Kiev-class destroyer

Originally three more Tashkents were ordered to be built in the Soviet Union, but it proved to be too difficult to marry the Italian design with Soviet shipbuilding practices and they were cancelled. Instead, the Soviets designed the Kiev class to be a smaller version with much the same armament as the Tashkent class. The Soviet Navy envisioned building 13 Kiev class ships in 1937 during the Third Five-Year Plan and then proposed 30 ships in its shipbuilding proposal in August 1939, but the government decided to only build half that number, with twelve in the first part of the five-year plan and two in the latter part. Of these twelve ships, the first eight were ordered as part of the Third Five-Year Plan–three ships for the Black Sea Fleet and five for the Baltic Fleet–and the remaining four on 10 April 1941, split between the Black Sea and Northern Fleets. The remaining ships were intended to be ordered as part of the Fourth Five-Year Plan. Only three of these ships were laid down, all in 1939. On 19 October 1940, the government reevaluated the shipbuilding program in light of the changing international situation and canceled all ships that had not yet been laid down. In addition, it ordered the one ship that had been started for the Baltic Fleet to be scrapped, and the pair being built for the Black Sea Fleet to be completed. A contributing factor in this decision may have been the Project 35 large-destroyer design scheduled for 1941 which was intended to have a dual-purpose main armament and much greater range.Platonov 2002, pp. 143–144; Rohwer & Monakov, pp. 45–46, 75, 99–100, 232

The Kiev-class ships had an overall length of {{convert|127.8|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|11.7|m|ftin|sp=us}}, and a mean draft of {{convert|4.2|m|ftin|sp=us}}.Platonov 2002, p. 145 The ships displaced {{convert|2350|LT|t}} at standard load and {{convert|3045|LT|t}} at deep load.Rohwer & Monakov, p. 100 Their crew numbered 264 officers and sailors.

The ships had three geared steam turbines, each driving one three-bladed propeller using steam from three water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of {{convert|27|kg/cm2|kPa psi|0|abbr=on|lk=on}} and a temperature of {{convert|350|°C}}. The turbines, designed to produce {{convert|90000|shp|lk=on}}, were intended to give the Kievs a maximum speed of {{convert|42|kn|lk=on}}. The ships had a maximum capacity of {{convert|750|t|LT|0|sp=us}} of fuel oil which gave them a range of {{convert|4100|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}. They were equipped with a pair of {{convert|165|kW|adj=on}} turbo generators and a pair of diesel generators, each of {{convert|50|kW}}.Platonov 2002, pp. 145–146

File:Wicher II 130.jpg

The main armament of the Kiev-class ships consisted of six 50-caliber 130 mm/50 B13 Pattern 1936 in three twin-gun B-2-LM turrets, one superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and the other mount aft of it. The ships carried 900 rounds for their guns. The B-13 gun fired a {{convert|33.4|kg|lb|adj=on|sp=us}} shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|870|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}, which gave them a range of {{convert|25597|m|yd|sp=us}}.Yakubov & Worth, p. 103 Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a twin-gun 39-K mount for 55-caliber 76.2 mm anti-aircraft gun Model 1935 (34-K) AA guns atop the rear superstructure. The 34-K guns could elevate between −5° and +85° and had a rate of fire of 15–20 rounds per minute. Their muzzle velocity of {{convert|801|m/s|ft/s|sp=us}} gave their {{convert|11.9|kg|lb|adj=on|disp=flip|sp=us}} high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of {{convert|14640|m|yd|sp=us}} and an effective ceiling of {{convert|6500|m|ft|sp=us}}. The ships were fitted with four twin-gun mounts for {{convert|12.7|mm|adj=on|sp=us}} DShK machine guns. The DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of {{convert|2500|m|yd|sp=us}}.Yakubov & Worth, p. 104

The ships carried ten {{cvt|533|mm|in|0}} torpedo tubes in two rotating quintuple mounts amidships. The ships could also carry 86 Model 1926 mines and 30 depth charges–ten {{convert|135|kg|adj=on|sp=us}} BB-1s and twenty {{convert|25|kg|adj=on|sp=us}} BM-1s–which were delivered by two throwers.

In July 1941, the shipbuilding program was reevaluated in light of the Axis invasion the previous month and both Kiev and Erevan were to be continued. Advancing German forces forced the ships that had been launched at Nikolayev to be evacuated in August to ports on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.Rohwer & Monakov, pp. 146–147, 232 The two ships were towed to various ports before ending up in Batumi, Georgia, in January 1942. They were towed back to Nikolayev on 12 April 1945 to finish building. The navy wanted to modify the design to reflect the latest war experience and the shipyard proposed in 1947 a complete modernization with weapons and radars that were still being designed. The proposal reduced the ships' speed to {{convert|36|kn}} and reduced the range to {{cvt|3500|nmi}} at {{convert|13|kn}}. The navy rejected this proposal and asked for a more realistic design the following year under Project 48-K.Platonov 2002, p. 144; Platonov 2003, p. 69

The revised proposal equipped the ships with lighter, more efficient propulsion machinery that reduced speed to {{convert|39.5|kn}} for {{cvt|500|nmi}} more range. It replaced the anti-aircraft armament with a twin-gun turret for the 55-caliber 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) and eight water-cooled, V-11 twin-gun mounts for the 74-caliber 37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K) AA guns. Depth-charge stowage was increased to 48 BM-1s and the torpedo tubes were replaced by the latest type. These changes increased the standard displacement by almost {{convert|400|LT|t}} to {{convert|2722|LT|MT}}. The stability of the proposal was so limited that the latest gunnery radar could not be fitted and the ships were competing for resources with the Project 30-bis {{sclass|Skoryy|destroyer|2}}s of a similar size already being built. Ultimately, the navy decided that it did not need a pair of unique ships with their own special maintenance and training requirements and canceled all further development in 1950.Platonov 2003, pp. 68–69

Kiev was towed back to Nikolaev after the war and was expended as a target during gunnery exercises in October 1946. The ship was refloated the following year and was transferred to the Caspian Sea to serve as a target for guided-missile tests. Sometime after 1960, Kiev returned to the Black Sea where she was sunk in 1962 during the testing of P-6 anti-ship missiles (NATO codename: SS-N-3 Shaddock).

Erevan was used as a barracks ship after the war. She was transferred to the Caspian in 1953 to be used as a target for anti-ship missiles. The ship was sunk during these tests, but was subsequently refloated and broken up for scrap.

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{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Budzbon |first1=Przemysław |last2=Radziemski |first2=Jan |last3=Twardowski |first3=Marek |title=Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945 |date=2022 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-68247-877-6|volume=I: Major Combatants|name-list-style=amp}}
• {{cite book |last1=Platonov |first1=Andrey V.|title=Энциклопедия советских надводных кораблей 1941–1945 |trans-title=Encyclopedia of Soviet Surface Ships 1941–1945 |date=2002 |publisher=Poligon |location=Saint Petersburg |isbn=5-89173-178-9 |language=ru}}
• {{cite book |last1=Platonov |first1=Andrey V.|title=Советские миноносцы. |trans-title=Soviet Destroyers |date=2003 |publisher=Galea Print |location=Saint Petersburg |isbn=5-8172-0078-3 |language=ru|volume=Part I}}
• {{cite book|last1=Rohwer|first1=Jürgen|last2=Monakov|first2=Mikhail S.|title=Stalin's Ocean-Going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953 |publisher=Frank Cass |location=London|year=2001|isbn=0-7146-4895-7 |name-list-style=amp |author-link=Jürgen Rohwer}}
• {{cite book|last1=Yakubov|first1=Vladimir|last2=Worth |first2=Richard |chapter=The Soviet Project 7/7U Destroyers|editor1-last=Jordan |editor1-first=John |editor2-last=Dent |editor2-first=Stephen |publisher=Conway|location=London|year=2008|title=Warship 2008|pages=99–114 |isbn=978-1-84486-062-3 |name-list-style=amp}}

• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor-last=Chesneau |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7 |last=Budzbon|first=Przemysław|pages=318–346|chapter=Soviet Union|editor-first=Roger}}
• {{Cite book|title="Гончие псы" Красного флота. "Ташкент", "Баку", "Ленинград"|last=Kachur |first=Pavel |publisher=Yauza/Eksmo |year=2008|isbn=978-5-699-31614-4|location=Moscow |language=ru|trans-title=Hounds of the Red Fleet: Tashkent, Baku, Leningrad}}

{{Kiev-class destroyer}}

{{WWII Soviet ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiev-class destroyer}}

Category:Destroyer classes

Category:Destroyers of the Soviet Navy

Category:Proposed ships

Category:Abandoned military projects of the Soviet Union