In accordance with the decision on the first post-war ten-year program of military shipbuilding, the construction of light cruisers was envisaged. As a prototype of the new project of a light cruiser, the light cruiser pr.68K, according to the then classification of the Navy ships, was chosen, in turn created on the basis of the project 68 ship developed before the Great Patriotic War..) by the end of 1942, it was planned to build 5 light cruisers of Project 68 (in total, 17 units were to be laid). The first four ships of this project were laid down in 1939, the fifth - a year later. They were finally completed at the end of the 40s, taking into account the experience of the war, according to the so-called "corrected" project 68K. The chief designer of the 68K project was first appointed A. S. Savichev, and from 1947 - N. A. Kiselev.
The head - "Chapaev" - entered the Navy in the fall of 1949. Soon the rest were accepted by the fleet. Simultaneously with the completion of the ships of the pre-war projects, in these years, scientific and practical work was continued on the creation of warships of new generations, in which already during the design it would be possible to take into account as much as possible the experience of the war, and all that new that post-war science and production could give. In part, they tried to take this into account in the new cruiser of the 68bis project, which was considered the second series of 68K cruisers.
The main designer of this ship was A. S. Savichev, and the main observer from the Navy was Captain 1st Rank D. I. Kushchev.
Compared to its prototype (68K), it featured a fully welded hull, extended forecastle, and reinforced anti-aircraft armament. Strengthening weapons and protection, improving habitability, increasing autonomy (30 days) and cruising range (up to 9000 miles) led to an increase in total displacement to almost 17,000 tons.
To protect the vital parts of the ship in battle, traditional armor was used: anti-cannon armor for the citadel, main battery towers and conning tower; anti-fragmentation and anti-bullet - combat posts of the upper deck and superstructures. Mainly homogeneous armor was used. For the first time, the welding of thick naval armor was mastered, while it itself was fully included in the ship's structures.
The thickness of the armor used in these structures was equal to: side armor - 100 mm, bow traverse - 120 mm, aft - 100 mm, lower deck - 50 mm.
Constructive underwater protection against the effects of enemy torpedo and mine weapons included, in addition to the traditional double bottom, a system of side compartments (for storing liquid cargo) and longitudinal bulkheads. The location of office and living quarters practically did not differ much from that adopted on the cruisers of Project 68K.
As the main caliber on the ships of Project 68bis, four improved three-gun MK-5-bis artillery mounts (B-38 gun) were used.
At the end of the 50s, the control system was modified, which made it possible to fire the main caliber at air targets using the control system of the cruiser's universal caliber.
B-38 cannon at the Vladivostok Fortress Museum
The universal caliber was represented by six paired stabilized installations SM-5-1 (later installed SM-5-1bis).
100 mm universal SM-5-1bis.
The anti-aircraft one is represented by sixteen V-11 assault rifles (later the V-11M was installed).
ZU V-11M in the Vladivostok Fortress Museum
An important feature of the cruisers of this project is the presence of special artillery radar stations in addition to optical means of guiding guns to the target. The effective combat use of the main caliber artillery was ensured by the Molniya ATs-68bis A fire control system. The ships' mine-torpedo armament included two 533-mm five-pipe guided deck torpedo tubes mounted onboard on the Spardek, and the "Stalingrad-2T-68bis" control system for them, coupled with a special torpedo radar station. On the deck, the cruiser of this project could take more than 100 ship-borne mines. Ships of this type were also equipped with navigational and radio-technical weapons and communications equipment modern for that time.
The ship power plant of the 68bis cruisers as a whole did not differ from the power plant of the Project 68K ships. True, we managed to slightly increase the power at full speed, bringing it to 118,100 hp.
Giving an overall assessment of the ship, it can be noted that it was not the best representative of its class. In terms of its main characteristics, it was inferior to the ships built during WWII. Thus, surpassing the Cleveland-class light cruiser of the US Navy in the maximum firing range of 152-mm guns, 68bis was 1.5 times worse booked, especially on the deck, which is essential for long-range combat. Our ship could not conduct effective fire from 152-mm guns at maximum distances due to the lack of necessary control systems, and at shorter distances the Kpivland-class cruiser already had firepower (152-mm guns are faster, the number of universal 127-mm more guns - 8 per side against our 6 100-mm guns). Obsolete at the beginning of the 50s. the power plant of the 68bis cruiser with low steam parameters and boilers with fan blowing into the boiler rooms led to an increase in displacement by 1.3 times in comparison with the Cleveland (with the same cruising range). A major drawback of all domestic medium-caliber artillery was that with separate loading of guns with a caliber of 120 - 180-mm, caps without shells were used. This made it possible to shoot, if necessary, with incomplete charges (shooting along the coast or unprotected targets at short and medium distances), increasing the survivability of the guns, but did not make it possible to simplify loading, and, consequently, to increase the rate of fire.
In addition, the use of casings is always safer compared to pure cartridge loading.
In fact, the pr.68bis cruiser fully met the purpose of the first post-war shipbuilding program - the revitalization of the shipbuilding industry and the education of sailors. The main purpose of this ship was considered to be the protection of battleships and heavy cruisers from attacks by destroyers, cover for attacks by destroyers and torpedo boats, firework along the coast, as well as independent actions on enemy communications.
The lead cruiser of Project 68bis, named "Sverdlov", was laid down at the Baltic shipyard on October 15, 1949, launched on July 5, 1950 and entered service on May 15, 1952 (6 units were built at this plant). 11 - 18.06.1953 Sverdlov took part in the international naval parade on the Spithead roadstead of Portsmouth on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, where her crew demonstrated excellent maritime skills. All crew members were awarded a special commemorative sign, which depicted the silhouette of the cruiser Sverdlov. 12-17.10.1955 - return visit to Portsmouth. 20-25.07.1956 paid a visit to Rotterdam (Holland), and after reopening 5-9.10.1973 - to Gdynia (Poland). 17 - 22.04.1974 a detachment of Soviet ships (the cruiser "Sverdlov", the destroyer "Nagodchivy" and a submarine) under the command of Rear Admiral V. I. Akimov paid an official friendly visit to Algeria. 21-26.06.1974 paid a visit to Cherbourg (France); June 27 - July 1, 1975 - to Gdynia;
5-9.10.1976 - to Rostock (GDR) and 21-26.06.1976 - to Bordeaux (France). In total, during the service "Sverdlov" covered 206,570 miles in 13,140 running hours.
The construction of these cruisers was also deployed at the Admiralty shipyard (3 units), Sevmash (2 units) and the Black Sea shipyard (3 units). By 1955, out of the planned 25 units, it was possible to build only 14 cruisers of this project, which, after the decommissioning of the old battleships, became the largest ships in the Navy.
The hasty, ill-considered innovations of N. S. Khrushchev and his inner circle affected the fate of these ships in the most negative way. So almost completely finished ships were cut into scrap metal. In addition to the last two, the readiness of the ships ranged from 68 to 84%, and the "Kronstadt" even passed mooring tests. The cruisers put into operation had a different fate. KR "Ordzhonikidze" 10-14.07.1954 paid a visit to Helsinki (Finland). 18 - 27.04.1956 a detachment of Soviet ships (KR "Ordzhonikidze",. EM "Watching" and "Perfect") under the flag of Rear Admiral V. F. Kotov delivered the Soviet government delegation to Portsmouth (Great Britain). It is curious that the admiral's salon was occupied by N. S. Khrushchev, and N. A. Bulganin was occupied by the commander's. On April 20, the Soviet delegation attended a lunch at the Royal Maritime College in Greenwich. During the stay, the sailors noticed an underwater saboteur at the side of the cruiser - he appeared for a moment and disappeared again. After some time, the corpse of a combat swimmer in a black diving suit surfaced on the site of the Ordzhonikidze parking lot. English newspapers claimed that the body was headless, which was never found. The swimmer was the 3rd rank captain Lionel Crabbe. Back in 1941, Lieutenant Crabbe joined a group of British combat swimmers based in Gibraltar. British newspapers wrote that he began his "research" during the first visit to Great Britain of the cruiser "Sverdlov". Then everything ended well. Then British intelligence began to hunt for Ordzhonikidze. In 1955, an ultra-small submarine belonging to the British special services disappeared in the Baltic Sea without a trace, trying to penetrate to the base of the cruiser. 1 - 1956-08-08
Ordzhonikidze paid a visit to Copenhagen (Denmark); August 7-11, 1958 - in Helsinki. From 1961-14-02, it was part of the Black Sea Fleet. April 5, 1962 left Sevastopol for transfer to the Indonesian Navy and on August 5, 1962 arrived in Surabaya. Subsequently, under the name "Irian" was part of the Indonesian Navy. After a coup by General Suharto, the cruiser was turned into a communist prison. In 1972 "Irian" is disarmed and sold for scrap.
"Admiral Nakhimov" (scheduled for rearmament on Project 71 with the installation of an air defense system), in the 60s was excluded from the fleet after participating in the tests of the first samples of anti-ship missiles.
"Dzerzhinsky" was reequipped in accordance with Project 70E (one turret of the main caliber was removed and in its place was installed the "Volkhov-M" air defense system with an ammunition load of 10 anti-aircraft missiles).
The M-2 complex was intended for air defense of the ship from attacking bombers and projectile aircraft. The V-753 anti-aircraft missile of the S-75 Volkhov complex was used as the M-2 fire weapon.
The missile was a two-stage V-750 missile modified for use in naval conditions, which was developed for the S-75 land-based anti-aircraft missile system and was already being tested in mid-1955. The range of the first shipborne missile defense was supposed to be 29 km, the height from 3 to 22 km. For the armament of ships on missiles, the suspension nodes to the launcher guides had to be changed, as well as a number of structural materials were replaced, taking into account their use in sea conditions.
Due to the large dimensions of the missiles (their length was almost 10, 8 m, and the span along the stabilizers was 1, 8 m), the dimensions of the reconstructed artillery cellars of the ship turned out to be insufficient for them, as a result of which a special superstructure (cellar) had to be made at Dzerzhinsky 3, 3 meters high, cut through the lower and upper decks, as well as the forecastle deck above it. The roof and walls of the cellar above the lower deck were armored with bulletproof armor 20 mm thick. Of the ten missiles placed in the cellar, eight were stored on two special rotating drums (four missiles on each), two missiles were outside the drums and were intended to recharge them.
The cellar housed equipment for the missile feed and loading system. The engine room of the cellar, located in its lower part, was separated by an "impenetrable flooring".
One set of "Corvette-Sevan" control and guidance system, "Kaktus" air target detection radar, 2 sets of "Fakel-M" identification equipment, "Razliv" radar (installed later).
The final form of the Dzerzhinsky radar under the project 70E was submitted for testing at the end of 1958 - mooring tests were carried out in October, factory sea trials of the ship were carried out in November, and in December, flight design tests of an experimental model of the M-2 complex began. According to the program of these tests, the first B-753 missile launches were carried out from Dzerzhinsky, which showed the operability of the launcher and the missile feed devices from the cellar, as well as the safety for ship superstructures of the impact of the rocket launch accelerator jet, and the operation of the control and guidance system was tested. " Sevan "when shooting at targets towed by aircraft.
During 1959, about 20 missile launches were carried out, including those against air targets. The first real target for the M-2 was the Il-28 bomber, flying at an altitude of 10 km and which was shot down by the first missile. However, in the process of creating the M-2, it was not possible to implement all the solutions planned by the designers. So, despite the attempts made to create an automatic system for refueling the sustainer stage of missiles with fuel, in the final version it was decided to stop at their manual refueling in the rocket cellar before being fed to the launcher.
Based on the results of its work, the State Commission made the following conclusion: "The M-2 anti-aircraft guided missile system, consisting of the Corvette-Sevan system, B-753 anti-aircraft missiles and the SM-64 launcher with a feeding and loading device, is effective. means of air defense and can be recommended for arming naval ships as a combat weapon with high accuracy in hitting air targets."
At the same time, the commission pointed out the need for additional work on the ship. In particular, it was required to ensure the protection of the cruiser's open combat posts from the gas jet of launching missiles, to develop and install an automatic fire extinguishing system in the missile defense cellar, to create and mount a system for high-speed refueling of missiles with fuel on the ship in the process of feeding them from the storage to the launcher.
The results obtained during the tests of the M-2 in 1959-60 were, in general, close to the specified requirements. But a number of shortcomings of the new weapon were not ignored, and, first of all, the fact that the M-2 turned out to be too heavy and large in size, even for such a ship as "Dzerzhinsky". Another factor limiting the capabilities of the complex was the low rate of fire due to the considerable time required to reload the launchers, as well as the insignificant ammunition of the missiles. In addition, the two-component, highly toxic fuel used on the missile defense system created an increased fire and explosion hazard.
However, given the experimental nature of the creation of the first shipborne air defense system, these shortcomings were not critical, and the ship equipped with this complex could well be used as a floating "desk", where they acquired their first experience in the calculations of future shipborne air defense systems.
On August 3, 1961, after the completion of the M-2 test program, the Dzerzhinsky was transferred to the category of training ships. In this role, he completed several dozen long-distance campaigns - to Constanta (Romania), Varna (Bulgaria), Istanbul (Turkey), Latakia (Syria), Port Said (Egypt), Piraeus (Greece), Le Havre (France) and Tunisia …
In the summer of 1967 and in the fall of 1973, while in the Mediterranean Sea in the war zone, "Dzerzhinsky" performed the task of providing assistance to the Egyptian armed forces. The last check of missiles on the ship was carried out in 1982.all the missiles were leaking and were of little use.
The explosion of the tower on the cruiser "Admiral Senyavin".
On June 13, 1978, the KRU "Admiral Senyavin" conducted a firing practice. Only one tower (No. I) fired, the second was mothballed and had no personnel. They used practical shells (that is, without explosives) and low-combat charges. After eight successful volleys, on the ninth, the right gun did not fire.
Such a case was provided, and two locks were automatically activated, which did not allow opening the shutter. However, the calculation turned off the locks, opened the shutter, and the tray with the next charge was set in the loading position. As a result of the automatic activation of the drive, the device sent a new projectile into the chamber of the gun, crushing the charge in it, and it ignited. A jet of hot gases through the gap between the sent projectile and the gun chamber broke into the fighting compartment. The old projectile flew out of the barrel and fell into the water 50 meters from the ship, and the new projectile flew back into the fighting compartment. A fire broke out in the tower. By order of the commander of the ship, Captain 2nd Rank V. Plakhov, the cellars of the I and II towers were flooded. The fire was extinguished with regular fire extinguishing means, but everyone who was in the first tower, including the correspondent of the newspaper "Krasnaya Zvezda" Captain 2nd Rank L. Klimchenko, was killed. Of the 37 dead, 31 people were poisoned by carbon monoxide, three drowned when the cellars were flooded and three were fatally injured.
The appearance of control ships in the United States and the unresolved issue of this problem in our fleet led at the end of the 60s to the conversion of two cruisers Zhdanov and Admiral Senyavin into control ships according to pr. 68U-1, 68U-2. Moreover, it was originally supposed to re-equip them according to Project 68U, but at the Vladivostok Dalzavod they mistakenly removed not one main-caliber turret in the stern, but two. To hide this fact, two versions of the project 68U-1 and 68U-2 were developed retroactively. Moreover, in order to use additional free weights and spaces on the 68U-2, it was decided to place a helipad and a hangar for storing the Ka-25 helicopter.
In the 70s, new 30-mm AK-630 assault rifles and Osa-M air defense systems were additionally installed on 4 ships. The ships were re-equipped and equipped with more modern radio equipment.
On this ship, the development of the class of artillery cruisers in the USSR Navy stopped, although studies on missile and artillery cruisers (options with guns from 152 mm to 305 mm caliber, full armor and various missile weapons were considered) were carried out until 1991.
Cruisers pr. 68-bis
1. Cr. "Sverdlov" entered service 1952, decommissioned 1989 (37 years)
2. Cr. "Zhdanov" entered service 1952, decommissioned 1990 (38 years old)
Converted to KU.
3. Kr. "Ordzhonikidze" entered service in 1952, decommissioned 1963 (11 years) Transferred to Indonesia.
4. Cr. "Dzerzhinsky" was commissioned in 1952, decommissioned 1988 (36 years old) Re-equipped into avenue 70-E.
5. Cr. "Alexander Nevsky" was commissioned in 1952, decommissioned in 1989 (37 years old).
6. Cr. "Alexander Suvorov" "entered service 1953, decommissioned 1989 (36 years) Transferred from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet.
7. Cr. "Admiral Lazarev" entered service in 1953, decommissioned 1986 (33 years old) Transferred from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet.
8. Cr. "Admiral Ushakov" "entered service 1953, decommissioned 1987 (34 years old) Transferred from the Baltic Fleet to the Northern Fleet.
9. Cr. "Admiral Nakhimov" entered service 1953, decommissioned 1961 (11 years)
Disassembled after refitting.
10. Cr. "Molotovsk" was commissioned in 1954, decommissioned 1989 (35 years old)
Renamed to "October Revolution"
11. Cr. "Admiral Senyavin" was commissioned in 1954, decommissioned 1989 (35 years old) Converted into KU.
12. Cr. "Dmitry Pozharsky" entered service 1954, decommissioned 1987 (33 years old) Transferred from the Baltic Fleet to the Pacific Fleet.
13. Cr. "Mikhail Kutuzov" was commissioned in 1954, decommissioned 2002 (48 years old) It was turned into a museum of the Navy. Currently Kr. "Mikhail Kutuzov" is "in the eternal stop" as a ship-museum in Novorossiysk
14. Cr. "Murmansk" entered service 1955, decommissioned 1992 (37 years)
The cruiser "Mikhail Kutuzov" in Novorossiysk
The fate of the Murmansk Kyrgyz Republic turned out to be more tragic.
On her last cruise, the cruiser went out under tugs at the end of 1994. It was to be cut for scrap in India, where it was sold.
However, during a storm, after a break in the towing cables, he was thrown onto a sandbank off the coast of Norway, on a sandbank, not far from the entrance to one of the fjords.
For a long time this giant, this pride of the Soviet Navy, rested on the Norwegian coast, at the North Cape, as if asking by his appearance: "Why did they do this to me?"
In 2009, the Norwegian government made a decision to remove the wreckage. The work turned out to be quite difficult and was repeatedly delayed.
Today the operation is close to the final. In April, contractor AF Decom completed the construction of a dam around the cruiser. By mid-May 2012, almost all the water had been pumped out of the dock, judging by the photo of the Norwegian Coastal Administration. To start cutting, all that remains is to examine the hull of the vessel and make some preparations.
“We, in the end, managed to ensure the watertightness of the dock,“Murmansk”is now almost completely in sight. We did not completely drain the dock so as not to subject the structure to unwanted loads. We can easily butcher a large part of the ship's hull in its current position,”the website of the coastal administration quotes the words of the project manager Knut Arnhus.
The grounded ship is not in the best condition - waves and bad weather tormented it for almost twenty years. AF Decom specialists completed their work by cutting 14,000 tons of metal. Instead of the planned 40 million euros, it cost them 44 million.
