Sovetsky Soyuz class battleship

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Soviet Navy Ensign

Sovetsky Soyuz class battleship layout.
Class Overview
Class type: Battleship
Class name: Sovetsky Soyuz
Preceded by: None (first Soviet battleship class to build)
Succeeded by: None
Ships of the line: Sovetsky Soyuz, Sovetskaya Ukraina, Sovetskaya Rossiya, Sovetskaya Belorussiya (all not completed)
General Characteristics
(Sovetsky Soyuz as frozen in 1940)
Displacement: 59,150 tonnes standard
65,150 tonnes full load
Length: 269.4 m
Beam: 38.9 m
Draft: 10.4 m
Speed: 28 knots (51.8 km/h) nominal
29 knots (53.8 km/h) top
Complement: 66 officers, 1226 ratings
Range: 5,580 miles (10,000 km)
@ 14 knots (25.9 km/h)
Power: 201,000 hp (150 MW) nominal
231,000 hp (172 MW) top
6 triangle type boilers
Drive: 3 screws; 3*67,000 hp
Brown Boveri geared turbines
Fuel: N/A
Armor Belt: 375-420 mm,
Bulkheads: 230-365 mm,
Barbettes: 425 mm,
Turrets: 495 mm,
Decks: 100-150 mm
Armament:

Main guns: 3x3*406 mm/50
Secondary guns: 6x2*152 mm
AA guns: 12x100 mm;10x4*37 mm
Aircraft: 4 Beriev KOR-1 seaplanes;
1 catapult
Other equipment: N/A

Sovetsky Soyuz class battleships (Project 23, Russian: Советский Союз, Soviet Union), also known as Stalin's Republics, formed a class of battleships, laid down by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s, but never brought into service. Initially there were plans for the completion of up to 15 ships of this class by 1947, and they were to form the main striking force of the Soviet Navy. However, slow design process and looming war with Nazi Germany led to reconsideration of this overly optimistic plan.

In the end only four hulls were laid down by October 1940, when the decision was made to stop the laying down of more ships of the class, as the Soviet Union shifted its resources to building its land forces to prepare for the imminent war. The construction of the ships that were laid down continued, but was suspended when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June, 1941, and did not resume after the end of the war in 1945.

The class consisted of 4 ships:

The second ship of the class, laid down in Ukrainian city of Nikolayev, was partially scuttled in the yard before the German capture of the city in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, and the Germans found no use for the hulk. There is some contradiction about fourth ship, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, as some sources state it was never laid down at all, while others postulate that it was, in fact, laid down, but was cancelled in the matter of months with little actual work done.

If completed, these ships would have been only slightly smaller than the Japanese Yamato class battleships, the largest to ever enter service. However, after the war, despite plans to complete them to one of the advanced designs, it was considered too costly for war-ravaged Soviet economy. Moreover, the focus of the naval warfare shifted from battleships to aircraft carriers, so their completion would bring little benefits. Sovetsky Soyuz was eventually launched in 1949, but only to free slip for the new construction. By 1950 all were scrapped in the yards.

Many modern historian and economists heavily criticize the project as being too expensive for fairly weak Soviet economy of the day (it is said that in 1940 about one quarter of all Soviet GDP was devoted to these ships[citation needed]). Now they are seen mostly as a political tools for displaying Soviet power. It is widely known that Stalin favored the Navy and was himself a proponent of big artillery warships, so this undoubtedly heavily influenced Soviet naval doctrine.[citation needed]

[edit] Trivia

Sovetsky Soyuz battleship was featured as completed in alternative history novel "Variant Bis" by Sergey Anisimov. North Atlantic raid by a task force consisted of Sovetsky Soyuz, battlecruiser Kronshtadt and Chapayev escort carrier (also planned but never completed warships) forms one of the main plot arcs in the novel.

[edit] References

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