:List of battlecruisers of Russia

{{note|Alpha|α}} The Kirov class was fitted with a primarily missile-based main armament; this is reflected in the table with "Main armament" given instead of "Main guns".

{{Main article|Borodino-class battlecruiser}}

File:Borodino1915Sankt-Peterburg.jpg

The four Borodino-class battlecruisers (also referred to as Izmail class) of the Imperial Russian Navy were all laid down in December 1912{{refn|group=note|All dates used in this article are New Style.}} at Saint Petersburg for service with the Baltic Fleet. Construction of the ships was delayed as many domestic factories were already overloaded with orders and some components had to be ordered from abroad. The start of World War I slowed their construction still further as the foreign orders were often not delivered and domestic production was diverted into things more immediately useful for the war effort. The ships were launched in 1915–1916, but the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917 put a stop to their construction, which never resumed.McLaughlin 2003, pp. 247–249 The Soviet Navy gave consideration to completing the ships; initially, Izmail and Borodino were looked at, with a view to finishing one or both to their original design, but the lack of available {{convert|12|in|adj=on|0}} guns, combined with the complexity of the originally designed electrical system, led to the idea being dropped.McLaughlin, p. 332 Subsequently, plans were raised to complete Kinburn and Navarin to a modified design with {{convert|16|in|adj=on|0}} guns, which again failed due to the difficulty in either obtaining guns from overseas, or manufacturing them domestically. Subsequent ideas included converting some of the hulls for cargo or passenger use, which again failed. The Navy made a serious proposal in 1925 to convert Izmail, the ship closest to completion, to an aircraft carrier, but this plan was later cancelled as a result of political maneuvering on the part of the Red Army.McLaughlin 2003, pp. 332–337 Eventually, all four hulls were broken up for scrap; the second, third and fourth were sold to a German company in 1923, while Izmail was broken up in Leningrad in 1931.

{{Main article|Kronshtadt-class battlecruiser}}

File:Kronshtadt3.jpg

In the 1930s the Soviets began development of a large cruiser ({{langx|ru|большой крейсер}}; bol'shoy kreyser) capable of destroying {{convert|10000|LT|t|0|adj=on}} cruisers built to the limits imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty, which the Soviets had not signed. Several designs were proposed, but rejected by the Navy before the concept was merged with the small battleship (Battleship 'B') then being designed for service with the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets after the Soviets agreed to follow the terms of the Second London Naval Treaty in 1937. The new design was significantly larger and was also tasked with dealing with Germany's so-called "pocket battleships". Four were ordered shortly afterward, but the beginning of the Great Purge in August 1937 hindered the completion of the design process and the project was cancelled in early 1938 after being criticized as too weak in comparison to foreign ships.McLaughlin 2004, pp. 100–105

File:KronshtadtBattlecruiser.jpg

The Navy, however, still had a requirement for a ship capable of defeating enemy cruisers and the original concept was revived as Project 69. The proposed size of the ship continually escalated as the requirement was revised to allow it to fight larger ships like the German {{sclass|Scharnhorst|battleship|2}}s. The preliminary design was finally approved in January 1939 and two ships were laid down in November 1939, before the detailed design had even been approved.McLaughlin 2004, pp. 107, 109, 112

The Project 69 ships were intended to use a newly designed {{convert|305|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us|0}} gun in a new triple turret, but they were both well behind schedule when Joseph Stalin asked the Germans in February 1940 if any triple {{convert|283|mm|1|adj=on|sp=us}} turrets were available for purchase under the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement. When they said no, he then asked if any twin {{convert|380|mm|0|adj=on|sp=us}} turrets were available instead. Krupp had six incomplete 380mm SK C/34 turrets available that had originally been ordered before the war to rearm the two vessels of the Scharnhorst-class, but which were not used when the plan was cancelled after the start of World War II. A preliminary purchase agreement was made to buy 12 guns and six turrets later that month, well before any studies were made to see if the substitution was even possible. It was later determined that they could be used, so the agreement was finalized in November 1940 with the deliveries scheduled from October 1941 to 28 March 1943.McLaughlin 2004, pp. 109, 111

"Project 69-I" ("Importnyi" – Imported) modified the two ships to use the German guns, even though they still lacked data for the turrets and their barbettes. The detailed design was supposed to be completed by 15 October 1941, but it was rendered moot when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in June. Neither ship had progressed very far at that time and both had been damaged during the war, so they were ordered scrapped on 24 March 1947 after some thought had been given to completing Kronshtadt as either an aircraft carrier or a mother ship for whalers.

{{Main article|Stalingrad-class battlecruiser}}

File:Stalingrad2vew.jpg

The Navy reissued its requirements for a large cruiser to destroy enemy light cruisers in 1943, but none of the designs submitted were acceptable. The requirement was reissued in 1944 for a larger ship and the concept was approved by the Politburo in 1945. However, the Navy and the Shipbuilding Commissariat disagreed about the feasibility of laying down any ships of new design before 1950, so a committee was appointed under the chairmanship of Lavrentiy Beria to resolve the issue. It mostly sided with the Shipbuilding Commissariat, but a program of seven large cruisers was approved later that year. Preliminary design work was not completed until 1948 and the size of the ship ballooned to {{convert|40000|t|LT|0}}. Stalin intervened several times during the design process and ordered the ship's displacement reduced to {{convert|36500|t|LT|0|sp=us}} and speed increased to {{convert|35|kn}} as well as specifying its armament as 305 mm guns, rather than the {{cvt|220|mm|in|1}} guns preferred by the Navy. All of these changes delayed approval of the detailed design until 1951.McLaughlin 2006, pp. 103–110

The first ship was begun in November 1951 and the other two followed in 1952; a fourth was apparently ordered from the Severodvinsk shipyard, but was cancelled before being laid down. By this time Stalin's support was the main impetus behind the ships and little time was wasted cancelling them after his death on 5 March 1953. Stalingrad{{'}}s hull was ordered to be used for weapons tests while the two other ships were scrapped where they lay. The hull was launched in 1954 after it was modified to suit its new role. It was towed from Nikolayev to Sevastopol in 1955, but it grounded at the entrance to Sevastopol Bay. Initial attempts to pull it off the rocks by brute force failed, and the capsizing of the battleship {{ship|Soviet battleship|Novorossiysk||2}} further delayed salvage work, so that she was not freed until mid-1956. She served as a target for the first generation of Soviet anti-ship missiles and a wide variety of armor-piercing weapons before she was scrapped in the early 1960s, probably 1962.McLaughlin 2006, pp. 116, 119–120

{{main|Kirov-class battlecruiser}}

File:Kirov-class battlecruiser profile 1986.png

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union originated Project 1144 Orlan, a project intended to design and build a large, nuclear powered anti-submarine vessel. At the time, the Soviets did not envisage that arming surface ships with anti-ship missiles was required, as then current doctrine had it that submarines were the main platform for attacking enemy shipping.{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1144-history.htm |title=Project 1144 (Orlan) – History |author= |date=7 September 2011 |website=globalsecurity.org |access-date=20 October 2016 }}Jackson, pp. 409–411 However, the sinking of the Israeli destroyer INS Eilat in 1967 by anti-ship missiles fired from an Egyptian missile boat led to a re-think of the use of surface ships in the role. The threat of US Navy surface ships, which were increasingly capable of a range of different missions, led to the idea of a single ship combining anti-aircraft, anti-ship and anti-submarine capabilities crystallising.Bonner & Bonner, p. 86

File:ARKR Kirov 1985 anchored.jpg

Under the original specifications laid out in 1969, the new ship was originally classified as "nuclear antisubmarine cruiser" ({{langx|ru|атомный противолодочный крейсер}}; atomnyy protivolodochnyy kreyser). The first hull was laid down at the Baltiysky Zavod in Leningrad in March 1974 under the name {{ship|Soviet battlecruiser|Kirov|4=2}}. By the time the ship was launched in December 1977, she had been reclassified as a "heavy nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser" ({{langx|ru|тяжёлый атомный ракетный крейсер}}; tyazholyy atomnyy raketnyy kreyser), built around a primary armament of 20 SS-N-19 Shipwreck anti-ship missiles. Following the appearance of Kirov, two more units, {{ship|Soviet battlecruiser|Frunze|4=2}} and {{ship|Soviet battlecruiser|Kalinin|4=2}}, were commissioned at four-year intervals. When Frunze was commissioned in 1984, it was seen to have a different weapons fit to Kirov, with the pair of single 100 mm guns swapped for a twin {{convert|130|mm|adj=on|1}} turret, and the SS-N-14 Silex ASW missile system deleted in favour of adding eight SA-N-9 Gauntlet SAM launchers. In the event, none of the four ships of the class received a completely identical armament fit.{{cite report |author=Director of Naval Intelligence |date=July 1991 |title=Understanding Soviet Naval Developments |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a248966.pdf |publisher=Department of the Navy |page=147 |access-date=13 December 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225091003/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a248966.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.janes.com/defence/naval_forces/news/jfs/jfs000908_2_n.shtml |title=Kirov (Orlan) Class (Type 1144.1/1144.2) (CGN) |author= |date=8 September 2000 |website=Jane's |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415230911/http://www.janes.com/defence/naval_forces/news/jfs/jfs000908_2_n.shtml |archive-date=15 April 2009}} Additionally, the hull and propulsion machinery of the Kirov-class was used for the Soviet Navy's C³ vessel Ural.{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/ssv-33.htm |title=SSV-33 Project 1941 |last=Pike |first=John |website=GlobalSecurity.org |access-date=27 April 2022}}

The size of the Kirov class was approximately {{convert|28000|LT|t|adj=on}} full load. This was around the same size as a First World War super-dreadnought battleship, and significantly bigger than any contemporary cruiser design, leading to commentators in the west describing them as "battlecruisers".Gardiner, Chumbley & Budzbon, p. 328{{cite web |url=http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/kirov-class-battle-cruiser-the-worlds-largest-surface-1570998551 |title=Kirov Class Battle Cruiser: The World's Largest Surface Combatant |last1=Rogoway |first1=Tyler |date=5 May 2014 |website=Foxtrot Alpha |access-date=20 October 2016 }} Their appearance was a major factor in the US Navy reactivating its four {{sclass|Iowa|battleship|2}}s in the early 1980s.Miller and Miller, p. 114 The fourth unit, {{ship|Soviet battlecruiser|Yuri Andropov|4=2}}, was launched in April 1989, with plans advanced for a fifth ship, to be named Kuznetsov.{{refn|group=note|Kuznetsov was initially named as Dzerzhinsky, then Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya}}{{cite web |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/1144-units.htm |title=Project 1144.2 Orlan – Units |author= |date=8 September 2016 |website=globalsecurity.org |access-date=20 October 2016 }}Miller, p. 192 However, the fall of the Soviet Union saw funding for the Navy collapse—the fourth ship, renamed as Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great), was not commissioned until 1998, while the fifth hull was cancelled, and the remaining three laid up in varying states of disrepair. Although the first ship, Kirov{{refn|group=note|Kirov was renamed as Admiral Ushakov in 1992, but was restored to its original name in 2004, after having been laid up out of use. The name Admiral Ushakov was transferred to the {{sclass|Sovremenny|destroyer|2}} {{ship|Russian destroyer|Besstrashnyy||2}}{{cite web |url=http://www.pravoslavie.ru/news/040705124002.htm |title=Эсминец "Бесстрашный" Переименован В "Адмирала Ушакова" |trans-title=Destroyer "Fearless" renamed "Admiral Ushakov" |date=5 July 2004 |website=Pravoslavie.ru |language=ru |access-date=19 August 2021}}}} began a planned overhaul in 1999, this was halted in 2001, with the decision taken to dismantle the ship instead.{{cite web |url=http://www.bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/navy/northern_fleet/vessels/9519 |title=Nuclear battle cruiser to be scrapped |first=Igor |last=Kudrik |date=3 November 1998 |website=Bellona Foundation |accessdate=18 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121203035425/http://www.bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/navy/northern_fleet/vessels/9519 |archivedate=3 December 2012}} Kalinin (renamed as Admiral Nakhimov in 1992{{cite web |url=https://tass.com/defense/1274887 |title=Handover of Admiral Nakhimov battlecruiser to Russian navy postponed — source |author= |date=7 April 2021 |website=TASS |publisher= |access-date=10 September 2021 |quote= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210407032227/https://tass.com/defense/1274887 |archive-date=7 April 2021 }}), considered to be in better condition, was scheduled to undergo a major overhaul to return her to active service by 2021.{{cite news |url=http://barentsobserver.com/en/security/only-one-nuclear-cruiser-be-modernized-27-09 |title=Only one nuclear cruiser to be modernized |work=Barents Observer |first=Trude |last=Pettersen |date=27 September 2012 |access-date=20 October 2016}}{{cite web |url=http://function.mil.ru/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12143718@egNews |title=Ремонт и модернизация тяжелого атомного ракетного крейсера "Адмирал Нахимов" идет в соответствии с графиком |date=27 September 2017 |publisher=Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation |language=ru |trans-title=Repair and modernization of the heavy nuclear missile cruiser Admiral Nakhimov is in accordance with the schedule|access-date=12 October 2017}} However, problems in completing the work saw the ships' delivery date pushed back to 2023.{{cite web |url=https://tass.com/defense/1274887 |title=Handover of Admiral Nakhimov battlecruiser to Russian navy postponed — source |author= |date=7 April 2021 |website=TASS |publisher= |access-date=27 August 2021 |quote=}} Once Admiral Nakhimov has rejoined the fleet, it was planned that Pyotr Velikiy would undergo a similar modernization. Then, in 2023, a report emerged that, owing to the spiralling cost of both its planned major refit, plus the increasing general maintenance costs, Pytor Velikiy would not undergo its planned modernisation and would instead be decommissioned once Admiral Nakhimov was returned to service.{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russia-scrap-worlds-largest-nuclear-powered-warship-amid-mounting-costs-1795913 |title=Russia to Scrap World's Largest Nuclear-Powered Warship Amid Mounting Costs |last=Kuklychev |first=Yevgeny |date=21 April 2023 |website=Newsweek |publisher= |access-date=4 August 2023 |quote=}} However, this remained unconfirmed at the time, with instead it simply being noted that the ship was continuing to undertake operations while an assessment of its condition was being undertaken.{{cite web |url=https://flot.com/2023/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B9%D0%A4%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%8224/ |title=Источник опроверг данные о решении списать крейсер "Петр Великий" |trans-title=The source denied the information about the decision to write off the cruiser "Peter the Great" |language=ru |last=|first=|date=18 July 2023 |website=mil.press |publisher= |access-date=4 August 2023 |quote=}} The fate of Frunze, renamed as Admiral Lazarev, was less clear, as the intention was to carry out an inspection of the ship to determine its overall condition once work on Admiral Nakhimov was completed. However, in April 2019 it was announced that both Kirov, having already been defuelled,{{cite web |url=http://www.navyrecognition.com/index.php/focus-analysis/naval-technology/5921-russia-continues-upgrading-its-kirov-class-nuclear-powered-cruisers.html |title=Russia continues upgrading its Kirov-class nuclear-powered cruisers |author= |date=5 February 2018 |website=Navy Recognition |access-date=6 July 2018 }} and Admiral Lazarev were to be finally withdrawn and broken up.{{cite web |url=https://iz.ru/export/google/amp/868993 |title=Крейсерова соната: атомный флот отправят в утиль |last=Ramm |first=Alexey |date=18 April 2019 |website=izvestia.ru |access-date=24 October 2019 |language=ru |trans-title=Cruiser Sonata: the nuclear fleet will be sent for scrap}}{{cite web |url=https://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htsurf/20190520.aspx |title=Surface Forces: Killing The Kirovs To Save The Fleet |author= |date=20 May 2019 |website=StrategyPage |access-date=24 October 2019 }} Admiral Lazarev was sold for scrapping in February 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.interfax.ru/russia/751519 |title=Атомный крейсер "Адмирал Лазарев" отправили на утилизацию |last= |first= |date=18 February 2021 |website=Interfax |publisher= |language=ru |trans-title=Nuclear cruiser "Admiral Lazarev" sent for recycling |access-date=20 August 2021 |quote=}}{{cite web |url=https://navalpost.com/admiral-lazarev-scrap-kirov-class-battlecruiser/ |title=Russia to scrap nuclear battlecruiser Admiral Lazarev |last=White |first=Ryan |date=21 February 2021 |website=Naval Post |publisher= |access-date=20 August 2021 |quote=}}

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bonner|first1=Kit|last2=Bonner|first2=Carolyn|title=USS Iowa at War|year=2007|publisher=Zenith Press|isbn=978-0-76032-804-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Breyer|first=Siegfried|title=Soviet Warship Development|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|date=1992|volume=I: 1917–1937|isbn=0-85177-604-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Burt|first=R. A.|title=British Battleships of World War One|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=1986|isbn=0-87021-863-8}}
• {{cite book |last=Jackson|first=Robert|title=The Encyclopedia of Warships: From World War II to the Present Day|year=2006|publisher=Thunder Bay Press|isbn=1-59223-627-8}}
• {{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Stephen|chapter=Project 69: The Kronshtadt Class Battlecruisers|editor=Preston, Antony|publisher=Conway's Maritime Press|location=London|date=2004|title=Warship|volume=2004|pages=99–117|isbn=0-85177-948-4}}
• {{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Stephen|chapter=Project 82: The Stalingrad Class|editor=Jordan, John|publisher=Conway|location=London|date=2006|title=Warship|volume=2006|pages=102–123|isbn=978-1-84486-030-2}}
• {{cite book|last=McLaughlin|first=Stephen|title=Russian & Soviet Battleships|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|date=2003|isbn=1-55750-481-4}}
• {{cite book |last1= Miller |first1= David |title= The Illustrated Directory of Warships from 1860 to the present|location= London |publisher= Salamander Books |year= 2002 |isbn= 1-84065-260-8|oclc= 59522373}}
• {{cite book |last1= Miller |first1= David |last2=Miller |first2=Chris |title= Modern Naval Combat |location= London |publisher= Salamander Books |year= 1986 |isbn= 0-86101-231-3 |oclc= 17397400 }}
• {{cite book |last=Roberts |first=John |title=Battlecruisers |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |year=1997 |isbn=1-55750-068-1 |oclc=38581302}}

{{WWI Russian ships}}

{{WWII Soviet ships}}

{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945}}

{{Battlecruisers of the world}}

{{featured list}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of Battlecruisers of Russia}}

Russia

Battlecruisers

Battlecruisers

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