Soviet destroyer Strashny
 An unidentified Storozhevoy-class destroyer in the Black Sea
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | Strashny (Страшный (Terrible)) |
| Ordered | 2nd Five-Year Plan |
| Builder | Leningrad |
| Yard number | 519 |
| Laid down | 31 March 1938 |
| Launched | 8 April 1939 |
| Commissioned | 22 June 1941 |
| Renamed | UTS-18, 18 April 1958 |
| Reclassified | As a stationary training ship, 18 April 1958 |
| Stricken | 12 January 1960 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 12 January 1960 |
| General characteristics (Storozhevoy, 1941) | |
| Class and type | Storozhevoy-class destroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 112.5 m (369 ft 1 in) ( o/a ) |
| Beam | 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 3.98 m (13 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 2 shafts, 2 steam turbine sets |
| Speed | 40.3 knots (74.6 km/h; 46.4 mph) (trials) |
| Endurance | 2,700 nmi (5,000 km; 3,100 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 207 (271 wartime) |
| Sensors and processing systems | Mars hydrophones |
| Armament |
|
Strashny (Russian: Страшный, lit. 'Terrible') was one of 18 Storozhevoy-class destroyers (officially known as Project 7U) built for the Soviet Navy during the late 1930s. Although she began construction as a Project 7 Gnevny-class destroyer, Strashny was completed in 1941 to the modified Project 7U design.
Accepted from the shipyard on the day that the
Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. Postwar, she continued to serve in the Baltic and was briefly converted to an unarmed stationary training ship before being broken up for scrap
in 1960.
Design and description
Originally built as a
en echelon, instead of linked as in the Gnevnys, so that a ship could still move with one or two boilers disabled.[1]
Like the Gnevnys, the Project 7U destroyers had an
kW) using steam from four water-tube boilers, which the designers expected would exceed the 37-knot (69 km/h; 43 mph) speed of the Project 7s because there was additional steam available. Strashny herself reached 39.6 knots (73.3 km/h; 45.6 mph) during her sea trials in 1941. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Project 7Us varied from 1,380 to 2,700 nautical miles (2,560 to 5,000 km; 1,590 to 3,110 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[3]
The Project 7U-class ships mounted four
amidships. The ships could also carry a maximum of 58 to 96 mines and 30 depth charges. They were fitted with a set of Mars hydrophones for anti-submarine work, although these were useless at speeds over 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).[5]
Modifications
In 1944–1945, Strashny exchanged both of her 21-K mounts for six
ASDIC system. After the war, all of her AA guns were replaced by eight water-cooled V-11M versions of the 70-K gun in twin mounts.[6]
Construction and World War II
Strashny was
turbogenerator. Strashny escaped mostly unscathed from an air raid off Ruhnu on the next day, although concussion from near misses knocked out her main compass; her captain claimed her gunners shot down a pair of Junkers Ju 88 bombers. Bomb hits during a 15 July raid killed seven crew members and wounded 22, although the destroyer's anti-aircraft gunners claimed a Ju 88 downed. Bomb splinters started a fire in a shell magazine, which was extinguished, and holed her hull in multiple places, puncturing several oil tanks and knocking out power for her radio and electric navigation devices.[10]
Along with the old destroyer
floating dock on 8 August, being towed to the Zhdanov Shipyard while in the latter during the night of 9–10 August. After the shipyard became a target of German artillery fire, the floating dock with Strashny was towed to the Baltic Shipyard on 14 September, which took over the repairs. She was fitted with the bow of an unfinished Ognevoy-class destroyer in November, and a replacement 130 mm gun and capstan for the new bow were salvaged by divers from the sunken destroyer Steregushchy. Strashny was taken out of drydock and moored at the shipyard for the final phase of her repairs.[11]
The
Neva River, aboard which they participated in twelve bombardments in support of ground troops, expending 168 main-gun shells. After further repairs of her guns and fire control devices, Strashny test-fired her guns against the Petergof pier and German positions at Strelna, expending 26 high-explosive rounds, after which she was included in the Kronstadt defenses. The destroyer moved from the Peter Canal to Kabotazhna Havan on 1 July, where her gunners continued training, expending 3,600 rounds from her 45 mm guns during the summer.[11]
With her sister
Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive,[8] making seven bombardments between 10 and 11 June, firing one hundred thirty-nine 130 mm shells; her shells were corrected by an observation post on the shore.[11]
Postwar
After the end of the war, Strashny became part of the 8th Fleet when the Baltic Fleet was split between 25 February 1946 and 4 January 1956. She was refitted and modernized at
navy list on 12 January 1960 in preparation to be scrapped.[13] Her crew was disbanded soon afterwards on 18 February.[8]
Citations
- ^ Rohwer & Monakov, p. 52; Balakin, p. 8
- ^ Balakin, pp. 30, 44; Yakubov & Worth, p. 101
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 106–107
- ^ Hill, p. 42
- ^ Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 105–106
- ^ Hill, p. 36; Yakubov & Worth, pp. 104–106
- ^ Rohwer & Monakov, p. 234
- ^ a b c Berezhnoy, pp. 356–357
- ^ Balakin, p. 76
- ^ a b Balakin, p. 77
- ^ a b c d Balakin, p. 78
- ^ Platonov, p. 210
- ^ Balakin, p. 189
Sources
- Balakin, Sergey (2007). Легендарные "семёрки" Эсминцы "сталинской" серии [Legendary Sevens: Stalin's Destroyer Series] (in Russian). Moscow: Yauza/Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-699-23784-5.
- Berezhnoy, Sergey (2002). Крейсера и миноносцы. Справочник [Guide to Cruisers and Destroyers] (in Russian). Moscow: Voenizdat. ISBN 5-203-01780-8.
- Hill, Alexander (2018). Soviet Destroyers of World War II. New Vanguard. Vol. 256. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4728-2256-7.
- 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.
- 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, Przemysaw (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.