Kiev-class destroyer
 Line drawings to different scales of the never-completed Kiev-class destroyers; Project 48 (top), Project 48-K (bottom)
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Soviet Navy |
| Preceded by | Tashkent class |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Built | 1939–1941 |
| Planned | 14 |
| Completed | 0 |
| Cancelled | 11 |
| Scrapped | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Destroyer leader |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 127.8 m (419 ft 3 in) ( o/a ) |
| Beam | 11.7 m (38 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts; 3 geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 42 knots (78 km/h; 48 mph) |
| Range | 4,100 nmi (7,600 km; 4,700 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 264 |
| Armament |
|
The Kiev class (Russian: Киев) (officially designated as Project 48) was designed in 1939 for the Soviet Navy as a smaller class of destroyer leaders after the cancellation of the Tashkent-class ships that had been intended to be built in the Soviet Union. Only three ships were begun; one was cancelled and scrapped before the Axis invasion in mid-1941 and construction of the other two was suspended during the war. The navy considered completing them under a new Project 48-K configuration afterwards, but decided against that as they would have been competing against a more modern design that lacked the stability problems that the 48-K design would have had. The Soviets either scrapped them or used them as targets.
Background and description
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
The Kiev-class ships had an
The ships had three geared
Armament
The main armament of the Kiev-class ships consisted of six 50-caliber 130-millimeter (5.1 in) B-13 guns 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.[2] The B-13 gun fired a 33.4-kilogram (74 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 870 m/s (2,900 ft/s), which gave them a range of 25,597 meters (27,993 yd).[5] Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a twin-gun 39-K mount for 55-caliber 76.2-millimeter (3 in) 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 801 meters per second (2,630 ft/s) gave their 26-pound (11.9 kg) high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of 14,640 meters (16,010 yd) and an effective ceiling of 6,500 meters (21,300 ft). The ships were fitted with four twin-gun mounts for 12.7-millimeter (0.50 in) DShK machine guns. The DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of 2,500 meters (2,700 yd).[6]
The ships carried ten 533 mm (21 in)
Ships
| Ship and ( yard number)[7]
|
Builder[7] | Laid down[7]
|
Launched[7] | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiev (357) | Shipyard No. 198 (Marti South), Nikolayev | 29 September 1939 | 12 December 1940 | Evacuated (48.9% complete), August 1941, ultimately used as a target, 1962[8] |
| Erevan (358) | 30 December 1939 | 29 June 1941 | Evacuated (25.4% complete), August 1941, ultimately used as a target and then scrapped[8] | |
| Stalinabad (542) | Shipyard No. 190 (Zhdanov), Leningrad | 27 December 1939 | Never | Canceled, 19 October 1940, scrapped[7] |
| Unnamed (543) | Never | Canceled, 19 October 1940[7] | ||
| Unnamed (544) | ||||
| Ashkhabad (545) | ||||
| Alma-Ata (546) | ||||
| Petrozavadosk (359) | Shipyard No. 198 (Marti South), Nikolayev | |||
| Ochakov[Note 1] | ||||
| Perekop[Note 1] | ||||
| Arkhangelsk[Note 1] | Shipyard No. 402, Molotovsk | |||
| Murmansk[Note 1] |
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.[9] 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 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) and reduced the range to 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). The navy rejected this proposal and asked for a more realistic design the following year under Project 48-K.[10]
The revised proposal equipped the ships with lighter, more efficient propulsion machinery that reduced speed to 39.5 knots (73.2 km/h; 45.5 mph) for 500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi) more range. It replaced the anti-aircraft armament with a twin-gun turret for the 55-caliber
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
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.[8]
Notes
Citations
- ^ Platonov 2002, pp. 143–144; Rohwer & Monakov, pp. 45–46, 75, 99–100, 232
- ^ a b c d Platonov 2002, p. 145
- ^ Rohwer & Monakov, p. 100
- ^ Platonov 2002, pp. 145–146
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, p. 103
- ^ a b Yakubov & Worth, p. 104
- ^ a b c d e f g Rohwer & Monakov, p. 232
- ^ a b c d Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski, p. 105
- ^ Rohwer & Monakov, pp. 146–147, 232
- ^ Platonov 2002, p. 144; Platonov 2003, p. 69
- ^ Platonov 2003, pp. 68–69
Bibliography
- Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. I: Major Combatants. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-877-6.
- Platonov, Andrey V. (2002). Энциклопедия советских надводных кораблей 1941–1945 [Encyclopedia of Soviet Surface Ships 1941–1945] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Poligon. ISBN 5-89173-178-9.
- Platonov, Andrey V. (2003). Советские миноносцы [Soviet Destroyers] (in Russian). Vol. Part I. Saint Petersburg: Galea Print. ISBN 5-8172-0078-3.
- ISBN 0-7146-4895-7.
- Yakubov, Vladimir & Worth, Richard (2008). "The Soviet Project 7/7U Destroyers". In Jordan, John & Dent, Stephen (eds.). Warship 2008. London: Conway. pp. 99–114. ISBN 978-1-84486-062-3.
Further reading
- Budzbon, Przemysław (1980). "Soviet Union". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 318–346. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
- Kachur, Pavel (2008). "Гончие псы" Красного флота. "Ташкент", "Баку", "Ленинград" [Hounds of the Red Fleet: Tashkent, Baku, Leningrad] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza/Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-699-31614-4.