Sverdlov-class cruiser

Stalin, along with the leadership of the Soviet Navy, wanted a ship that followed a naval doctrine focused on three priorities:

• supporting the defense of the Soviet coastline,
• operating out of naval bases worldwide, and
• protecting Soviet Arctic, Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Sea interests.

Secondary missions envisioned for this class of ship were commerce raiding{{Cite web |last=Clarke |first=Alex |date=2014-05-12 |title=Sverdlov Class Cruisers, and the Royal Navy's Response |url=https://globalmaritimehistory.com/sverdlov_class_rn_response/ |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Global Maritime History |language=en-US}} 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 Nikita Khrushchev and the General Staff, who grudgingly conceded only some cruisers for limited roles as flagships in strategic and tactical naval operations. Within the Soviet Navy in 1959, leading admirals still believed that more big cruisers would be helpful in the sort of operations planned in Cuba and in support of Indonesia.

The big ship threat to the Royal Navy was useful to it in justifying maintaining a conventional fleet of warships and aircraft carriers, especially for use in the North Atlantic.{{Cite book

|title=Nimrod's Genesis

|last=Gibson |first=Chris

|publisher=Hikoki Publications

|year=2015

|isbn=978-190210947-3

|pages=17, 41–42

}} 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 effective range of the Soviet {{Convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on}} and 37 mm (1.5 in) guns. Additionally, the threat of these Soviet cruisers led the Royal Navy to keep its last battleship, HMS Vanguard, in commission until 1960, with the four King George V-class battleships kept in reserve until 1956 for similar reasons, as these five battleships were considered a surefire stopgap that would neutralise the threat of Soviet cruisers should aircraft prove insufficient in the frequently cloudy and stormy weather and long periods of seasonal darkness of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.{{Cite journal |last=Benbow |first=Tim |date=19 July 2024 |title=‘Largely a matter of sentiment’? The demise of the battleship in the post-1945 Royal Navy |url=https://academic.oup.com/histres/article/97/278/534/7717324 |journal=Historical Research |language=en |volume=97 |issue=278 |pages=534–549 |doi=10.1093/hisres/htae016 |issn=0950-3471 |access-date=29 December 2024 |via=Oxford Academic|doi-access=free }}

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 {{sclass|Baltimore|cruiser|5}}- and {{sclass|Des Moines|cruiser|5}}-class cruisers equipped with 8-inch guns. The Royal Navy's last {{sclass|Fiji|cruiser|5}}- and {{sclass|Tiger|cruiser|5}}-class gun cruisers, and the USN's {{sclass|Gearing|destroyer|5}}- and {{sclass|Forrest Sherman|destroyer|5}}-class destroyers, lacked the armour, rangeD.K Brown. Rebuilding the RN. Warship Design since 1945. Seaforth (2012), p 48 & A. Clarke. "Sverdlov Cruisers and the RN Response". British Naval History, 12-5-2015 and speed required to counter the Sverdlovs.

At the end of the Second World War, Joseph Stalin planned a major modernization and expansion of the Soviet Navy to turn it into a global blue-water navy. Large numbers of cruisers were required to escort heavier ships and leading destroyers.Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 340–341. To speed up production, it was decided to build an improved version of the pre-war {{sclass|Chapayev|cruiser|2}} (Project 68), the Sverdlov (Project 68B) instead of a wholly new design (Project 65). The design for the Sverdlov class was formally approved on 27 May 1947.Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 379Jarovoj and Greger, pp. 154–155 Some sources state that 30 Sverdlovs were initially planned, with the order being cut by five in favor of the three {{sclass|Stalingrad|battlecruiser|2}}s,Jarovoj and Greger, p. 155 but others state that the total of 30 includes the five Chapayevs.Gardiner and Chumbley, pp. 341, 379. The first three ships of the class were named after canceled ships of the Chapayev class. Following the death of Stalin in 1953, this order was cut to 21. Once the first 15 hulls were laid down, the Soviet Navy decided that the remaining six ships would be completed to a modified design (Project 68zif) with provisions for protection against nuclear fallout, but none was completed. Plans were developed, and drawings were created to upgrade the ships to support a cruise missile capability; however, these plans were dropped, and new construction was canceled in 1959. Incomplete ships except Admiral Kornilov (which became a hulk) were scrapped by 1961.

Reductions in cruiser force levels were contrary to the views of Soviet Navy leadership, which insisted cruisers still provided a valuable capability to act as command ships for naval gunfire support of amphibious operations. They also thought they would provide a political presence in contested areas of the Third World, e.g. Cuba and Indonesia. Had more Sverdlovs been available at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, they would certainly have been deployed. The Soviet Navy intended to base several older Chapayev class cruisers at Cuban ports had the operation succeeded.{{cn|date=November 2020}}

These ships were outclassed as surface combatants due to their lack of an anti-ship cruise missile capability. The limited modernization of those ships still in service in the 1970s relegated them to benefit as naval gunfire support platforms.{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of World Sea Power|publisher=Crescent Books|year=1988|isbn=0517653427|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_v9e5/page/81 81]|author=Chris Bishop and Tony Cullen|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000unse_v9e5/page/81}}

The standard Soviet practice was to pass the cruisers in and out of reserve status. Most were relegated to reserve status by the early 1980s.

The Sverdlov-class cruisers were improved and slightly enlarged versions of the Chapayev class. They had the same main armament, machinery, and side protection as the earlier ships. Improvements included increased fuel capacity for more range, an all-welded hull, improved underwater security, and increased anti-aircraft artillery and radar.

The Sverdlov class displaced 13,600 tons standard and 16,640 tons at full load. They were {{convert|210|m|ft|abbr=on}} long overall and {{convert|205|m|ft|abbr=on}} long at the waterline. They had a beam of {{convert|22|m||abbr=on}} and draft of {{convert|6.9|m|ft|abbr=on}} and typically had a complement of 1,250. The hull was a completely welded new design, and the ships had a double bottom for over 75% of their length. The ship also had 23 watertight bulkheads. The Sverdlovs had six boilers providing steam to two geared steam turbines generating {{convert|118,100|shp|lk=in}} to their shafts. This gave the ships a maximum speed of {{convert|32.5|kn|lk=in}}. The cruisers had a range of {{convert|9,000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|18|kn}}.

Sverdlov-class cruisers' main armament included twelve {{convert|152|mm|in|abbr=on|0}}/57 caliber B-38 guns mounted in four triple Mk5-bis turrets. They also had twelve {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}}/56 cal Model 1934 guns in six twin SM-5-1 mounts. For anti-aircraft weaponry, the cruisers had thirty-two {{convert|37|mm|in|abbr=on}} anti-aircraft guns in sixteen twin mounts and were also equipped with ten {{convert|533|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} torpedo tubes in two mountings of five each.

The Sverdlovs had {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} belt armor and had a {{convert|50|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} armored deck. The turrets were shielded by {{convert|175|mm|in|abbr=on|0}} armor and the conning tower by {{convert|150|mm|in|abbr=on}} armor.

The cruisers' ultimate radar suite included one 'Big Net' or 'Top Trough' air search radar, one 'High Sieve' or 'Low Sieve' air search radar, one 'Knife Rest' air search radar, and one 'Slim Net' air search radar. For navigational radar, they had one 'Don-2' or 'Neptune' model. For fire control purposes, the ships were equipped with two 'Sun Visor' radars, two 'Top Bow' 152 mm gun radars, and eight 'Egg Cup' gun radars. For electronic countermeasures, the ships were equipped with two 'Watch Dog' ECM systems.

By the early 1960s, torpedo tubes were removed from all ships of the class. In 1957 the Admiral Nakhimov had a KSShch (NATO reporting name: SS-N-1 "Scrubber") anti-ship missile launcher installed to replace "A" and "B" turrets. The modification was designated Project 68ER. This trial installation was unsuccessful, and the ship was decommissioned and used as a target ship in 1961.

Dzerzhinsky had a surface-to-air missile (SAM) launcher for the M-2 Volkhov-M missile (SA-N-2 "Guideline"), which replaced the third or "X" main gun turret in 1960–62, with the designation Project 70E.Jarovoj and Greger, p. 158 {{cnspan|This conversion was also considered to be unsuccessful|date=November 2020}} and no further ships were converted. As the entire missile installation was above the armored deck and the missile itself, based on the S-75 Dvina (SA-2 "Guideline"), was liquid-fueled (acid/kerosene), it would have represented a serious hazard to the ship in action.{{cn|date=November 2020}}

Zhdanov and Senyavin were converted to command ships in 1971 by replacing the "X" turret with extra accommodation and electronics, four twin 30 mm AK-230 guns, and a 4K33 "Osa-M" (SA-N-4 "Gecko") SAM system. Senyavin also had the "Y" turret removed to make room for a helicopter deck and hangar, and four additional AK-230 mounts installed atop the Osa-M missile system. Zhdanov and Senyavin were respectively designated Project 68U1 and Project 68U2.

Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsia was refitted with an enlarged bridge in 1977, with Admiral Ushakov and Aleksandr Suvorov receiving the same modification in 1979, and later, Mikhail Kutusov. These ships had four of their 37 mm twin mounts removed, and eight 30 mm AK-230 mounts were added. These ships were designated Project 68A.

File:46 Sverdlov Bear bomber April 75.jpg|A Tu-95 Bear overflies a Sverdlov-class cruiser 1975

File:RIAN archive 694190 Cruiser Dmitry Pozharsky.jpg|Dmitry Pozharsky (1968)

• List of ships of the Soviet Navy
• List of ships of Russia by project number

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite web |last=Holm |first=Michael |title=Sverdlov class |url=http://www.ww2.dk/new/navy/sverdlov.htm |date=2014-05-12 |access-date=2023-10-29 |website=Soviet Armed Forces 1945-91 Organisation and Order of Battle}}

• {{cite book |editor-last=Gardiner |editor-first=Robert |editor-last2=Chumbley |editor-first2=Stephen |editor-last3=Budzbon |editor-first3=Przemysław |date=1995 |title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-55750-132-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Jarovoj|first1=V. V.|last2=Greger|first2=René|editor-last=Roberts|editor-first=John |chapter=The Soviet Cruisers of the Chapayev and Sverdlov classes|title=Warship 1994 |year=1994|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London|isbn=0-85177-630-2|pages=147–158}}
• {{cite journal|last1=McLaughlin |first1=Stephen|year=2007|title=Question 37/04: Soviet Guided Missile Cruiser Admiral Nakhimov|journal=Warship International|volume=XLIV|issue=4 |pages=334–338 |issn=0043-0374}}

{{Commons category|Sverdlov class cruiser}}

• [http://ship.bsu.by/main.asp?id=100782 Article in the Russian language]
• [http://www.mamut.com/homepages/Norway/1/9/meridianfoto/subdet182.htm Pictures of Murmansk (Мурманск) at Hasvik]
• {{in lang|en}} [http://russianships.info/eng/warships/project_68bis.htm All Russian Sverdlov Class Cruisers - Complete Ship List]

{{Sverdlov-class cruiser}}

{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945}}

Category:Cruiser classes