Svetlana-class cruiser

The State Duma had earlier approved construction of modern dreadnought battleships, but the IRN lacked modern cruisers and destroyers. Several years after the first {{sclass|Gangut|battleship|2}}s were ordered, the navy finally gained approval for four light cruisers as part of the 1912–1916 shipbuilding program to scout for the capital ships and to lead destroyer flotillas. Design work for the ships had begun as far back as 1907, but it took the IRN several iterations between alternating specifications and designs to decide what was feasible. In early 1912 it conducted a design contest for a {{convert|4000|-|5000|LT|t|adj=on|order=flip|sp=us|lk=on}} ship armed with a dozen 55-caliber 130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913 guns, capable of a speed of {{convert|30|kn|lk=in}}, and protected by some side armor. Other important requirements were a strong resemblance to the dreadnoughts under construction and the ability to lay mines. None of the submissions were entirely satisfactory, and the shipyards were asked for new, larger, designs. The navy combined the submissions from the Russo-Baltic and Putilov Shipyards for a {{convert|6600|LT|t|adj=on|order=flip|sp=us}} design in November. In February 1913, the IRN needed to divert some money from the cruisers to pay for the {{sclass|Borodino|battlecruiser}}s and the shipyards agreed to reduce the price from 9,660,000 rubles, excluding guns and armor, to 8,300,000 rubles in exchange for reducing the speed to {{convert|29.5|kn}}; the navy then ordered two ships from each yard on 13 February. Late changes to the design, including the addition of Frahm anti-roll tanks and provision for a seaplane, added several hundred extra tons to the displacement.Westwood, pp. 89–91

The Svetlana-class ships had an overall length of {{convert|158.4|m|ftin|sp=us}}, a beam of {{convert|15.3|m|ftin|sp=us}},Gardiner & Grey, p. 305 and a draft of {{convert|5.56|m|ftin|sp=us}}. The ships displaced {{convert|6750|LT|t|sp=us|order=flip}} at normal load. They were powered by four direct-drive Curtis-AEG-Vulkan steam turbines,Dodson and Nottelmann, p. 190 each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by 13 Yarrow boilers. The turbines were designed to produce {{convert|50000|shp|lk=on|sp=us}}, which would propel the ship at 29.5 knots; those for Svetlana and Admiral Greig were ordered from AG Vulcan Stettin in Germany (Admiral Greig subcontracted to Blohm+Voss). These were not delivered owing to the outbreak of World War I, and those intended for Svetlana were used to engine the German Brummer-class cruisers. As a result, new engines had to be ordered from the UK; this delayed Svetlana, and probably prevented Greig's completion as a cruiser.Dodson & Nottelmann, p. 190–91 The ships carried {{convert|1167|LT|t|0|sp=us}} of fuel oil. Their crew consisted of approximately 630 officers and crewmen.

The increase in size of the Svetlanas during the design process allowed their main armament to be increased from 12 to 15 Pattern 1913 guns in single mounts. Six of the 10 guns on the main deck were positioned in casemates and all were difficult to work in bad weather.Meister, pp. 34–35 The guns had a range of {{convert|15364|m|yd|sp=us}} at an elevation of +20° and fired {{convert|36.86|kg|lb|adj=on}} projectiles at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|823|m/s|ft/s|abbr=on}}.Friedman, p. 262 The maximum rate of fire was eight rounds per minute.Campbell, p. 361 The ships were also armed with four 38-caliber {{convert|63.3|mm|in|abbr=on|1}} anti-aircraft (AA) guns, although their maximum elevation was limited to +75°,Friedman, pp. 264 two submerged {{convert|450|mm|in|abbr=on|1}} torpedo tubes and could carry 100 mines. During construction, Svetlana{{'}}s AA guns were replaced by 30-caliber {{convert|76.2|mm|in|adj=on}} Lender AA guns and the rest of the ships were intended to receive {{convert|102|mm|in|adj=on}} AA guns.

The waterline belt of the Svetlana-class ships was 76 millimeters thick. It extended the whole length of the hull and covered from the lower deck to {{convert|3|ft|m|order=flip|sp=us}} below the waterline. Above it was a {{convert|25|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} strake of armor that covered the area between the lower and main decks. Those decks were each {{convert|20|mm|in|sp=us}} thick and the funnel uptakes were protected by 25 millimeters of armor. The walls of the conning tower were 76 millimeters thick while the gun shields protecting the 130-millimeter guns were 25 millimeters thick.

Svetlana and her sister ships were evacuated to Petrograd when the Germans approached Reval in late 1917 and were laid up incomplete during the Russian Revolution. The Soviets renamed Svetlana as Profintern in 1922,Budzbon 1985, p. 306 and removed her original torpedo tubes in exchange for a pair of triple {{convert|533|mm|in|sp=us|adj=on|0}} torpedo tubes on the main deck.Breyer, pp. 117, 165 The ship was completed in 1925, although she required several more years' work to be fully operational. Initially assigned to the Baltic Fleet, Profintern was transferred to the Black Sea Fleet in 1929. She was extensively overhauled in the late 1930s and her anti-aircraft armament was greatly augmented. The ship was renamed Krasnyi Krym upon the completion of her overhaul in 1939.Breyer, p. 165 During World War II, she supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Odessa, the Siege of Sevastopol, and the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation in the winter of 1941–1942. The ship was reclassified as a training ship in 1945 and was decommissioned in 1958 before being scrapped in 1960.Budzbon 1980, p. 326

Admiral Spiridov and Admiral Greig were converted into diesel-powered oil tankers during the 1920s and were renamed Grozneft and Azneft respectively. They were subsequently transferred to the Black Sea where the latter ship parted her moorings during a storm in Tuapse on 23 December 1938. She was blown onto a mole and capsized. Grozneft was renamed Groznyy in 1935 and was captured by the Germans on 8 October 1941. The ship was scuttled at Mariupol on 20 September 1943 and was refloated after the war. Groznyy was transferred back to the Baltic in 1946.Meister, p. 31 Admiral Butakov was renamed Voroshilov in 1928, and multiple plans were drawn up for her to be completed, including some as a training ship armed with 4 B-2LM turrets (Project 78), but none of these came to fruition.{{Cite journal |last=Kuznetsov |first=L.A. |date=2011 |title=Once again about the cruiser 'Admiral Butakov' |journal=Gangut |language=Russian |publisher={{ill|Гангут (издательство)|ru}} |volume=64 |pages=38-74}} Her hull was used as a breakwater at the mouth of the Neva River at Saint Petersburg before being broken up in 1952.

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{{Svetlana class cruisers}}

{{Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy}}

{{WWI Russian ships}}

{{WWII Soviet ships}}

Category:Cruiser classes

Category:Cruisers of the Imperial Russian Navy