Svetlana class cruiser
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 Chervona Ukraina |
|
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Svetlana |
| Operators: |  Soviet Navy |
| In commission: | 21 March 1927 - 1958 |
| Completed: | 8 (3 completed as cruisers) |
| General characteristics (Original Svetlana, 1912 draft) | |
| Type: | Light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 6,800 tons (standard) 7,400 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 158.4 m overall |
| Beam: | 15.35 m |
| Draft: | 5.7 m |
| Propulsion: | 16 Yarrow oil boilers, 4 Parsons turbines, 50,000 shp |
| Speed: | 29.5 knots @ 50,000 shp |
| Range: | 1490 miles @ 14 knots |
| Complement: | 878 |
| Armament: | 15×130/55 guns 4×64 mm anti-aircraft guns 4× machine guns 2 450 mm torpedo launchers |
| Armour: | 75 mm main belt 20+25 mm deck 120 mm conning tower |
The "Svetlana" class was the first and only series of light cruisers of the Russian Empire. 8 were laid down as part of 1912-1916 shipbuilding program, intended for scouting service with Gangut and Maria-class battleship formations and leading destroyer flotillas.
Construction was interrupted by World War I and Russian revolution of 1917. Three hulls were completed by the Soviet Union as cruisers (including heavily modified Krasny Kavkaz), two were completed as tankers, the rest three scrapped.
[edit] Original program
Svetlana, the first true light cruiser of Russian navy, was heavily dependent on pre-war cruiser designs. 6 out of 15 single-mount guns were placed in casements, 9 on the deck. Despite good experience with 152-mm Canet guns, Navy standard since 1892,[1] Svetlana employed smaller and inferior 130-mm guns.
The concept was formulated in 1912 by Alexei Krylov. Hull was designed by colonel Sasinovsky and refined by John Brown and Company shipyards in Clydebank who ran a series of scale model tests. Superstructure was initially designed to resemble both Gangut class battleships Novik class destroyers; tripod masts with raised rangefinders were added in 1920s. Specifications were continuously changed throughout WW1, adding two flying boats, roll dampers etc.
| Original name | In Soviet service | Laid down[2] | Launched[2] | Commissioned[2] | Fate[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baltic Fleet Group | |||||
| Svetlana | Profintern, Krasny Krym | 11.11.1913 | 28.11.1915 | 01.07.1928 | Converted to a blockship 18.03.1958, scrapped 1959 |
| Admiral Butakov | 23.07.1916 | 1917 | Cancelled, scrapped in early 1950s | ||
| Admiral Spiridov | completed as tanker | 16.11.1913 | 27.08.1916 | 1926 | 1941 |
| Admiral Greig | completed as tanker | 24.11.1913 | 26.11.1916 | 1926 | Beached by a storm and broke in two 23.12.1937 in Tuapse harbor, scrapped. |
| Black Sea Fleet Group | |||||
| Admiral Nakhimov | Chervona Ukraina | 18.10.1913 | 25.10.1915 | 21.03.1927 | Sunk by German air raid 12.11.1941. Salvaged in 1947, used as target until 1952 |
| Admiral Kornilov | July 1914 | Cancelled, never launched, scrapped in 1920s | |||
| Admiral Istomin | July 1914 | Cancelled, never launched, scrapped in 1920s | |||
| Admiral Lazarev | Krasny Kavkaz | 18.10.1913 | 15.05.1916 | 25.01.1932 | Sunk as target 1952, scrapped 1958 |
[edit] Post-WWI completion
[edit] References
- ^ Russian 152-mm Canet gun [1]
- ^ a b c d Dates as in: Ю. В. Апальков. Российский Императорский Флот 1914 -1917 гг. Справочник по корабельному составу // Морская коллекция, 1998 N. 4
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