The ships laid down according to the pre-revolutionary shipbuilding programs and completed in the first decade of Soviet power made a contribution to the victory over the Nazis in the naval theaters of the Great Patriotic War. Despite their considerable age, the wear and tear of the hulls and mechanisms, they steadfastly carried out combat service in all fleets, participated in both well-known operations and in everyday hostilities. Thus, out of six Novik-class destroyers transferred to the fleet in 1923-1928, three ships - Nezamozhnik, Zheleznyakov and Kuibyshev - were awarded the Order of the Red Banner for their heroic service during the war years. The work on the preservation of these destroyers during the civil war and devastation, the organization of their completion in the process of restoring the industrial potential of the country became a noticeable milestone in the history of domestic shipbuilding.
By the beginning of 1918, 11 and 4 unfinished destroyers were afloat in Petrograd and Kronstadt, and 4 unfinished destroyers in Nikolaev, half of which had a high degree of readiness (for hulls - 90% or more). By order of the Main Directorate of Shipbuilding, all work on them in February-March was stopped. On May 28, the General Directorate of Shipbuilding issued orders to the Petrograd factories for unloading shipbuilding materials, blanks and other property from destroyers of the Izyaslav and Gabriel type evacuated from Revel, as well as for compiling inventories and preserving hulls and mechanisms.
On August 2, according to the report of the head of the Main Directorate for Construction "On the future fate of ships under construction", the Naval Collegium decided to transfer to long-term storage the destroyers "Pryamislav", "Bryachislav", "Fedor Stratilat" (of the "Izyaslav" type), "Captain Belli", " Captain Kern "(of the" Lieutenant Ilyin "type) and" Mikhail "(of the" Gabriel "type), and the rest of the unfinished ships of these types should be eliminated. The question of the fate of the unfinished destroyers of the "Ushakovskaya" series remained open in connection with the occupation of Ukraine by German troops.
It was not possible to complete the planned measures in full: there was not enough materials for insulation of decks and superstructures, fuel and electricity, but the main thing was done: the bottom and outboard fittings were kept from defrosting, the mechanisms were mothballed, the property was sheltered on the shore from bad weather and placed under protection.
On March 15, 1919, the Revolutionary Military Council of the RSFSR decided to complete the construction of the cruiser Svetlana, two destroyers (Pryamislav and Captain Belli) and five minesweepers. A preliminary outfit was even issued to carry out work on Captain Belli (ready by the spring of 1920). However, the state of the country's economy and the situation at the fronts did not allow the implementation of these plans: already on April 30, an order was issued to remove from the ship some of the mechanisms necessary for the urgent transfer to oil heating of destroyers sent to the Caspian Sea.
The question of completing the "Pryamislav" and "Captain Belli" was again raised at the end of 1919 in connection with the death of "Gabriel", "Constantine" and "Svoboda"; the possibility of ordering appropriate materials, tools and devices abroad was studied. But the end of the civil war, in the European part of the country, brought to the fore the national economic tasks, and measures to ensure the combat effectiveness of the country's naval forces had to be temporarily reduced to the repair of ships that remained in service in the Baltic, and to the reconstruction of the fleet in the Black Sea, where after the departure of the invaders and the White Guard ships almost did not remain.
The destroyer Zante, abandoned by Wrangel's troops in a semi-submerged state near the Big Fountain in Odessa and towed to Nikolaev in September 1920, was recognized as one of the primary shipbuilding facilities. By the time of the cessation of work in March 1918, its readiness for the body was 93.8%, for the mechanisms - 72.1%, all the boilers, the bow turbine, most of the auxiliary mechanisms and some of the pipelines were installed; two torpedo tubes were mounted from the armament. It was necessary to clean the body of dirt and corrosion, open and repair the mechanisms, replace the brickwork of the boilers, and perform some other restoration work. The general readiness of the ship for the start of completion was estimated at 55%.
On December 23, 1922, the Main Marine Technical and Economic Directorate (Glavmortekhozupr) signed an agreement with Glavmetal VSNKh for the completion of Zante at the Nikolaev state factories "in accordance with the approved drawings, specifications and technical conditions for destroyers of 33-knot speed." Glavmetal pledged to present the ship in full readiness for official tests in 11 months, taking into account the ban on removing anything from Corfu and Levkos, which are subject to completion later.
June 12, 1923 "Zante" was renamed "Nezamozhniy", and on April 29, 1926 - "Nezamozhniy". In terms of its tactical and technical elements, the structure of the hull, the composition and location of technical equipment, and the armament, the ship repeated the previously built destroyers of this type. Only anti-aircraft artillery differed from the prototype: a 76-mm gun in 30 calibers of the F. F. Lander system was installed at the stern, and later one more was added.
The selection committee chaired by A. P. Shershova began work on September 13, 1923. After 10 days "Nezamozhniy" went to Sevastopol, having carried out a six-hour test of mechanisms on the economic course along the way. The displacement was 1310 tons, the average speed was 18.3 knots at 302 rpm and 4160 hp. with., fuel consumption 4, 81 t / h. The boilers and mechanisms worked satisfactorily, the combustion was smokeless. The ship also successfully passed the six-hour cruise mode on September 27 (1420 tons, 23, 9 knots, 430 rpm, 14342 hp). On October 10, after alkalization and cleaning of the boilers, the mechanisms were tested at full speed. With a displacement of 1440 tons, it was possible to obtain an average speed in 3.5 hours of only 27.5 knots at 523 rpm, with a total turbine power of 22496 hp. and full boosting of boilers. There was also a lot of smoke and significant overall vibration of the hull. Since the contract did not define the plant's obligations to achieve certain speed indicators, the commission decided not to retest.
The next day they tested the artillery, and on October 14 "Nezamozhniy" returned to Nikolaev, where they disassembled and cleaned the mechanisms and boilers within a week, determined the stability (the metacentric height with a displacement of 1350 tons corresponded to the specification and amounted to 0.87 m). On October 20, a control exit took place, after which the commission recognized "Nezamozhniy" as satisfying the requirements of the fleet. On November 7, 1923, the naval flag was solemnly raised on the ship, and he was enlisted in the naval forces of the Black Sea.
At the request of the Glavmortekhozupra about the conditions for completing the destroyers Pryamislav, Captain Belli and Captain Kern, the Petrograd Sudotrest at the beginning of 1923 reported the deadlines for these works (16, 12 and 20 months from the date of the contract) and the price of 3, 132 million rubles It was not possible to allocate such funds in the 1923-24 budget year. At the same time, the international situation dictated the need to strengthen the defense of the USSR's maritime borders, and on September 2, 1924, the Labor and Defense Council adopted a resolution to appoint, among other ships, the destroyers Pryamislav, Captain Belli, and Corfu for completion for the Naval Department. and Levkos. The outfitting work was ordered to be carried out according to the drawings and specifications of the serial ships of the corresponding types.
The contract for the completion of "Corfu" was signed on April 10, 1925, but in fact, work began immediately after the commissioning of "Nezamozhniy". From January 16 to February 16, 1924, the carts of the Morton's boathouse were cleaned, repaired and painted with red lead, simultaneously establishing significant corrosive wear of the outer skin, the living deck in the tiller compartment and the flooring of the second bottom (up to 25% of the original thickness). Some of the sheets were replaced. By the end of 1924, the installation of the main and auxiliary mechanisms, pipelines, systems, devices and weapons was completed. After 3-4 months, similar work was carried out at Levkos. On February 5, 1925, the ships were renamed: "Corfu" - into "Petrovsky" (in honor of the chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Ukrainian SSR Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky), "Levkos" - into "Shaumyan" (in honor of one of the 26 Baku commissars).
On March 10, with a trip to Odessa, the factory sea trials of "Petrovsky" began, and on April 25 - official ones. The State Acceptance Commission was headed by Yu. A. Shimansky. On April 30, at the transition to Sevastopol, the speed of the turbines was brought up to 560 for a short time, the speed along the lag reached 29.8 knots.
The plant took into account the experience of completing and testing "Nezamozhniy": boilers and mechanisms of "Petrovsky" worked more reliably, reduced smoke and vibration. On May 9, at a three-hour full speed, they developed an average speed of 30, 94 and a maximum speed of 32, 52 knots. Three days later, the cruising range was determined with a 19-knot economic speed, which with a full fuel supply of 410 tons was 2050 miles, and in conditions of actual sailing with "an inexperienced military crew with the consequences of fouling and pollution of boilers" - about 1500 miles. On May 14, the elements of the torpedo boat's circulation were determined, and on May 28 - its stability. Armament tests showed the unreliability of the additionally installed 37-mm anti-aircraft machine gun of the Maxim system, which after the first three shots gave continuous misfires (at the end of the twenties it was removed, adding a second 76-mm gun on the poop.
After inspecting the mechanisms, selecting defects and checking the exit, on June 10, 1925, the solemn raising of the Naval Flag took place, and "Petrovsky" became part of the Black Sea Naval Forces. The conclusions of the acceptance committee indicated the need to eliminate vibration at strokes of more than 400 rpm, which was caused by Yu. A. Shimansky considered the propeller shaft between the bracket and the deadwood to be too long with the weakness of the aft part of the hull, this was not noted among the Baltic destroyers.
The slip was taken into account, and in the contract of August 13, 1925, for the completion of the "Shaumyan" being prepared for testing, additional reinforcement of the stern was provided, which gave positive results. The tests started on October 19 were successful: the average full speed reached 30, 63, the highest - 31, 46 knots, with a power of 27740 and 28300 hp, respectively. s, with moderate vibration in the range of 400-535 rpm. The cruising range of the 18-knot was 2130 miles. On December 10, the commission signed the acceptance certificate.
The first of the destroyers completed in Leningrad under the budget year 1924/25 program was Kalinin (until February 5, 1925 - Pryamislav), whose overall readiness, by the start of work, was estimated at 69%. The ship lacked a bow turbo condensate pump, aft engine fan, and main condenser tubes. The installation of pipelines was not completed. From the fall of 1925 to January 1926, the destroyer was docked with the replacement of the propellers. Based on the experience of using the artillery of the same type destroyer "Karl Marx" (formerly "Izyaslav"), the second 102-mm gun was moved three spans in the nose, since in the same place its shots at sharp heading angles deafened the crew of the first gun. The elevation angle of the main artillery was increased to 30 °. After the completion of all work and tests, the ship entered the Baltic Sea Naval Forces on July 20, 1927.
The completion of the Captain Belli had to be postponed for a whole year: during the flood on September 23, 1924, a surge wave tore it off the mooring lines, and after many hours of drift, the ship ended up on a sandbank in the Fox Nose area, being damaged and tilted by 2 °. To remove it from the shallows, in the summer of next year, it was necessary to flush a 300-meter canal. Therefore, in the first place, we decided to complete the construction of Captain Kern. Work began on December 10, 1924. The missing main condenser and boiler turbofans were manufactured and installed, but then the business stalled due to the lack of pipes and fittings for the main steam pipeline, which had to be ordered abroad. The mooring tests began only in the spring of 1927, and on September 18, the destroyer completed a 6-hour full-speed program, showing an average speed of 29.54 knots at a normal displacement (1360 tons) and a maximum speed of 30.5 knots. On October 15, the commission that conducted the tests signed an act on the admission of the ship to the fleet.
Completion of the "Captain Belli", renamed on July 13, 1926 in "Karl Liebknecht", was completed only in the spring of 1928. On August 2, the ship showed an average speed of 30, 35 knots on the measuring line. and in a two-hour mode of "the most complete stroke" developed 540 rpm with a power of 31 660 liters. with. and the operation of 63 out of 80 nozzles (the speed along the log reached 32 knots). The commission, noting that “progress was achieved easily, and could be increased even more,” signed the acceptance certificate the next day. Unlike previously built destroyers of this type, the Kuibyshev (until May 31, 1925 - Captain Kern) and Karl Liebknecht installed three-legged masts (on the first - both, on the second - only the bow). The destroyers' armament consisted of four 102-mm and one 76-mm anti-aircraft gun, a 37-mm machine gun of the Maxim system, two 7, 62-mm machine guns and three three-pipe torpedo tubes.
During the years of the pre-war five-year plans, the ships that replenished the destroyer formations in the mid-twenties became a real "forge of personnel" for the reviving fleet of our country. They participated in long-distance campaigns, were intensively engaged in combat training, and repeatedly visited foreign countries. In the pre-war years, these destroyers underwent major repairs and modernization. They installed smoke and noise direction-finding equipment, guard paravans of the K-1 type, aft bomb throwers for large and small depth charges, two 45-mm anti-aircraft guns, 7, 62-mm machine guns were replaced by large-caliber (12, 7-mm). In 1942-1943, on the ships that remained in service, anti-aircraft weapons were reinforced with 37- and 20-mm anti-aircraft guns of new models, which replaced the 76-mm guns of the Lender system. Having good seaworthiness, retaining the 25-28-knot speed, the "noviks" during the Great Patriotic War remained valuable warships.
The destroyer of the Northern Fleet "Kuibyshev" was the first of them on June 24, 1943, to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner. On July 27, 1941, with artillery fire, he, together with the destroyer "Uritsky", prevented the enemy's attempts to break through to the Sredny Peninsula. Having traveled 44,000 miles during the war, the ship escorted 240 transport ships, shot down two enemy aircraft in a severe storm, rescued in November 1942 the bulk of the crew of the perishing destroyer "Crushing" (179 people), successfully completed many other missions of the command. The destroyer finished his service as a target ship during testing of atomic weapons off the coast of Novaya Zemlya on September 21, 1955. "Kuibyshev" was located at a distance of 1200 m from the epicenter. The destroyer received no serious damage, with the exception of radioactive contamination. It was dismantled for metal in 1958.
The "Nezamozhnik", "Zheleznyakov" ("Petrovsky") and "Shaumyan", which took part in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol, in the landing of troops in Feodosia, acted heroically as part of the Black Sea Fleet.
On April 3, 1942 "Shaumyan" under extremely unfavorable conditions carried out the transition from Novorossiysk to Poti. Near Gelendzhik, the destroyer ran aground and pierced the bottom. It was impossible to remove the ship from the stones. In addition, the ship was badly damaged by storms and fascist aircraft. The guns were removed from it and transferred to the coastal artillery.
The "Nezamozhnik" traveled more than 46,000 military miles in battles and campaigns, the Zheleznyakovs - more than 30,000. The ships covered dozens of transports from enemy aircraft, shot down three enemy aircraft, suppressed several batteries with artillery fire, and supported the landing on February 4, 1943. landing in South Ozereyka. July 8, 1945"Zheleznyakov" and "Nezamozhnik" were awarded the Orders of the Red Banner. On January 12, 1949, the Nezamozhnik was converted into a target ship, and in the early fifties was sunk while testing new weapons systems near the Crimean coast.
The destroyer Zheleznyakov had a more interesting post-war fate. In 1947 it was transferred to the Bulgarian Navy. There, in 1948, a fire broke out on the ship, after which it was sent for repairs to Varna. After repairs, he continued to serve in Bulgaria. However, due to overgrowing of the underwater part and poorly literate operation, the ship's speed dropped to 15 knots. Another repair was carried out in Sevastopol. In 1949, the destroyer was returned to the USSR. In April 1953 "Zheleznyakov" was converted into a floating barracks, and in 1957 they were handed over for dismantling.
"Karl Liebknecht", which was overhauled from October 1940 to October 1944, managed to take part in the hostilities of the Northern Fleet at the final stage of the war, and on April 22, 1945, she sank the German submarine U-286. This destroyer also ended its service after testing atomic weapons on September 21, 1955, and was later installed as a floating pier in Belushya Bay, where, apparently, it still stands today.
The destroyer Kalinin, which entered service after a long overhaul in the early days of the war, already on June 27, 1941 became the flagship of a detachment of ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, assigned to equip a mine and artillery position in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, which reliably covered the approaches to Leningrad from seas. On August 28, a ship under the flag of Rear Admiral Yu. F. Rally led the rearguard of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet ships leaving Tallinn. At 23 hours 20 minutes "Kalinin" was blown up by a mine and in half an hour sank due to the received heavy damage to the hull.
Such was the service and the end of the last representatives of the glorious galaxy of "noviks", whose completion in the difficult conditions of the recovery period prepared the reviving shipbuilding industry for the implementation of new shipbuilding programs, and left a noticeable mark in the history of domestic shipbuilding.
