Name Chapayev class Preceded by Kirov class Planned 7 | Succeeded by Sverdlov class | |
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Builders Baltic Yard, LeningradNikolayevAdmiralty yard, Leningrad | ||
The Chapayev class (Project 68 Чапаев) were a group of cruisers built for the Soviet Navy during and after World War II. Seventeen ships were planned but only seven were actually started before the German invasion. Two incomplete ships were destroyed when their building yard in Nikolaev was captured by Nazi Germany and the remaining five cruisers were completed only in 1950.
Contents
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 152 mm B38 guns fired a 55 kg (121 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 anti-aircraft 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 five 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 (37 mm guns in twin powered and water cooled mountings).
Ships
A large programme was envisaged and seventeen ships were authorised in 1939 and eleven ordered. Six ships were to be built for the Baltic Fleet, four for the Black Sea Fleet and one for the Pacific Fleet. Seven ships were actually laid down before the German invasion in 1941.
Two more ships, Ordzhinikidze and Sverdlov, were scrapped on the slipway after being captured by the Germans in Nikolayev during World War II.