Sverdlov-class cruiser

rdf:langString Sverdlov-class cruiser

rdf:langString Sverdlov class

rdf:langString * Belt: * Conning tower: * Deck: * Turrets: front, sides, rear, roof * Barbettes: * Bulkheads:

rdf:langString *Baltic Shipyard, Leningrad *Nikolayev Shipyard, Mykolaiv *Admiralty Shipyard, Leningrad *Severodvinsk Shipyard, Severodvinsk

rdf:langString * * *

rdf:langString *4 × triple /57 cal B-38 guns in Mk5-bis turrets *6 × twin /56 cal Model 1934 guns in SM-5-1 mounts *16 × twin AA guns in V-11M mounts *2 × quintuple torpedo tubes in PTA-53-68-bis mounts

rdf:langString * standard * full load

rdf:langString * overall * waterline

rdf:langString *2 × shaft geared steam turbines *6 × boilers,

rdf:langString at

rdf:langString *1 *Mikhail Kutuzov

rdf:langString The Sverdlov-class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional gun cruisers built for the Soviet Navy. They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed prior to the Second World War. They were modified to improve their sea keeping capabilities, allowing them to run at high speed in the rough waters of the North Atlantic. The basic hull was more modern and had better armor protection than the vast majority of the post World War II gun cruiser designs built and deployed by peer nations. They also carried an extensive suite of modern radar equipment and anti-aircraft artillery. The Soviets originally planned to build 40 ships in the class, which would be supported by the Stalingrad-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers. This class of cruiser satisfied the desire of Stalin, and of the leadership within the Soviet Navy, for a ship that was in keeping with a Naval doctrine focused on three priorities: supporting the defense of the Soviet coastline, operating out of naval bases worldwide, and protecting Arctic, Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea interests. Secondary missions envisioned for this class of ship were commerce raiding, and political presence in the third world. But they were considered obsolete, for the missile age in which defensive and anti submarine resources were the priority, by Soviet Premier Khrushchev and the Soviet Defence staff, which only grudgingly conceded some cruisers for limited roles as flagships in strategic and tactical naval operations. Within the Soviet Navy, leading Admirals still believed in 1959 that more big cruisers would be useful in the sort of operations planned in Cuba and in support of Indonesia. The Sverdlovs were also a threat to the British and Dutch Navies, which lacked 24-hour day/night carrier capability before satellite surveillance. The big ship threat to the Royal Navy was real, and was useful to it in justifying conventional fleet and carrier construction, especially in the North Atlantic. The response was to introduce the Blackburn Buccaneer, a carrier-based strike aircraft that had the performance required to approach and attack Sverdlov-class ships at ultra low level, using toss bombing attacks to deliver nuclear ordnance, while remaining outside the 5 km lethal range of the Soviet 100 mm and 37 mm guns. When the building program was cut back and the battlecruisers and carriers were cancelled, the Sverdlovs were left dangerously unprotected when operating in areas outside the cover of land-based aircraft. Their secondary mission, operating on their own as commerce raiders, was also compromised as they would be extremely vulnerable, in good weather, to USN Carrier Battle Groups equipped with modern strike aircraft and to the remaining Baltimore and Des Moines-class cruisers equipped with 8-inch guns. (The Royal Navy's last, Crown Colony and Tiger-class gun cruisers, and the USN's Gearing and Forrest Sherman-class destroyers, lacked armour, range and speed required to counter the Sverdlovs.) In 1954 Sverdlov class construction was cancelled by Khrushchev after 14 hulls had been completed. Two additional hulls were scrapped on the slip and four partially complete Sverdlovs launched in 1954 were scrapped in 1959. The remaining ships in the Soviet Fleet remained in service through the 1970s, when they underwent a limited modernization program before finally leaving service in the late 1980s. The only remaining ship of the class, Mikhail Kutuzov, is preserved in Novorossiysk.