Stalingrad class battlecruiser
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The Stalingrad Class (Project 82) were a group of battlecruisers planned for the Soviet Navy after World War II. According to Admiral Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov, Stalin had an inexplicable passion for battlecruisers, driving this project onwards against the opinion of professional naval officers who considered these ships obsolete. The ships were cancelled after Stalin's death in 1953. The role of the ships would have been to attack Western warships invading Soviet waters rather than commerce raiding, although Soviet admirals were doubtful that the ships could survive against American carrier-based aircraft in the face of wartime experience in the Pacific. The design was based on the pre war Kronshtadt class battlecruiser but had substantial changes. The American Alaska class cruisers were comparable ships.
[edit] General characteristics
- Displacement: 36,500 tons standard, 42,300 tons full load
- Length: 273.6 m
- Beam: 32 m
- Draught: 9.2 m
- Machinery: 4 shafts, geared steam turbines, 12 boilers, 280,000 hp
- Speed: 35.4 knots
- Range: 5,000 nm at 18 knots (9,260 km at 33 km/h)
- Armament:
- 9 - 12 inch (305 mm) guns, 3 twin turrets
- 12 - 130mm guns , 6 twin turrets
- 24 - 45 mm guns (6x4)
- 40 - 25mm guns (10 x4)
- Armour: 180 mm belt, 240 mm turrets, 235 mm barbettes, 25 mm secondary turrets, 50mm upper deck, 70 mm middle deck, 260 mm conning tower
- Crew: 1,712
[edit] Ships
The programme was delayed by constant design changes by Stalin.
- Stalingrad - built by Marti Yard, Nikolayev. The ship was 18.8 % complete at cancellation, The central portion of the hull was launched and used as a target, The hulk was grounded outside Sevastopol in 1954 and re-floated in 1956. Used as a target for guns, bombs and missiles, scrapped in 1962.
- Moskva - built by Baltic Works, Leningrad. The ship was 7.5 % complete at cancellation and scrapped on the slipway.
- no 3 (Kronshtadt??) - built by Yard 402, Severodvinsk. The ship was 2.5 % complete at cancellation and was scrapped on the slipway.
[edit] References
- Stephen McLaughlin, Project 82 The Stalingrad Class, in Warship 2006, Conway's Maritime Press
- Page in English from warships on the web
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