Sverdlov-class cruiser

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Admiral Ushakov in 1981
Class overview
Name	Sverdlov class
Builders	Baltic Shipyard, Leningrad Nikolayev Shipyard, Mykolaiv Admiralty Shipyard, Leningrad Severodvinsk Shipyard, Severodvinsk
Operators	Soviet Navy  Russian Navy  Indonesian Navy
Preceded by	Chapayev class
Succeeded by	Kynda class
Built	1948–1959
In commission	1952–1992
Planned	30
Completed	14
Cancelled	16
Retired	13
Preserved	1 Mikhail Kutuzov
General characteristics
Type	Cruiser
Displacement	13,600 tonnes (13,385 long tons) standard 16,640 tonnes (16,377 long tons) full load
Length	210 m (689 ft 0 in) overall 205 m (672 ft 7 in) waterline
Beam	22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Draught	6.9 m (22 ft 8 in)
Propulsion	2 × shaft geared steam turbines 6 × boilers, 110,000 hp (82,000 kW)
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	9,000 nmi (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	1,250
Armament	4 × triple 15.2 cm (6.0 in)/57 cal B-38 guns in Mk5-bis turrets 6 × twin 10 cm (3.9 in)/56 cal Model 1934 guns in SM-5-1 mounts 16 × twin 3.7 cm (1.5 in) AA guns in V-11M mounts 2 × quintuple 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes in PTA-53-68-bis mounts
Armor	Belt: 100 mm (3.9 in) Conning tower: 150 mm (5.9 in) Deck: 50 mm (2.0 in) Turrets: 175 mm (6.9 in) front, 65 mm (2.6 in) sides, 60 mm (2.4 in) rear, 75 mm (3.0 in) roof Barbettes: 130 mm (5.1 in) Bulkheads: 100–120 mm (3.9–4.7 in)

The Sverdlov-class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional gun cruisers built for the Soviet Navy. They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed before the Second World War. They were modified to improve their sea capabilities, allowing them to operate at high speeds in the rough waters of the North Atlantic. The design carried an extensive suite of modern radar equipment and anti-aircraft artillery, which made an approach by existing aircraft within 5,000 yards (4,600 m) extremely dangerous.

The Sverdlov design was part of a post-WWII fleet concept that also included the Stalingrad-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers that would transform the Soviet Navy into one able to field a first-class fleet for deep water operations. The entire concept was considered obsolete by anyone outside the Soviet Navy, but it retained the support of Joseph Stalin and construction program continued to move forward. The Sverdlov was launched in July 1950, by which time a large number of sister ships were under construction, followed by the Stalingrads construction beginning in November 1951.

The introduction of the Sverdlovs was cause for great concern in the Royal Navy. They were faced with the Soviets deploying a large fleet of modern ships against their northern units, possibly overwhelming them. This produced the "Sverdlov Crisis" as various solutions to the problem were proposed. In the short term, the RN retained several big-gun ships like HMS Vanguard, but the long term solution was to develop new weapons. This ultimately emerged as the Blackburn Buccaneer, a carrier-based strike aircraft that had the performance required to approach and attack Sverdlov-class ships at ultra-low level.

The fleet concept had never been widely supported in the Soviet Union, and ended abruptly with Stalin's death in 1953. By this time fourteen of the planned forty ships in the class had been completed. Two additional hulls were scrapped on the slip, and four partially complete ships launched in 1954 were scrapped in 1959. Sverdlov class ships remained in service through the 1970s, during which they underwent a limited modernization program before finally leaving service in the late 1980s. The only remaining ship of the class, Mikhail Kutuzov, is preserved in Novorossiysk as a museum ship.