% finished, but was only 7.5% done. And the unnamed ship was intended to be 5.2% along, but was only 2.5% complete.
These ships were canceled on 18 April 1953, after Stalin's death on 5 March, by the Ministry of Transport and Heavy Machinery, and the hulls of Moskva and the third ship were scrapped on the slipways later that year. The Ministry ordered in June that Stalingrads hull, which was about 70% ready for launching, be used for weapons tests. Her hull was launched on 16 April 1954 and her stern, which was more or less complete, was dismantled—her bow hadn't been built when work was suspended a year earlier—and the central, 150 metres (492.1 ft) long, section was modified for her new role.
Bay. She grounded on a very rocky bottom in very shallow water only about 50 m (164 ft) from shore. A number of the ordinary methods to refloat a ship couldn't be used because she was very nearly empty and so nothing could be off-loaded and the rocky bottom meant that it couldn't be excavated out from underneath her. The first attempt used brute force provided by the cruisers and Kerch
to unsuccessfully tow her off. Several other attempts were made using explosive charges to create shock waves that would pivot her stern into deeper water in combination with tugs attempting to pull her around, but these were counterproductive in that several holes were blown in her sides which flooded several compartments and grounded her that much more firmly. At this time a more detailed assessment was made of the situation and 259 steel projections were discovered on the underside of her hull, left over from her launching cradles. These ranged in length from 40 millimetre and totally invalidated all calculations about the amount of force required to free her.
The capsizing of the battleship Novorossiysk
in Sevastopol harbor on 29 October 1955 delayed salvage operations on the Stalingrad until the end of the year. The hull had to be patched, the water pumped out and all the projections removed to raise the stern slightly with pontoon
s, pivot into deeper water, then trim it down to elevate the bow off the bottom and pull it free. These preparations were very time-consuming and it wasn't until mid-July 1956 that she could be pulled off the rocks into Sevastopol harbor where she was given more permanent repairs. She was then moved to the Naval Firing Range between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol where she was used as a target for seven P-1 or KSS anti-ship missile
s fired from the converted Sverdlov-class cruiser Admiral Nakhimov in December 1956. The missiles penetrated the upper and main decks and devastated the upper hull, but there was no appreciable change in the ship's draught. Details are not known about other tests, although she reportedly served as a target for P-15 Termit
(SS-N-2 Styx) missiles and a wide variety of armor-piercing munitions. By the early 1960s her usefulness had come to an end and she was scrapped, possibly in 1962.
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
, also known in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as Project 82 , was intended to be built for 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...
after 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...
. Three ships were ordered, but none were ever completed.
A heavy cruiser was designed before the Second World War as an intermediate between the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
and classes and the s. The specification, or OTZ in Russian, was issued in May 1941, but plans were shelved with the invasion of the Soviet Union
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...
by Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Construction was proposed again in 1943. After a lengthy design period, which Premier
Council of the People's Commissars
The Council of People's Commissars , was a government institution formed shortly after the October Revolution in 1917. Created in the Russian Republic the council laid foundations in restructuring the country to form the Soviet Union...
Joseph 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...
—a major supporter of the project—often had a hand in, keels for two ships were laid at the Marti South Shipyard
Black 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...
in 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:...
(1951) and the Baltic Works
Baltic Shipyard
The Baltic Shipyard is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia. It is located in Saint Petersburg in the south-western part of the Vasilievsky Island. It is one of the three shipyards active in Saint Petersburg...
in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(1952) and a third ship was planned for the shipyard in Severodvinsk.
The Project 82 design which was ordered would have been much larger than the original intermediate design, so much so that they were considered the successors to the Kronshtadts, which had been canceled at the outbreak of World War II. As envisioned by Stalin, the Stalingrad battlecruisers' role would be to disrupt and break up an enemy's light cruisers when they approached the Soviet coast. However, after his death in March 1953, the ships were canceled by the Ministry of Transport and Heavy Machinery. Only the incomplete hull of Stalingrad was launched
Ship naming and launching
The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
; used as a floating target
Target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.-Rationale:Sinking redundant warships is an effective way of testing new weapons and warships in as realistic a manner as possible. Whilst practice torpedoes are fired...
for anti-ship missiles, it was scrapped
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...
around 1962.
Background and genesis
The roots of the Project 82-class began back in May 1941 when the Main Naval Staff approved tactical requirements for a medium-sized cruiser between the light cruiserLight cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s of the and classes and the "heavy cruisers" of the in size. It was intended to fulfill the following roles:
- Engage enemy cruisers armed with 203 mm (8 in) guns
- Destroy enemy light cruisers
- Support its own light cruisers
- Lay minefields
- Suppress the enemy's medium-caliber coast defense batteries and support landing operations
- Conduct operations against the enemy's maritime lines of communication
To accomplish these missions the Navy expected a ship of 20000 tonnes (19,684.1 LT) or smaller, armed with eight 203 millimetres (8 in) and twelve 100 millimetres (3.9 in) guns, twelve 37 millimetres (1.5 in) 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 and one triple 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
mount. It was to be armored to withstand 203 mm shells with a speed not less than 36 kn (43.8 mph; 70.6 km/h), a range of 10000 nmi (18,520 km) at 20 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) and able to carry four seaplanes launched by two catapults
Aircraft 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...
. Three preliminary designs were proposed in response, but only one, which displaced 25000 tonnes (24,605.1 LT), was able to meet all of the requirements. However, the designers recommended an increase in the main armament caliber to 220 millimetres (8.7 in), a strengthened anti-aircraft battery and reductions in the armor protection, speed, and range, but the start 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...
a month later rendered these plans moot.
The project was revived in 1943 with a new requirement issued on 15 September. This was basically identical to the original, but added one new requirement: "Protect the operations of aircraft carriers and conduct joint operations with them." Estimated characteristics were a displacement between 20000–22000 t (19,684.1–21,652.5 LT), nine main guns between 210 millimetre, a secondary battery of a dozen 130-mm dual-purpose guns and thirty-two 37-mm AA guns. The speed, range and aircraft requirements remained the same, although the torpedo tubes were dropped. Over a dozen preliminary designs had been proposed by May 1944, but none were acceptable. A new tactical requirement was issued in November 1944 that envisioned a more realistic displacement of 25000–26000 t (24,605.1–25,589.3 LT) while the speed was dropped to 33 kn (40.2 mph; 64.7 km/h) and the range to 8000 nmi (14,816 km). Armament was also revised to nine 220-mm guns, sixteen 130-mm guns, thirty-two 45 millimetres (1.8 in) and twenty 23 millimetre (0.905511811023622 in) AA guns. These last guns were changed to 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) in 1945.
Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov
Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov
Nikolay Gerasimovich Kuznetsov was a Soviet naval officer who achieved the rank of Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union and served as People's Commissar of the Navy during The Second World War....
believed that these ships could protect the planned Soviet 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...
s in bad weather from American cruisers and pushed to have them built, but the Shipbuilding Commissariat balked. It refused to begin detailed design work pleading the uncertainty of the post-war building situation and the already heavy workload of its design bureaux. Undeterred the Navy continued studying cruiser designs and planned a ten-year construction programme for the period 1946–1955. This was based on defensive operations along the periphery of the Soviet Union against Anglo-American carrier groups while submarines would attack their lines of communication. Ten of these large cruisers were envisioned as part of this construction program. When the program was discussed by the Politburo
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...
on 29 September 1945 there was no great disagreement on the large cruisers, although 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...
favored increasing the size of their main guns to 305 mm (12 in), but did not push the issue when Admiral Kuznetsov resisted.
A bigger problem was the resistance of the Shipbuilding Commissariat which said it would be impossible to lay down any ships of new design until about 1950 and that only incremental changes could be made to the designs currently in production. The Navy saw no reason why new ships, reflecting wartime experience, could not be laid down beginning in 1948. To resolve the dispute a special commission was appointed, led by Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
, which mostly sided with the Shipbuilding Commissariat in that most ships of the program would be improved versions of current designs. Four of the large cruisers were to begin construction, two each at Shipyard 402 in Molotovsk
Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
and Shipyard 444
Black 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...
at 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:...
with another three planned to be laid down in 1953 and 1955. This compromise was approved on 27 November 1945 and detailed design work began in 1946 for designs equipped with both the 220-mm and 305-mm guns.
This was reaffirmed by a decree of the Council of Ministers
Government of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
on 28 January 1947. By August 1947 the Navy and the Shipbuilding Ministry had winnowed down design proposals to only three, one from each armed with 305 mm guns and a joint design armed with 220 mm guns. The latter's design was slightly smaller (2000 tonnes (1,968.4 LT)) than the Navy's 40000 tonnes (39,368.1 LT) design, and had an armor belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
50 mm (2 in) thinner, but was otherwise almost identical. The joint design was 2000 tonnes (1,968.4 LT) smaller with a reduced secondary armament, but was about 1.5 kn (1.8 mph; 2.9 km/h) faster. All proposals had a range of 6000 nmi (11,112 km) at 18 kn (22 mph; 35 km/h). These designs weren't reviewed until March 1948, probably because of the need to coordinate reaction to the American Marshall Plan, and Stalin approved the Navy's more heavily protected design. But even this was subject to more delays as the detailed specifications had to be approved and this didn't occur until 31 August 1948, likely delayed by the Tito–Stalin split and the start of the Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
, both in June.
With the approval of the specifications, TsKB-17, the heavy-ship design bureau, began work on the sketch design to be submitted for approval to the Council of Ministers before the start of the technical design could begin. By March 1949 four alternatives had been completed, differing mainly in the arrangement of the 130 mm guns and the boiler layout. The bureau preferred one layout and the Navy and the Shipbuilding Ministry concurred so the bureau began the technical design, without formal approval, in order to be ready to lay down the first two ships in the third quarter of 1950 as already scheduled. However when Stalin reviewed the sketch design in September 1949 he rejected it, ordering a smaller, faster ship capable of 35 kn (42.6 mph; 68.6 km/h). TsKB-17 was able to produce a preliminary technical design that met Stalin's demands by the end of the year, an amazingly fast amount of time for what should have been a very involved process. The most likely explanation is that the designers retained as much of their original work as possible and found room for the more powerful turbines and more numerous boilers necessary to attain Stalin's specified speed by deleting the two rear twin 130 mm turrets, and their magazines, as revealed by a comparison of the 1949 and 1951 sketches.
The Navy didn't like the compromises made to reduce the displacement down to Stalin's 36000 tonnes (35,431.3 LT) and to achieve the high speed demanded as revealed in a March 1950 meeting in the Kremlin where Stalin revealed critical points about his thoughts for these ships. When the admirals responded to his question about the purpose of these ships by saying that they were to fight the enemy's heavy cruisers, he contradicted them and said that their purpose was to fight light cruisers: "It is necessary to increase its speed to 35 knots and create a cruiser that will cause panic among the enemy's light cruisers, disperse and destroy them." Furthermore he believed that they would fight close to home, defending the coastal waters of Soviet Union. "You cannot blindly copy the Americans and English, they face different conditions, their ships travel far over the ocean, out of touch with their bases. We are not considering conducting oceanic battles, but instead will fight close to our own shores, so we do not need a large ammunition supply on the ship." The admirals also did not like the reduction in the secondary armament made to accommodate the larger machinery and extra boilers needed to reach the speed desired by Stalin, but he reminded them that most aircraft would attack the battlecruiser at heights below 1500 m (4,921.3 ft) and the ceiling of the 130 mm was far in excess of that. He also ordered a reduction in the light anti-aircraft guns believing that its escorts would defend it. This design was approved by the Council of Ministers on 25 March 1950.
This allowed the technical design process to begin and it was completed in December 1950. Reviews by the Navy and Shipbuilding Ministries in February 1951 led to some significant changes to the design in April. The original form of the bow was similar to that of the light cruisers, but sea trials of the lead ship of that class in December 1950—January 1951 proved that she was very wet forward, which hindered her seakeeping
Seakeeping
Seakeeping ability is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea states....
ability. The Stalingrads bow form was radically altered with a much more raked stem
Stem (ship)
The stem is the very most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself and curves up to the wale of the boat. The stem is more often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively...
, its sheer and flare were greatly increased and the ship gained almost 10 metre in length, possibly in response to the Chapayevs problems. In addition the thickness of her belt armor was increased from 150 millimetre, possibly in response to weight savings elsewhere. This final design was submitted for approval on 4 June 1951, but preparations for the working design drawings began before it was approved.
General characteristics
The ships of the Stalingrad class were 260 metre long at the waterline, and 273.6 metre long overall. They had a beam of 32 metre, a maximum draft of 9.2 metre forward, 8.8 metre aftAft
Aft, in naval terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning, towards the stern of the ship, when the frame of reference is within the ship. Example: "Able Seaman Smith; lay aft!". Or; "What's happening aft?"...
, and displaced 36500 tonnes (35,923.4 LT) at standard load and 42300 tonnes (41,631.8 LT) at full load. They were the first large Soviet-built ships with a flush deck. The hull was completely welded to save weight and they used longitudinal framing throughout. Metacentric height
Metacentric height
The metacentric height is a measurement of the static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre . A larger metacentric height implies greater stability against overturning...
was estimated at 2.6 m (8.5 ft), presumably in the design load condition. The ships had a triple bottom
Double bottom
A double bottom is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom of the ship has two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is somewhat higher in the ship, perhaps a few feet, which forms a...
underneath the armored citadel that had a height of 2.25 metre and 23 main watertight compartments. They had a crew of 1712 men plus space for 30 when acting as a flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
.
The cost for each ship was estimated at 1.168 billion rubles, almost four times the 322 million rubles for a . The ship was intended to be commanded by a rear admiral, with its executive officer, political officer and the heads of the gunnery and engineering divisions as captains 1st rank.
Propulsion
The high speed demanded of the Stalingrads required four TV-4 geared steam turbineSteam 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, each producing 70000 shp and driving one propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
. They were powered by twelve water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
s at a pressure of 66 kg/cm2 at a temperature of 460 °C (860 °F). The machinery was arranged on the unit system so that one hit couldn't knock out all the boilers or all the turbines and immobilize the ship. Two boiler compartments, each with three boilers, were situated underneath the forward funnel, with a turbine compartment for the wing shafts immediately aft and this arrangement was repeated for the two center shafts. 5000 tonnes (4,921 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...
were carried which gave a range of 5000 nmi (9,260 km) at 18 knots (35 km/h). Maximum speed was 35.5 kn (43.2 mph; 69.6 km/h).
Eight 750 kW turbo-generators drove the 380V, 50 Hz electrical system in addition to four 1000 kW Diesel generator
Diesel generator
A diesel generator is the combination of a diesel engine with an electrical generator to generate electrical energy....
s located outside each end of the armored citadel for a total capacity of 10,000 kW.
Armor
The armor scheme of the battlecruisers was quite complex with armor plates of no less than 25 different thicknesses used. Although only designed to withstand cruiser shellfire no less than 10400 tonne, or 29% of the total displacement was devoted to armor. The citadel armor was intended to provide an immunity zone against 8 in (20.3 cm) armor-piercingArmor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
shells at ranges between 13000–15000 yd (11,887.2–13,716 m) and 34000 yards (31,089.6 m). The remainder of the armor was intended to resist 6 inches (15.2 cm) high explosive shells and 500 kilograms (1,102.3 lb) HE bombs.
The belt armor
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
was 180 mm (7.1 in) thick and inclined outwards at an angle of 15° to maximize its effectiveness against both plunging and horizontal fire. It had a vertical height of 5.25 m (17.2 ft), 1.7 m (5.6 ft) of which was below the design waterline. It covered approximately 60% of the ship's waterline or about 156 m (511.8 ft). 50 mm (2 in) of armor covered the hull side above the belt as protection from splinters. The forward end of the armored citadel was closed off by a 140 millimetres (5.5 in) thick transverse bulkhead
Bulkhead (partition)
A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship or within the fuselage of an airplane. Other kinds of partition elements within a ship are decks and deckheads.-Etymology:...
on the forward end and 125 mm (4.9 in) aft. The deck armor in the citadel ranged in thickness, from 50 mm (2 in) for the upper deck, a 70 millimetres (2.8 in) middle deck—increased to 75 mm (3 in) over the handling rooms for the 130 millimetres (5.1 in) gun turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s—and a lower splinter deck of 15 mm (0.590551181102362 in), which increased outboard to 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in). The waterline forward of the citadel was protected by a 50 millimetres (2 in) splinter belt all the way to the bow, with a similar extension aft to the steering gear compartment. The middle deck behind this splinter belt was 50 mm (2 in) thick. The steering gear was protected by 170 mm (6.7 in) of armor on the sides, a 70 millimetre deck and a 200 millimetres (7.9 in) armored bulkhead aft.
Additional armored plates were fixed to the third bulkhead of the underwater protection system to protect against diving shells hitting below the level of the waterline belt. Their thicknesses varied depending on location and ranged oddly from 100 mm (3.9 in) amidships to 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) over the 305 mm (12 in) magazine
Magazine (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:...
s. The main battery turrets were protected by 240 mm (9.4 in) of armor on the faces and 225 mm (8.9 in) on the sides and 125 mm (4.9 in) of armor on the roofs. Their barbette
Barbette
A barbette is a protective circular armour feature around a cannon or heavy artillery gun. The name comes from the French phrase en barbette referring to the practice of firing a field gun over a parapet rather than through an opening . The former gives better angles of fire but less protection...
s had a maximum of 235 mm (9.3 in) on their forward faces and 200 mm (7.9 in) on the after face. Below the main deck they were protected by only 195 millimetre of armor. The 130 mm turrets were only protected by 25 mm (0.984251968503937 in) of armor as splinter protection.
The forward conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
had a forward face of 250 mm (9.8 in) that thinned down to 225 mm (8.9 in) on the aft section with a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) roof. Its controls and cable runs were protected by a 100 millimetres (3.9 in) tube and the lower part of the conning tower's supporting structure was protected with 20 mm (0.78740157480315 in) plates. Aft there was a lightly protected auxiliary control station with 50 millimetres (2 in) sides. Between the middle and lower decks the funnel uptakes were protected by 100 mm (3.9 in) of armor and 30 mm (1.2 in) between the upper and middle decks. A 125 millimetres (4.9 in) upper and 175 millimetres (6.9 in) lower grating protected the boilers from shells and fragments entering through the uptake openings.
The torpedo protection system was developed on the basis of model tests and full-scale trials using the incomplete hull of the prewar battlecruiser Kronshtadt
Kronshtadt class battlecruiser
The Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers, with the Soviet designation as Project 69 heavy cruisers, , were ordered for the Soviet Navy in the late 1930s. Two ships were started but none were completed due to World War II. These ships had a complex and prolonged design process which was hampered by...
and was expected to resist a torpedo warhead equivalent to 400 kilogram of TNT. It was made up of an external bulge with four longintudinal bulkheads. The first was 8 millimetre thick, the second was 8 millimetre, the third was 50 mm (2 in) and the fourth 15 millimetre. Presumably the thinner thicknesses were at the ends of the ships where the bulkheads were squeezed together. The outer space was left empty, but the two middle spaces were filled with oil that was intended to be exchanged with sea water as it was consumed, and the inner space was also to be left empty. One curious feature was that the first and second bulkheads were concave in profile. Apparently this was believed to improve their protective qualities, although there is no indication of how it did this. "The total depth of the system was about 4 metre amidships, which seems rather shallow." The triple bottom underneath the armored citadel was believed to protect the ship against a charge equivalent to 500 kg (1,102.3 lb) of TNT five meters below the ship's hull.
Armament
Rather than use the Tsarist-era 305 millimetres (12 in) MK-3-12MK-3-12
The Obukhovskii 12"/52 Pattern 1907 gun was a Russian and Soviet 305 mm naval gun. It was the most powerful gun to be mounted aboard battleships of the Imperial Russian Navy....
gun as originally planned, or use the 305-mm/54 guns ordered for the Kronstadt, it was decided in 1947 to adopt a new and more powerful 61-caliber
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....
gun of the same size that was to use three newly designed triple SM-6 turrets. Each individual gun weighed 101.58 tonne and the complete turret weighed 1370 tonne. The guns could be depressed to −4° and elevated to 50° at a rate of 10° per second. Traverse speed was 4.5° per second and each turret was ordinarily remotely controlled from the More-82 main fire control director, but could be locally controlled if necessary. They fired 467 kilograms (1,029.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 950 m/s (3,116.8 ft/s) to a maximum range of around 53070 m (58,038.1 yd) using 209 kg (460.8 lb) of propellant. Their rate of fire was 3.26 rounds per minute and 80 rounds were stowed aboard for each gun. One barrel was completed in December 1953 for evaluation purposes after the ships were canceled earlier that year.
The 130-mm 58-caliber guns were also a new design. They were to be fitted in a new twin-gun BL-109A dual-purpose mount. Each individual gun weighed 4.88 tonne and the complete turret weighed 65.2 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -8° and elevate to 83° at a rate of 20° a second. Traverse speed was 20° per second. The guns fired 33.4 kilograms (73.6 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 950–1000 m/s (3,116.8–3,280.8 ft/s) to a maximum horizontal range of 32390 m (35,422.1 yd) using 12.92 kg (28.5 lb) of propellant. Their rate of fire was 15 rounds per minute and 200 rounds were stowed for each gun.
Twenty-four 45 millimetres (1.8 in) 78-caliber light 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 were to be carried by the Stalingrads in six quadruple SM-20-ZIF power-driven, fully enclosed mounts. Two mounts were fitted on each side of the forward funnel and the last two were superimposed above the rear main gun turret. Each individual gun weighed 402.8 kg (888 lb) and the complete mount weighed 9.75 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -13° and elevate to 85° at a rate of 25° a second. Traverse speed was 30° per second. The gun fired 1.41 kilograms (3.1 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 1080 m/s (3,543.3 ft/s) to a maximum horizontal range of 12000 m (13,123.4 yd). Its rate of fire was 75 rounds per minute and 800 rounds were carried for each gun.
Forty 25 millimetre (0.984251968503937 in) 79-caliber AA guns were carried in ten quadruple powered BL-120 mounts. These were designed especially for the Stalingrads and were fully, if lightly, armored against splinters. Each individual gun weighed 101 kg (222.7 lb) and the complete mount weighed 4 tonne. The guns in this mount could depress to -5° and elevate to 90° at a rate of 25° a second. Traverse speed was 70° per second. The gun fired 0.281 kilogram (0.619498956739506 lb) shells at a muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity
Muzzle velocity is the speed a projectile has at the moment it leaves the muzzle of the gun. Muzzle velocities range from approximately to in black powder muskets , to more than in modern rifles with high-performance cartridges such as the .220 Swift and .204 Ruger, all the way to for tank guns...
of 900 m/s (2,952.8 ft/s) to a maximum effective range of 2400–2800 m (2,624.7–3,062.1 yd). Its effective rate of fire was 240 rounds per minute and 1200 rounds were carried for each gun.
Electronics
Target data for the More-82 director was derived from the Zalp (NATO designationNATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
Half Bow) fire-control 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...
and Grot rangefinding radars mounted on turrets Nos. 2 and 3. These were backed up by a single KDP-8-10 optical director mount fitted with 8 metres (26.2 ft) and 10 metres (32.8 ft) rangefinder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
s. Some of the BL-109A mounts were to fitted for range-finding radars, probably Shtag-B (NATO designation Egg Cup), but they were ordinarily controlled by three SPN-500 directors, one for each pair of gun mounts. The SPN-500s carried a 4 metres (13.1 ft) rangefinder as well as Yakor (NATO designation Sun Visor) fire-control radar. Air search capability was provided by the Fut-N (NATO designation Slim Net) radar with anti-aircraft fire control provided by Fut-B (NATO designation Hawk Screech) radars.
The main air-search radar was the Giuis-2 (NATO designation Cross Bird), a Soviet development of the wartime British Type 291 radar. It had a range of 80 km (49.7 mi) against aerial targets and 20 km (12.4 mi) against surface targets. The main surface-search radar was Rif-A (NATO designation Ball End) that had a range of 40 km (24.9 mi) against surface targets. The Stalingrads also had Neptun and Nord navigational radars. Soviet electronics were still fairly primitive during this period and the trials of the light cruiser Sverdlov, which carried many of these systems, revealed that the effective range of the Rif-A surface-search radar was less than that of the Yakor and Zalp fire-control radars. There were also problems transferring data from the Giuis-2 air-search radar to the Yakor and Fut-B anti-aircraft fire-control radars, which was a serious problem when dealing with high-speed aircraft. The Giuis-2 also interfered with ultra-shortwave radio reception.
Korall radar-jammers
Radar jamming and deception
Radar jamming and deception is the intentional emission of radio frequency signals to interfere with the operation of a radar by saturating its receiver with noise or false information...
were mounted on either side of the mainmast as well as a Machta system on the foremast. Solentse-1P infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
detectors were carried on either side of the superstructure. Fakel-MO and Fakel-MZ antenna comprised the IFF
Identification friend or foe
In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
system. A Gerkules sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
was also fitted in addition to various radio direction finder
Radio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
s.
Missile variant
The TsKB-17 design bureau proposed variants of the design with both cruise and ballistic missiles. The ballistic missiles would have been launched from vertical tubes replacing the forward turrets, and in one version, the entire main armament. The proposal was dropped because both types would have needed a fully stabilized launching platform to give them any chance of hitting their targets and that the ballistic missiles would need three hours of preparation time.Construction
Three ships were started:| Ship | hull number | builder | Laid down (official) | Launched | Scheduled completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stalingrad | 0-400 | Marti yard, Nikolayev | 31 December 1951 | 16 March 1954 | 1954 |
| Moskva | 0-406 | Baltic Yard, Leningrad | September 1952 | n/a | 1955 |
| Kronstadt? | 0-401 | Molotovsk | October 1952 | n/a | ? |
The first sections of Stalingrad had been laid down in November 1951 in Slipway
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
"O" of the Marti South Shipyard
Black 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...
in 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:...
where a , Sovetskaya Ukraina, had begun construction in 1938, but the slipway itself was in need of reconstruction and its lower end was occupied by the hull of the Sverdlov-class light cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov which was scheduled for launch at the end of 1952. Moskvas keel was laid down in September 1952 by the Baltic Works
Baltic Shipyard
The Baltic Shipyard is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia. It is located in Saint Petersburg in the south-western part of the Vasilievsky Island. It is one of the three shipyards active in Saint Petersburg...
in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. The unnamed third ship was laid down at Yard 402, at Molotovsk
Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
around October 1952, Soviet sources refer to her proposed names as the Kronshtadt or Arkhangelsk. A fourth ship was apparently ordered from Yard 402, but was never laid down.
Stalingrads formal keel-laying was on 31 December 1951 and it was hoped that she could be launched on 6 November 1953, the eve of the 36th anniversary of the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. But deliveries of steel, armor, machinery and other equipment were delayed or arrived out of sequence, despite extraordinary efforts by the Ministry of Shipbuilding, and slowed construction enough so that she fell about six months behind schedule and the same was more or less true for the other ships. By 1 January 1953 Stalingrad was intended to be 42.9% complete, but was actually only 18.8% done. Moskva was planned to be 11.5% finished, but was only 7.5% done. And the unnamed ship was intended to be 5.2% along, but was only 2.5% complete.
These ships were canceled on 18 April 1953, after Stalin's death on 5 March, by the Ministry of Transport and Heavy Machinery, and the hulls of Moskva and the third ship were scrapped on the slipways later that year. The Ministry ordered in June that Stalingrads hull, which was about 70% ready for launching, be used for weapons tests. Her hull was launched on 16 April 1954 and her stern, which was more or less complete, was dismantled—her bow hadn't been built when work was suspended a year earlier—and the central, 150 metres (492.1 ft) long, section was modified for her new role.
Career as a target hulk
Stalingrads hull was towed from Nikolayev on 19 May 1955 by three tugs, but was driven ashore by high winds on 23 May at the southern entrance to SevastopolSevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
Bay. She grounded on a very rocky bottom in very shallow water only about 50 m (164 ft) from shore. A number of the ordinary methods to refloat a ship couldn't be used because she was very nearly empty and so nothing could be off-loaded and the rocky bottom meant that it couldn't be excavated out from underneath her. The first attempt used brute force provided by the cruisers and Kerch
Italian cruiser Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta
Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta was an Italian light cruiser of the fourth group of the , that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She survived the war, but was ceded as war reparation to the Soviet Navy in 1949...
to unsuccessfully tow her off. Several other attempts were made using explosive charges to create shock waves that would pivot her stern into deeper water in combination with tugs attempting to pull her around, but these were counterproductive in that several holes were blown in her sides which flooded several compartments and grounded her that much more firmly. At this time a more detailed assessment was made of the situation and 259 steel projections were discovered on the underside of her hull, left over from her launching cradles. These ranged in length from 40 millimetre and totally invalidated all calculations about the amount of force required to free her.
The capsizing of the 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...
in Sevastopol harbor on 29 October 1955 delayed salvage operations on the Stalingrad until the end of the year. The hull had to be patched, the water pumped out and all the projections removed to raise the stern slightly with pontoon
Pontoon (boat)
A pontoon is a flotation device with buoyancy sufficient to float itself as well as a heavy load. A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on pontoons to float. Pontoons may be used on boats, rafts, barges, docks, floatplanes or seaplanes. Pontoons may support a platform, creating a raft. A...
s, pivot into deeper water, then trim it down to elevate the bow off the bottom and pull it free. These preparations were very time-consuming and it wasn't until mid-July 1956 that she could be pulled off the rocks into Sevastopol harbor where she was given more permanent repairs. She was then moved to the Naval Firing Range between Yevpatoria and Sevastopol where she was used as a target for seven P-1 or KSS anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missile
Anti-ship missiles are guided missiles that are designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type, many use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing...
s fired from the converted Sverdlov-class cruiser Admiral Nakhimov in December 1956. The missiles penetrated the upper and main decks and devastated the upper hull, but there was no appreciable change in the ship's draught. Details are not known about other tests, although she reportedly served as a target for P-15 Termit
P-15 Termit
The P-15 Termit is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. In Russian service today it also seems to be called the Rubezh...
(SS-N-2 Styx) missiles and a wide variety of armor-piercing munitions. By the early 1960s her usefulness had come to an end and she was scrapped, possibly in 1962.