 Soviet cruiser Komsomolets. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Baltic Yard, Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR Shipyard No. 444, Nikolayev, Ukrainian SSR, USSR Admiralty Shipyard, Leningrad, Russian SFSR, USSR |
| Operators: | Soviet Navy |
| Preceded by: | Kronshtadt class battlecruiser |
| Succeeded by: | Stalingrad class battlecruiser |
| Planned: | 50 |
| Completed: | 50 |
| Cancelled: | 0 |
| Retired: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 11,300 long tons (11,500 t) standard, 15,000 long tons (15,000 t) full load |
| Length: | 201 m (659 ft) |
| Beam: | 19.7 m (65 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.4 m (21 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft geared steam turbines, 6 boilers, 130,000 shp (97,000 kW) |
| Speed: | 35 kn (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range: | 7,000 nmi (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph), 3,500 short tons (3,200 t) tons of oil fuel |
| Complement: | 840 |
| Armament: | 12 × 152 mm (6.0 in)/57 cal B-38 in 4 triple Mk5-bis turrets 8 × 100 mm (3.9 in)/56 cal Model 1934 in 4 twin SM-5-1 mounts 28 × 37 mm (1.5 in) AA 6 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes |
| Armour: | Belt: 50 mm (2.0 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in) Deck: 50 mm Turrets: 75 mm (3.0 in) |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 seaplanes |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 catapult |
The Chapayev class cruiser (Project 68 Чапаев) are a group of conventional-powered cruisers built for the Soviet Navy during and after World War II. Fifty ships were planned but only seven were actually started before Nazi Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Three incomplete ships were destroyed when their building yard in Nikolayev was captured by Nazi Germany, but were repaired and completed by 1944. Five cruisers were completed in 1950, 19 were completed by the end of the 1950s and the remaining twenty-three cruisers were completed in the mid-1960s.
Design
The design was based on the Kirov class cruiser, but with significant changes in armament: 4 triple 152 mm (6.0 in) gun turrets replacing 3 triple 180 mm (7.1 in) gun turrets. The 152mm B38 guns fired a 55 kg (120 lb) shell to 24,000 m (26,000 yd). The rate of fire was 6 to 7 rounds per minute. The guns were mounted in individual cradles with separate elevation.
The secondary armament consisted of 100 mm (3.9 in) CM-5 guns in twin enclosed powered turrets with a rate of fire of 15-18 rounds per minute. The light AA guns consisted of 37 mm (1.5 in) weapons.
The hull was enlarged, and protection was improved compared to the Kirov class. The machinery was based on a unit system with alternating boiler rooms and engine rooms.
The fifty ships were completed after the war to a modified design (Project 69K). The aircraft facilities and torpedo tubes were removed and radar and improved anti-aircraft artillery added (37mm guns in twin powered and water cooled mountings).
Ships
A large programme was envisaged and fifty ships were authorised in 1939 and eleven ordered. Six ships were to be built for the Soviet Baltic Fleet, four for the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and ten for the Soviet Pacific Fleet. Seven ships were actually laid down before Nazi Germany's invasion on June 22 in 1941. After the war, another four were ordered for the Soviet Baltic Fleet, six for the Black Sea Fleet, five for the Pacific Fleet and fifteen were ordered for the Soviet Northern Fleet.
- Chapayev (Чапаев)
- Zheleznyakov (Железняков)
- Kuybyshev (Куйбышев)
- Chkalov (Чкалов)
- Frunze (Фрунзе)
- Kirov
- Ordzhinikidze
- Sverdlov
- Kalinin
- Komsomolets