Brief Operational History

The years after the revolution had left the Soviet navy in shambles.  Most of the fleet were aging ships of Tsarist design.  As part of the modernization programs of the 1930's, the Soviet navy decided to build a new class of modern cruiser.  The program soon ran into problems as the Soviets had little experience in building large warships.  This was because most of the skilled Russian ship designers had fled during the Revolution.  The navy was forced to appeal to foreign companies for assistance.

It was the Genoa-based Ansaldo company that came to their aid.  They agreed to design a 7,200 ton light cruiser with three six-inch gun mounts based on the Italian Montecuccoli design.  The ships would also be built in the Soviet Union, but would have Italian equipment installed (mainly boilers and turbines).  The design work was approved in 1934 and two ships were ordered.

Shortly thereafter the Soviets demanded that several changes be made.  The guns were to be increased in size from six inches (152mm) to 7.1 inches (180mm).  The problem came when the Soviets wanted three of these new guns to be placed in each turret, when they were originally designed for only two guns.  This was accomplished only with great difficulty.  The turrets were very cramped as a result, making life very uncomfortable for the gun crews.

The ship benefited greatly from the use of Italian machinery, but even that could not compensate for Soviet inexperience.  The problem was further aggravated by the addition of Soviet style framing.  It was very heavy and complicated, but also very strong.  The added weight (a full 10% over design specifications) would cause the ship to run at one knot less than its original design speed.

When Kirov was completed in 1938 it was the first major warship to be built by the Soviets since the Revolution.  The Voroshilov experienced numerous delays and modifications.  Changes included the addition of ten 37mm and six 45mm anti-aircraft guns.  Its mine carrying capacity was also increased to 164 mines.  The ship's engines were also modified to bring the ship near 37 knots.  The Voroshilov was finally completed in 1940.

While work on the Kirov and Voroshilov progressed, a second group of modified Kirov class cruisers were ordered.  The ships were known as the Maxim Gorki class (Project 28bis).  The first two were laid down in 1936 and the second pair were laid in 1939.  They were named Maxim Gorki, Molotov, Kaganovich, and Kalinin.  Each was almost identical to the earlier Kirov, but had a 2.8 inch armor belt added.  Some ships also received and extra pair of dual purpose guns.  The last two ships were the most different as they mounted eight 3.3 inch dual purpose guns rather than the standard 3.9 inch guns.

During the war, the Kirov served in the Baltic and the Voroshilov served in the Black Sea.  The ships were used primarily as shore bombardment vessels.  The Voroshilov was made even more effective in this role with the addition of another pair of 3.9 inch guns.  Both ships suffered from German air attacks.  The Voroshilov was hit by bombs near Novorossiysk on 31 October 1941, and the Kirov was struck by bombs in April of 1942.  The Voroshilov was back in service by February 1942, while the Kirov returned to sea in early 1943.  In November of 1942 the Voroshilov also suffered another injury, when she struck a mine while underway near Zmeiny Island in the Western Black sea.  In the last year of the war all ships of the Kirov/Maxim Gorki class were able to conduct sea plane operations, but some ships mounted additional depth charges rather than aircraft.

The ships continued to serve for a time after the war ended, but many were scrapped in the 1950's as part of Nikita Khrushchev's painful military cutbacks.  The only ships of the class to survive the fleet reduction program were the Kirov and Voroshilov.  Both ships would later serve with the Soviet navy until the 1960's when the Voroshilov was scrapped.  The Kirov would remain in active service for another decade, until she too was stricken from the lists in the 1970's.

Tactical Use and Limitations

The Kirov class cruisers were designed to be conventional fleet cruisers, although they did not perform that role until well after the Great Patriotic War.  The ships were very heavily armed when compared to the original design.  They were also more heavily armored than the Italian ships they were modeled after.

The ships also suffered from a number of serious limitations.  The first was that the gun turrets were far too cramped to work in easily.  The close arrangement of the guns (32.2 inches from gun-center to gun-center) also affected shot dispersion, which was very poor.  The ships also tended to be overweight and underpowered.

Deployment Chronology

Here you can see what warships the Kirov replaced in front-line service and what ships evolved later to fill the  cruiser role.  You can find out more about these ships if we have them on our site by clicking on the links below. 

Sources Cited

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you.  We hope you can find them as useful as we have.

• The Illustrated Directory of Warships from 1860 to the Present, by David Miller, published by Motorbooks International, Osceola, WI, 2001

• Fleets of World War Two, by Richard Worth, published by Da Capo Press, Caimbridge, MA, 2001