For many people, the Russian navy is associated exclusively with the bulk of the hulls of nuclear missile cruisers and the sleek, streamlined silhouettes of submarines. In reality, the Soviet Navy included thousands of different ships, many of which, despite their well-deserved feats, remained unknown.
To correct this unfortunate misunderstanding, I propose today to talk about the destroyers of Project 56, which became the last torpedo-artillery destroyers of the Soviet Navy. The modest ships performed well in the tense atmosphere of the Cold War, often performing in completely unexpected roles.
In the period from 1953 to 1958, a series of 32 Project 56 destroyers was laid down (type "Calm" - in honor of the lead ship of the series). Originally designed for artillery combat as part of a cruiser squadron, the 56th project became obsolete even during the design phase. The nuclear-missile era already made completely different requirements for destroyers, and the presence of the enemy's numerous carrier-based aircraft made an artillery battle between large ships an anachronism. Nevertheless, it was impossible to convince Comrade Stalin - and the new Soviet destroyer was created in accordance with his ideas about the tactics of naval combat.
As befits a torpedo-artillery destroyer, Project 56 had a tremendous speed - its maximum value for ships of the series reached 39-40 knots, which is a world record for post-war destroyers. The pursuit of speed was expensive - the autonomy of the destroyers dropped to 45 days for provisions and up to 10 days for fresh water supplies. The range of the 18-knot travel did not exceed 3000 nautical miles.
As the main artillery caliber of the new destroyer, 2 paired 130 mm artillery systems SM-2-1 were chosen. The Sfera-56 fire control system included a SVP-42/50 stabilized sighting post with built-in DMS-3 rangefinders and an Yakor-M radar. The maximum firing range was approaching 28 km. The rate of fire in semi-automatic mode is 14 rounds per minute. The artillery mount could fire 54 volleys at full rate of fire, after which it required 4-5 minutes of cooling. Had Project 56 appeared a decade earlier, it would have had no equal among destroyers in terms of firepower.
Another interesting artillery system was the 45 mm SM-20-ZIF 4-barreled anti-aircraft machine gun. I do not presume to judge their combat effectiveness, but firing a 45 mm "machine gun" is a completely insane sight. Ammunition - 17200 shells.
When creating the destroyers of Project 56, many innovative solutions were applied, and they often served as a platform for testing experimental systems. Here are just a few interesting points:
- For the first time in the Soviet Navy, active stabilizers were installed on ships (starting with the destroyer Bravy), which had the most positive effect on seaworthiness.
- Back in 1958, on the destroyer Svetly, again for the first time in the Soviet fleet, a helipad was mounted for testing the ship's Ka-15 helicopter.
- For the first time in the history of the Russian fleet, on pr.56 superstructures were made of aluminum alloy (later, as a result of vibrations that appeared, their structure had to be reinforced three times, which, ultimately, brought its mass closer to the mass of a similar steel superstructure).
- The ships of Project 56 were equipped with a full range of electronic equipment, including the Zveno combat information and control system with an electronic tablet, which broadcast data from the Foot-B general detection radar. Here Soviet shipbuilders for the first time faced a large-scale task: the presence of a large number of various antenna devices that create mutual interference during operation required significant work for their optimal placement.
In early May 1954, a new type of Soviet warship was photographed by foreign tourists near Kronstadt, which received the NATO code designation Kotlin-class destroyer (in honor of the geographical point where it was first seen). With the beginning of combat service, it quickly became clear that there were no suitable tasks for the destroyers of Project 56 - in fact, the sailors understood this even at the design stage, but the country's top leadership adhered to extremely conservative views on the appearance of the new destroyer. This fact causes mockery among modern "democratic" historians, but the life of the 56th project was just beginning.
In the US Navy in the 50s, there was a similar destroyer project - the Forrest Sherman type, albeit with a slightly different purpose - an air defense escort destroyer with three highly automated 127 mm guns (rate of fire - 40 rds / min). The project was deemed unsuccessful - only 18 Shermans were laid down, that is, by the standards of the American fleet, they did not even start building.
As a result, the Americans faced the same problem as our sailors. Of the 400 American destroyers, by the mid-1950s, not one met the requirements of the Nuclear-Missile Age.
The search began for solutions to increase the combat capabilities of destroyers. Overseas, the FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) program was adopted, aimed at extending the service life of WWII destroyers, as well as the destroyers of the first post-war projects, by converting them into anti-submarine ships.
Domestic engineers began to develop the 56-PLO project, which has similar tasks. Since 1958, 14 Project 56 destroyers have been modernized. The ships dismantled the second torpedo tube and all 6 standard BMB-2 feed devices for dropping depth charges. Instead, a pair of 16-barrel RBU-2500 "Smerch" rocket launchers were mounted on the bow superstructure of the destroyers, and two 6-barreled missile launchers RBU-1000 "Burun" were installed in the stern of the ship. Unlike other ships, the destroyer Moskovsky Komsomolets instead of RBU-2500 in 1961 installed more advanced RBU-6000 installations. The remaining five-tube torpedo tube received a new torpedo fire control system "Sound-56" and anti-submarine torpedoes. Also, the Pegas-2M hydroacoustic station was installed on the upgraded ships. Theoretically, this gave the Soviet destroyers new combat qualities, but by that time, strategic submarine nuclear missile carriers had already appeared in the arsenal of the "potential enemy", and similar "submarine hunters" of NATO countries began to be equipped with the RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine missile system (Anti-Submarine Rocket) - the first modifications of these missile systems ensured the destruction of targets at a distance of 9 km, and the homing torpedoes Mark-44, Mark-46 or a special warhead W-44 with a capacity of 10 kilotons in TNT equivalent were used as a warhead. Similar systems were developed in the Soviet Union, but it was not possible to install them on the destroyer pr. 56-PLO at that time.
It was decided to modernize the 56th project in a different direction - to turn the destroyers into formidable air defense ships. The result of this work was a radical re-equipment of the Bravy destroyer according to Project 56-K. In just 4 months in 1960, all weapons were removed from the stern of the bow torpedo tube and, for the first time in the Russian Navy, the M-1 "Volna" air defense system was mounted on the ship, which is a two-boom launcher and a rocket cellar for 16 anti-aircraft missiles … The destroyer received a new general detection radar "Angara". Steel sheets were welded onto the stern wall of the second chimney to reflect the flame of the torches of the launching missiles, and a crane was installed on the starboard side for loading missile ammunition. Of the important, but invisible to the eye, changes, "Bravy" received active stabilizers, which expanded the possibilities of using missile weapons in stormy weather.
Such modernization was recognized as successful and the next 8 ships of Project 56 were rebuilt according to the optimized Project 56-A, in general, repeating the modernization of "Bravoy". In addition to the Volna air defense missile system, the RBU-6000 was added to the destroyers' weapons systems, and three ships, instead of 45-mm ZIF-20 assault rifles, received steamed 30-mm AK-230 anti-aircraft guns.
Meanwhile, the frenzied arms race continued. You will probably laugh, but it was decided to stuff heavy anti-ship missiles on the destroyers of pr. 56. In accordance with the experimental "rocket" project 56-EM, all (!) Weapons were removed from the destroyer "Bedovy"; unusual, for the English language, the combination of sounds must have driven analysts from the Pentagon into a stupor. The small ship was equipped with 7 huge 3, 5-ton missiles and an armored hangar for their prelaunch preparation. The Bedovy became the world's first ship armed with anti-ship missiles. The modernization was considered successful, despite the fact that the bulky liquid-fuel KSShch could hit targets at a distance of only 40 km and required a long (and deadly!) Prelaunch preparation. All the shortcomings were compensated by the possibility of installing a nuclear warhead.
In addition to Bedovoy, 3 other destroyers were completed according to a similar project 56-M. Later, this stage of modernization generally resulted in the creation of a ship of a different type - missile destroyers pr. 57, in the hull of pr. 56, already armed with two KSShch launchers.
The final touch was the creation of Project 56-U in 1969: 3 destroyers were armed with new P-15 Termit anti-ship missiles and 76-mm anti-aircraft artillery.
On this, the crazy story of the modernization of Project 56 was completed - the new systems of naval weapons no longer fit in the body of the aging destroyer. But the very fact of such metamorphoses testifies to the enormous modernization potential of Project 56, which its creators did not even suspect. In the history of world shipbuilding, this is a rare case when the creation of so many modifications of ships of the same project with such different combat capabilities took place without cardinal changes in the shipbuilding and mechanical parts of the base project.
By the end of the 60s, the main task for the Soviet Navy was tracking the ships of NATO countries. Here, the destroyers of project 56 were really useful - all ships of the series were characterized by a very high speed, for some of them it reached 40 knots. Not a single NATO ship could break away from the Soviet destroyer that had landed on its tail, so the small ships spoiled the “probable enemy” more than once the naval exercises. Sometimes such "maneuvers" led to high-profile incidents.
Mayhem in the Sea of Japan
In July 1966, the destroyers of Project 56 of the Pacific Fleet disrupted the international exercises of the US, Japanese and South Korean navies. A year later, the Americans decided to get even with the Soviet sailors - the destroyer DD-517 Walker (a Fletcher-class veteran who was responsible for the sunken Japanese submarine) was chosen as the weapon of revenge. In May 1967, an aircraft carrier group headed by the aircraft carrier Hornet appeared in the Sea of Japan. Soviet destroyers and reconnaissance ships went to sea to escort the US Navy ships. On May 10, when our observers approached the AUG, DD-517 Walker suddenly fell out of its order. Dangerously maneuvering, the American twice collided with the destroyer "Traceless", and then, at a speed of 28 knots, made a bulk on the destroyer "Veskiy". On this Walker did not calm down - a day later he pierced the side of the Soviet reconnaissance ship "Gordy". As befits in such cases, the Americans tried to create a scandal and blame the Soviet side. Alas, the Pacific sailors turned out to be more prudent - the film, shot by the operator of the reconnaissance group of the Pacific Fleet headquarters, left no doubt about the guilt of the US Navy. The commander of the US 7th Fleet in the Pacific said that sailing with the Soviet ships was a "pleasant experience."
Another fierce incident took place on November 9, 1970, when, while dangerously maneuvering in the exercise zone of the British fleet, the Black Sea fleet destroyer Bravyi came under attack from the aircraft carrier Ark Royal (Royal Ark). Fortunately, everything ended well - no one was seriously injured.
A completely paranormal story took place off the coast of Kamchatka - in 1990, an attempt was made to sink the decommissioned destroyer Excited (Project 56-A) in the form of a target ship. Three MRK pr.1234 discharged their anti-ship missile systems P-120 "Malachite" on it. From Cape Shipunsky they were assisted by a coastal rocket battery, which covered the doomed ship with a salvo. But … "Excited" refused to sink. I had to take him in tow and take him back to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A month later, he was taken to another "execution". This time, the shooting was practiced by two patrol ships of Project 1135.
"Zealous" and "Sharp" fired more than a hundred 100-mm shells at the "difficult target". To no avail. Finally, "Sharp" approached "Excited" and shot him point-blank. The tenacious destroyer slowly disappeared under the water.
One gets the impression that if it were a real sea battle with the new destroyer of Project 56, then the alignment for these sharp and zealous guys would be somewhat different.
Possessing such valuable properties as simplicity and cheapness, the Project 56 destroyers served in the hottest and most dangerous corners of the world. Fearlessly operated in the Arab-Israeli conflict zone, plowed the troubled Philippine Sea, constantly kept watch off the coast of the Black Continent and Asian countries. It is absolutely necessary to note that for 30 years of intensive service on all 32 ships of the series, not a single serious accident with human casualties was recorded. Rare emergencies were limited only to navigational errors and a few tragicomic cases (for example, due to banal negligence, the destroyer Svetly temporarily sank at the quay wall of a shipyard).
Project 56 left such a vivid mark in the history of the Soviet fleet that in memory of it, the project of modern destroyers of the Russian Navy has an index of 956.
