Soviet cruiser Voroshilov
Voroshilov
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History | |
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Soviet Union | |
Name | Voroshilov |
Namesake | Kliment Voroshilov |
Builder | Marti South, Nikolayev |
Yard number | 297 |
Laid down | 15 October 1935 |
Launched | 28 June 1937 |
Commissioned | 20 June 1940 |
Out of service | 6 October 1972 |
Renamed | 31 December 1961 as OS-24 |
Reclassified | 31 December 1961 as an experimental ship |
Refit | April 1954 – 31 December 1961 |
Honors and awards | Order of the Red Banner, 8 July 1945 |
Fate | Sold for scrap 2 March 1973 |
General characteristics (Project 26) | |
Class and type | Kirov-class cruiser |
Displacement | 7,890 t (7,770 long tons) (standard) |
Length | 191.3 m (627 ft 7 in) |
Beam | 17.66 m (57 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in) ( full load ) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 shafts; geared steam turbines |
Speed | 36.72 knots (68.01 km/h; 42.26 mph) (on trials) |
Endurance | 2,140 nmi (3,960 km; 2,460 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Complement | 872 |
Sensors and processing systems | Arktur hydrophone |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Aircraft carried | 2 × KOR-1 seaplanes |
Aviation facilities | 1 Heinkel catapult |
Voroshilov (Russian: Ворошилов) was a Project 26 Kirov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy that served during World War II and into the Cold War. She bombarded German troops during the siege of Odessa before being badly damaged in November 1941 by German bombers. Upon her return from repairs in March 1942 she supported Soviet troops during the siege of Sevastopol, the Kerch–Feodosiya operation and the amphibious landings at Novorossiysk at the end of January 1943. Her active participation in the war ended in October 1943 when three destroyers were lost to air attack and Joseph Stalin forbade missions using large ships without his permission. Postwar she was converted to a missile test ship before being sold for scrap in 1973.
Description
Voroshilov was 191.3 meters (627 ft 7 in) long, had a
The ship's
Wartime modifications
When war broke out in 1941, Voroshilov was not equipped with any radars, but she received a number of British Lend-Lease radars by 1944. One Type 284 and two Type 285 radars were used for main battery fire control. One Type 291 was used for air search, while anti-aircraft fire control was provided by two Type 282 radars.[4][5]
Service
Voroshilov was laid down at the
On 8 and 11 May she provided fire support for Soviet troops around
Voroshilov was withdrawn from active operations, however, after the loss of three destroyers that were attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead to air attack on 6 October 1943. This loss caused Stalin to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission which was not granted during the rest of the war.[12] The ship was transferred to Novorossiysk on 18 August 1944 and to Sevastopol on 5 November.[7] She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner on 8 July 1945.[13]
Postwar
Voroshilov was inspected in 1946 and found unsatisfactory, but she was given routine servicing.[7] She began her postwar modernization in April 1954, but the Navy reevaluated the scope of the work in 1955 and deemed it insufficient to create a fully modern ship. Unlike her half-sister Maxim Gorky, she was selected for conversion as a testbed for missile development as Project 33 on 17 February 1956. The conversion process was prolonged, as her armament was removed and she received an entirely new superstructure and masts. She consequently was not recommissioned as OS-24 until 31 December 1961. The ship was modernized under Project 33M from 11 October 1963 to 1 December 1965. Her final conversion was to a floating barracks on 6 October 1972 and she was redesignated as PKZ-19. Voroshilov was sold for scrap on 2 March 1973.[14] Voroshilov's 14-ton propeller and 2.5-ton stop anchor are on display at the Museum of Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol on Sapun Mountain in Sevastopol.[15]
Notes
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, p. 84
- ^ a b Yakubov & Worth, p. 90
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 86–87
- ^ a b Yakubov & Worth, p. 88
- ^ "British Naval Radar Equipment of World War II". navweaps.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ Rohwer, pp. 82–83, 101
- ^ a b c d Yakubov & Worth, p. 92
- ^ "Cruiser Voroshilov" (in Russian). Black Sea Fleet. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
- ^ Jipa Rotaru, Ioan Damaschin, Glorie și dramă: Marina Regală Română, 1940-1945, Ion Cristoiu Publishing, 2000, pp. 93-94
- ^ Spencer C. Tucker, World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia, p. 114
- ^ Nicolae Koslinski, Raymond Stănescu, Marina română in al doilea război mondial: 1942-1944, p. 56 (in Romanian)
- ^ Whitley, p. 211
- ^ "Type Kirov" (in Russian). sovnavy-ww2.by.ru. Archived from the original on 29 October 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 91–92
- ^ Museum of Heroic Defense and Liberation of Sevastopol (2006). Sapun Mountain Guide (in Russian). Simferopol: PoliPRESS Publisher. p. 140.
References
- 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.
- ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
- ISBN 1-86019-874-0.
- Wright, Christopher C. (2008). "Cruisers of the Soviet Navy, Part II: Project 26 and Project 26bis–the Kirov Class". Warship International. XLV (4): 299–316. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Wright, Christopher C. (2010). "Cruisers of the Soviet Navy, Part III: The Kirov Class Ships' Characteristics, Section I". Warship International. XLVII (2): 127–152. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Yakubov, Vladimir & Worth, Richard (2009). "The Soviet Light Cruisers of the Kirov Class". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2009. London: Conway. pp. 82–95. ISBN 978-1-84486-089-0.
Further reading
- 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.
External links
- (in Russian) Cruiser "Voroshilov" from Black Sea Fleet (with photos)
- (in Russian) Project 26 history at the Wayback Machine (archived October 29, 2002)