LEADER OF THE DESTROYER "LENINGRAD"

The leader of the destroyers "Leningrad" was one of the first fairly large warships built in the Soviet Union after the October Revolution according to the domestic shipbuilding plan. The laying of the ship took place on November 5, 1932 at the Leningrad Northern Shipyard (now the Severnaya Verf shipyard). This solemn event was attended by the secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Sergei Mironovich Kirov. According to eyewitnesses, it was he who came up with the idea of ​​the name of the ship. Exactly a year later, in November 1933, he gave permission to launch the destroyer. In the fall of 1939, as part of a combat squadron, the leader "Leningrad" carried out patrol duty to ensure the security of the maritime borders of the Soviet Union in the Baltic.

On November 30, 1939, the war with Finland began. The ships of the Baltic Fleet were ordered to guard the northwestern sea borders of the USSR. "Leningrad" under the command of Captain 3rd Rank Sergei Dmitrievich Soloukhin, as part of the ships of the special purpose detachment, went to the Gulf of Finland and took part in a combat operation to provide fire cover for the landing on the islands of Seskar and Lavaansaari. The enemy battery on Seskar Island and fortified enemy positions were destroyed by naval artillery fire, which contributed to the successful completion of the operation. On December 10, 1939, the leader of “Leningrad” was again given a combat mission - to conduct coastal reconnaissance in the area of ​​​​the islands of Saarempä and Torsaari. When shelling the batteries on the island of Torsaari, the Finns opened fire from two islands, the ship was captured. There was a threat of its destruction. Skillful and energetic actions of the ship's commander and crew members made it possible, using maneuvers and smoke screens, to escape from the fire and remove the ship without damage. On December 13, 1939, the leader took part in providing fire support and covering the landing on the islands of Gogland and Tyuters. In March 1940, after the capture of the city of Viipuri (now Vyborg), the USSR and Finland signed a peace treaty. For successful military operations, the ship's commander and crew members were awarded government awards. The Red Banner Baltic Fleet spent the entire 1940 sailing calmly across the Baltic, carrying out patrol service and improving combat and political training.

On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. In the Baltic, one of the first tasks was the installation of defensive minefields at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland. The leader of “Leningrad” also took part in this; it was commanded by captain 2nd rank G.M. Gorbachev. Then, every day, as part of a squadron of warships, Leningrad conducts combat patrols in the waters of the Baltic Sea.

In August 1941, the enemy sought to capture Tallinn, the largest port and strategic point of the USSR on the Baltic. The ships of the Baltic Fleet have been given the task of providing fire support for our forces. The enemy was fiercely rushing into the capital of Estonia. The situation became more and more difficult every day, and the threat of a German breakthrough became more and more real. It was decided to form additional detachments from Baltic sailors to defend the city. From the leader “Leningrad”, two squads of sailors, led by political instructor Kuzin, volunteered to join the marine corps. The courage and heroism with which the defenders of Tallinn fought will forever go down in history. However, the enemy turned out to be quite strong, and a threatening situation arose that the Nazis would capture Leningrad. On August 26, 1941, the commander of the forces of the North-Western direction K.E. Voroshilov gives the order to evacuate the fleet and garrison of Tallinn to Kronstadt. As it turned out, this was not easy to do. The enemy, while the heroic defense of Tallinn was underway, placed minefields in the Baltic waters. The Baltic Fleet had to pass by enemy minefields along a narrow section of the Gulf of Finland 321 km long, 250 of which were firmly controlled by the German fleet and aircraft. The Baltic sailors made every effort to preserve the fleet and bring warships to Kronstadt. On August 29, 1941, the leader "Leningrad" arrived at the Kronstadt base without losses or significant damage, together with other ships of the squadron.

At this time there were fierce battles for Leningrad. On September 8, 1941, the enemy captured Shlisselburg, thereby cutting off all land connections of the city with the rear and blocking the most important waterway - the Neva. Leningrad found itself under an enemy blockade, but the enemy still intended to capture the city. All forces were thrown into defense. The leader "Leningrad" together with the destroyers "Glorious" and "Threatening" entered a combat position near Oranienbaum. With the fire of their naval artillery they supported the soldiers of the 42nd Army defending the approaches to Oranienbaum. The situation in the Leningrad defense sectors changed hourly. The enemy was decisively rushing into the city, using all possibilities for this: ground forces, tank corps, aviation, long-range artillery, surface and submarine fleet. Under these conditions, the leader of “Leningrad” receives a new task from the fleet command - to urgently begin installing minefields in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. During October 1941, the leader's crew laid 18 minefields. By this time it became clear: the assault on Leningrad by fascist troops had failed. Formations and units of the 42nd Army managed to gain a foothold in positions and did not allow the enemy to enter the city. But the Nazi command does not change the plans for the capture of Leningrad: instead of an assault, there is a siege and shelling by long-range artillery and aviation. The ships of the Baltic Fleet, which were at a combat post in the Gulf of Finland, found themselves in a difficult situation. In order to save them, the Military Council of the fleet decides to transfer the basing of some ships to the Neva. The leader "Leningrad" was among these ships. Now, in order to carry out combat missions to support the troops of the 42nd Army holding the defense near Oranienbaum with firepower, it was necessary to leave the Neva into the Gulf of Finland and go to Oranienbaum, constantly repelling enemy air attacks with naval artillery fire. The active participation of the crew of the leader "Leningrad" in the fighting to hold positions on the so-called Oranienbaum bridgehead at the very beginning of the blockade was not without losses. Red Navy men Khryashchev, Rodionov, Stupin, Gorsky V.I., Rukhlov P. Frolov, Gorelov, foreman A.F. died the death of the brave. Sysoev. Particularly distinguished was the sergeant major of the 2nd article, Komsomol member Vasily Stepanovich Kuznetsov, who at the cost of his life saved the ship and his comrades. On October 12, 1941, while in a firing position near the Kanonersky Plant, the leader fired artillery at the enemy. Noticing the positions of the Soviet ship, the Nazis opened fire back. One of the fascist shells hit the ship, the powder charge caught fire, the fragments of which seriously wounded Sergeant Major Kuznetsov. Seeing that the resulting fire threatened to explode the ammunition and disable the artillery piece, bleeding, clutching the shell to his chest, he crawled to the side and threw the shell into the water. The comrades who ran up to Kuznetsov wanted to help him. Seriously wounded, Kuznetsov refused help, calling on the sailors to save the ship. The fire was extinguished, the gun continued to fire at the enemy. Vasily Stepanovich Kuznetsov died. The foreman was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and the gun of which he was the commander was named after him; Vasily Stepanovich himself was forever included in the list of ship crew members. The order was kept on the ship throughout the war, only in 1946 a delegation of Baltic Red Navy men, formed from Kuznetsov’s surviving comrades, went to his hometown of Baku and presented the award to the hero’s family. The Central Naval Museum houses an elevator for feeding shells from the gun of Petty Officer 2 Article Kuznetsov V.S. and a memorial plaque describing the feat of the Baltic sailor.

The history of the Great Patriotic War also included the heroic 163-day defense of the Hanko Peninsula, leased from Finland and closing the approaches to Leningrad from the sea. At the beginning of 1940, a naval base of the Baltic Fleet was established here, which found itself behind enemy lines during the initial period of the war. The garrison of the base fought bravely, drawing off significant fascist forces. But the combat capabilities were unequal, and in November 1941 the command of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet decided to evacuate the garrison from Hanko. On November 8, 1941, the leader’s crew received the task, together with other ships of the squadron, to take on board the surviving defenders of the base. On the evening of November 11, a detachment of ships left Kronstadt, but in difficult meteorological conditions (a strong wind was blowing, there was a high wave), mine protection was complicated. The leader "Leningrad" was blown up twice by mines, received serious damage, stopped moving and anchored. At dawn, a German battery located on Cape Yumind began shelling the ship. By order of the ship's commander, G.M. Gorbachev. They urgently put up a smoke screen. At this time, a minesweeper sent from Kronstadt arrived in time to the leader, took him in tow and brought the ship out from under fire. On November 13, 1941, Leningrad arrived in Kronstadt and was docked for repairs.

At the beginning of November 1941, fascist troops weakened their assault on the city and switched to a siege in order to strangle Leningrad with a blockade. The front-line position of the city left its mark on the actions of the personnel of the squadron ships. The leader was transferred to the dock of the Sudomech plant for repairs. In the conditions of a besieged city, the crew and workers worked to restore the mechanisms and military equipment of their ship. Simultaneously with the repair work on the ship, the leader's crew members took part in the construction of defensive structures, restored water supply, power lines, pipelines, sewers, and dismantled wooden buildings on the outskirts for heating hospitals and children's institutions. Some of the personnel carried out patrol duty on the streets of the city, took part in cleaning and burying the corpses of Leningraders who died from hunger, cold, and enemy shells.

In the spring of 1942, repairs to the ship's mechanisms and military equipment were completed. The crew of the leader "Leningrad" was ready to continue active hostilities. But until the end of 1942 and all of 1943, the ship remained in the city, and the crew continued to provide all possible assistance in the repair and restoration of the city economy. It was not possible to find out the reason for this situation from the crew members in personal conversations, and the archival documents were classified as “Secret” and could not be used in collecting materials about the combat path of the Leningrad leader. But the sailors served honestly, carried out all the orders of the command, steadfastly endured all the hardships of life in the besieged city, making their contribution to the victory. When on January 27, 1944, the Leningrad sky was lit up by 24 volleys of a victorious salute from 324 guns, announcing the complete lifting of the siege of Leningrad, it was a victory for the leader of Leningrad. The homeland highly appreciated the Baltic sailors. 130 crew members were awarded orders, all crew members were awarded the medal “For the Defense of Leningrad”.

In May 1945, the victorious fireworks died down. "Leningrad" carried out security and safety service in the waters of the Baltic. In 1964, she was excluded from the warships of the USSR Navy, but the ship's name was transferred to a new anti-submarine missile cruiser serving in the waters of the Black Sea.

Abstract on the topic:

Leningrad (leader of destroyers)

Plan:

Introduction

• 1 Construction
• 2 Combat use
  • 2.1 Winter War
  • 2.2 Between the wars
  • 2.3 The Great Patriotic War
    • 2.3.1 Defense of Tallinn
    • 2.3.2 Tallinn crossing
    • 2.3.3 Defense of Kronstadt
    • 2.3.4 Defense of Hanko
    • 2.3.5 Leningrad blockade
    • 2.3.6 The liberation of Leningrad and subsequent battles
  • 2.4 Post-war service

Introduction

"Leningrad"- leader of Project 1 destroyers, built for the USSR Navy. He took part in battles as part of the Baltic Fleet during the Soviet-Finnish War and the Great Patriotic War.

1. Construction

The ship was laid down on November 5, 1932 at the A. A. Zhdanov Shipyard. Received serial number 450, built at plant No. 190. It was launched on November 18, 1933, although it was not yet completed (it was completed until 1938). It became part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet on December 5, 1936.

Due to the actual completion of construction at sea, on July 31, 1939, it was first put under major repairs to replace the pipes of boiler No. 2.

2. Combat use

2.1. Winter War

With the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War in November 1939, Leningrad was included in the group of ships of the Baltic Fleet squadron. From December 10, 1939 to January 2, 1940, he made two trips to sea to fire at batteries on the islands of Tiurinsari and Saarenpää, but did not complete the task and received serious damage to the hull. Went for repairs after the end of the war.

2.2. Between the wars

Upon completion of the repairs on May 31, 1941, the ship entered sea trials, but during the first launch the boiler tubes were damaged, which led to an extraordinary repair. In total, from the end of the Finnish War until the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, “Leningrad” was docked 9 times to rivet the spreading sheets of the underwater part of the hull, change boilers and corroded propellers.

2.3. The Great Patriotic War

2.3.1. Defense of Tallinn

On June 22, 1941, the leader "Leningrad", which was part of the 4th OLS division stationed in Tallinn, was attacked by the forces of the German and Finnish fleets. From June 23 to July 3, 1941, he laid mines on the Hanko-Osmussar line. The ship laid out about 400 mines. In July, a temporary degaussing device system was installed on the ship.

From August 22, it was included in the defense system of Tallinn as an artillery support force. On August 23, he destroyed some reserves of Army Group North. On August 24, he destroyed a crossing in the area of ​​Cape Jõgisu across the Keila-Jõgi River, as well as 20 enemy tanks.

2.3.2. Tallinn crossing

On August 28, he took part in the Tallinn crossing, covering the cruiser Kirov. He was supposed to take the place of the sunken Yakov Sverdlov, but ignored the order of the fleet commander. During the transition, he destroyed a Wehrmacht battery from Cape Yuminda.

On August 29, he accompanied the damaged leader of the Minsk. During the escort, he destroyed several mines and arrived at Kronstadt in the evening.

2.3.3. Defense of Kronstadt

In early September, the leader was involved in laying mines at the rear mine position, where he laid more than 80 mines in 18 minefields. On September 17, it was included in the city’s defense system. From September 19 it was attacked by German aircraft. On September 21, he was transferred to the Western Group of ships, supporting units of the 8th and 42nd armies.

On September 22, “Leningrad” received damage to its hull, mechanisms and some instruments from the explosion of a German shell during counter-battery fire. He was transferred to Kanonersky Island, but on October 12, while firing artillery at the enemy, he received dangerous damage from two shells: the first pierced the hull and flooded tanks with fuel and water, fragments of the second caused a fire on the deck. On October 14, Leningrad was placed for repairs at the wall of plant No. 196.

2.3.4. Defense of Hanko

The garrison from the Hanko Peninsula was to be evacuated in the near future. On November 2, Leningrad was included in the second detachment. Since November 9, the detachment tried to break through to Hanko, but bad weather prevented them from reaching the peninsula. On November 11, the detachment again reached the peninsula. Due to a strong storm, the trawled strip narrowed to 60 m, which negated all mine countermeasures for ships following the minesweepers.

North of Cape Juminda (65 miles to Hanko), the ships entered a minefield and mines began to explode in the trawls. Two mines that exploded in the left paravane at a distance of 10 and 5 m from the side of the Leningrad seriously damaged the ship: the left turbine, log and gyrocompass failed, cracks appeared in the hull plating, and incoming water flooded seven oil tanks. The leader anchored to repair damage to the engine room.

However, contact with the ship was lost. The Leningrad commander decided to return to Gogland on his own, but the Zhdanov accompanying him sank at 5 o’clock in the morning. The minesweeper T-211 guided the damaged ship to Gogland. By mid-day on November 12, the detachment again concentrated at Gogland, in the roadstead of the Northern Village. Here the leader was given 100 tons of fuel oil, and on the same day the Leningrad and the destroyer Stoiky received permission to leave for Kronstadt.

2.3.5. Leningrad blockade

On November 25, “Leningrad” was put for repairs, during which, by a special decision of the Military Council of the Baltic Fleet of January 8, 1942, it was ordered to install the standard demagnetization system of the LFTI on “Leningrad” by February 25, 1942. The repairs lasted all winter. In May 1942, Leningrad, included in the city’s artillery defense system, fired at enemy positions. On May 14, as a result of another enemy fire raid on the city, the leader again received serious damage and was again sent for repairs.

2.3.6. The liberation of Leningrad and subsequent battles

In 1943, the ship took part in delivering massive artillery strikes against enemy resistance centers in the offensive zone of the 55th Army. In January 1944, the artillery of the leader, who occupied a firing position on Malaya Nevka near the Stroiteley Bridge, helped lift the blockade. On June 10, the ship took part in a powerful artillery shelling of enemy positions operating in the offensive zone of the 21st Army of the Leningrad Front. Until the end of the war, the Leningrad leader did not go to sea further than Kronstadt due to the mine danger.

2.4. Post-war service

After the war, the leader was reclassified several times. On January 12, 1949 she became a destroyer. From December 19, 1951 to November 25, 1954, it underwent major repairs and modernization. On April 18, 1958, it was withdrawn from the Red Banner Baltic Fleet and converted into the target ship TsL-75. On October 13, 1959, it was included in the Northern Fleet, on September 15, 1960, it was disarmed and turned into a floating barracks PKZ-16. Finally, on August 10, 1962, it was converted into the SM-5 target vessel.

In May 1963, while testing a new missile ship system, the cruiser Grozny was sunk by a P-35 cruise missile in the White Sea near the Solovetsky Islands.

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This abstract is based on an article from Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed 07/16/11 22:29:30
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Laid down on November 5, 1932 at plant No. 190 (named after A. A. Zhdanov) in Leningrad (serial number 450). November 18, 1933 launched. It entered service on December 5, 1936 and became part of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. In fact, it was completed afloat until July 1938.
On July 31, 1939, it was put in for major repairs because, during a voyage at a speed of 18 knots, the tubes of boiler No. 2 began to burst. During the repair, 732 tubes were replaced on the leader - the old ones turned out to be defective and improperly installed.
With the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War in November 1939, Leningrad was included in the group of ships of the Baltic Fleet squadron. From December 10, 1939 to January 2, 1940, the leader made two trips to sea to fire at batteries on the islands of Tiurinsari and Saarenpää. Due to poor visibility, he was unable to complete his assigned tasks, but the hull of the ship, operating in the ice of the Gulf of Finland, received serious deformation.

Some dents in the hull were 2 m high and 6 m wide, and the deflection reached 50 cm. Due to strong compression, the seams of the outer skin and fuel tanks came apart in many places. In this condition, the leader was put in for repairs.

After the repairs were completed, on May 31, 1941, the ship began sea trials. And at the very first exit, the boiler tubes began to burst again. I had to return to the factory again. In total, from the end of the Finnish War until June 22, 1941, Leningrad was docked 9 times to rivet the spreading sheets of the underwater part of the hull, change boilers and propellers corroded by cavitation.
On the eve of the Great Patriotic War, the leader of “Leningrad” was part of the 4th OLS division, stationed in Tallinn, where the outbreak of hostilities found him. From June 23 to July 3, 1941, he was involved in mine laying on the Hanko-Osmussar line. The ship laid out about 400 mines.

At the beginning of July in Tallinn, a temporary system of demagnetizing devices was installed on the leader. During the ship's next visit to Kronstadt, the workers of the Marine Plant carried out a mid-term repair of its main caliber guns.
All large ships, including Leningrad, were included in the city’s defense system as artillery support forces from August 22. The very next day, the guns of the leader, who maneuvered at great speeds in the Tallinn roadstead and evaded aircraft attacks, suppressed the fire of several batteries and scattered enemy reserves in the breakthrough areas. On August 24, fire from the leader "Leningrad" and the cruiser "Kirov" destroyed the crossing in the area of ​​Cape Jõgisu across the Keila-Jõgi River, destroying and damaging 20 enemy tanks.

When it became clear that Tallinn could not be held, the command of the fleet received an order to begin the evacuation of troops and the transfer of fleet forces to Kronstadt on August 28. All ships were distributed into several groups; the leader "Leningrad" was included in the first, to provide cover from the stern of the cruiser "Kirov".
The transition had to be made through multiple dense minefields. With the onset of darkness, when the destroyer Yakov Sverdlov, sailing from the left side of the Kirov, hit a mine and sank, fleet commander V.F. Tributs ordered Leningrad to take the place of the deceased destroyer.
But when the leader tried to carry out the order in the dark, his paravans captured a mine each. A threatening situation has created. Unable to maneuver in such a situation, the ship's commander ordered to cut off the paravanes and reversed the Leningrad out of the danger zone. At the moment of setting up new paravans, an enemy battery opened fire on the leader, who was standing without moving, from Cape Yuminda. The Leningrad artillerymen immediately responded and silenced her.

At 21.40, Leningrad received a radio message about the Minsk leader being blown up by a mine, and he went to help him. Early in the morning of August 29, the ship approached the damaged Minsk, which had lost all its navigation instruments as a result of a mine explosion. At dawn, both leaders continued to move - the lead "Leningrad", in its wake "Minsk". On the way, three floating mines were discovered near the Leningrad, which were shot down with fire from 45-mm guns. We had to repeatedly repel attacks by enemy aircraft. But by the evening of August 29, “Leningrad” dropped anchor in the Great Kronstadt roadstead.

In early September, the leader was involved in laying mines at the Rear mine position, where he laid more than 80 mines in 18 minefields. On September 17, it was included in the city’s defense system.

On September 19, massive air raids by enemy aircraft began on Kronstadt and ships stationed in the Sea Canal. On September 21, taking advantage of cloudy weather, German pilots in several large groups, totaling 180 aircraft, attacked Soviet ships. "Leningrad" avoided hits and replenished the Western group of ships stationed in the Commercial Port, supporting units of the 8th and 42nd armies.
On September 22, Leningrad, during counter-battery fire, received damage to its hull, mechanisms and some instruments from a nearby explosion of one of the German battery shells. The leader was transferred to Kanonersky Island. But on October 12, while firing artillery at the enemy, one of the enemy shells hit the leader, and another exploded near the side.

The first 203-mm shell pierced the hull, and through the hole the fuel tank and drinking water tank were flooded. From the fragments of another shell, a powder charge on the deck, prepared for firing with the main caliber, caught fire. The fire was quickly extinguished. On October 14, Leningrad was placed for repairs at the wall of plant No. 196.

At the same time, it was decided to evacuate the remaining garrison on the Hanko Peninsula - tens of thousands of trained and fired soldiers, thousands of weapons and uniform sets, hundreds of tons of ammunition and food. The evacuation, planned for several stages, began on October 23. On November 2, as soon as the repairs were completed, Leningrad was included in the second detachment.
The first attempt to break through to Hanko on November 9 ended in vain - due to strong gusty winds, low clouds and high waves, the detachment had to return from the area of ​​the Rodsher lighthouse to Gogland.

On November 11, at dusk, the detachment again went to Hanko. The minesweepers had difficulty making their way. The weather worsened even more: the cross north wind increased, the waves rose, and visibility decreased. Due to the wind and waves, the minesweepers were unable to follow the ledge formation and actually walked into the wake. The trawled strip narrowed to 60 m. This almost negated all mine countermeasures for the ships following the minesweepers.

North of Cape Yuminda, from where it was already 65 miles to Hanko, the ships entered a minefield - mines began to explode in the trawls. The ships ahead, not paying attention to the explosions, broke away from the leader and the Zhdanov transport. In the left paravan guard "Leningrad", which went beyond the trawled strip, a mine exploded at a distance of 10 m from the side. He did not receive any significant damage and continued to move. However, after midnight, another mine exploded in the same left paravane, 5 m from the side. The left turbine failed, cracks appeared in the hull casing, and incoming water flooded seven oil tanks; The log and gyrocompass are out of order.

The ship had difficulty pumping out water. Precious fuel was lost through the holes. The ship could not move on its own. The leader anchored to repair damage to the engine room. The Zhdanov transport and three small hunters remained with him.
Having received a radiogram from the leader, Moskalenko, who was already on the destroyer 55 miles from Hanko, ordered the entire detachment to take a reverse course and go to the aid of the damaged ship. Two minesweepers, en route to provide assistance, lost their ladders due to mine explosions. In addition, they lost their bearings and could not find the leader.

Having no messages from Moskalenko and not waiting for the detachment to arrive, the Leningrad commander decided to return to Gogland on his own. He gave the command to weigh anchor, but since the leader had lost his navigational instruments, he ordered the captain of the Zhdanov to go ahead. At 5 o'clock in the morning the transport hit a mine and sank 8 minutes later.

Realizing that it is now impossible to break through the minefield on our own, the Leningrad anchored again. The minesweeper T-211, which soon arrived and determined the location of the Leningrad by the explosion, took the lead and guided the damaged ship to Gogland. As the ships followed, three mines exploded in the T-211's trawls and one in the leader's paravane. By mid-day on November 12, the detachment again concentrated at Gogland, in the roadstead of the Northern Village. Here the leader was given 100 tons of fuel oil, and on the same day the Leningrad and the destroyer Stoiky received permission to leave for Kronstadt.
On November 25, the Leningrad was put under repair, during which a special decision of the Military Council of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet dated January 8, 1942 ordered that the standard LFTI demagnetization system be installed on the Leningrad by February 25, 1942.

In the harsh conditions of the blockade, repairs to the leader lasted all winter. And in May 1942, Leningrad, included in the artillery defense system of the city, fired at enemy positions, occupying various firing points on the Neva. But on May 14, as a result of another enemy fire raid on the city, the leader again received serious damage and was again put in for repairs.
Throughout 1943, the ship took part in delivering massive artillery strikes against enemy resistance centers in the offensive zone of the 55th Army.

In January 1944, the artillery of the leader, who occupied a firing position on Malaya Nevka near the Stroiteley Bridge, actively contributed to lifting the blockade. On June 10, the ship took part in a powerful artillery shelling of enemy positions operating in the offensive zone of the 21st Army of the Leningrad Front. Until the end of the war, the Leningrad leader did not go to sea further than Kronstadt due to the mine danger.
On January 12, 1949, she was reclassified as a destroyer; from December 19, 1951 to November 25, 1954 she underwent major repairs and modernization. On April 18, 1958, it was withdrawn from the Red Ban Baltic Fleet and converted into a target ship TsL-75. In 1959 it was transferred to the North and on October 13, 1959 it was included in the Northern Fleet. On September 15, 1960, it was disarmed and turned into a floating barracks PKZ-16, and on August 10, 1962 - into a target ship SM-5. In May 1963, while testing a new missile ship system, the cruiser Grozny was sunk by a P-35 cruise missile in the White Sea near the Solovetsky Islands.

The silhouettes of enemy ships were the first to be noticed from the bridge of the leader of the Baku. Before the German convoy, located abeam the Norwegian city of Vardø, there were approximately 70 cables. The leader and the destroyer Razumny, which was following him in his wake, sharply increased their speed. When there were just over 26 cables left before the enemy, they opened fire from their 130 mm cannons. At the same time, “Baku” fired a four-torpedo salvo (the second vehicle, unfortunately, did not fire due to a torpedo operator’s error).

A minute later the Germans also responded - first the attacked ships, then the coastal batteries. Enemy shells began to explode dangerously close to the Soviet ships, and six minutes after opening fire, they laid a smoke screen and turned back. Our sailors believed that they were fighting with a convoy of transports, guarded by a destroyer, a patrol ship and a minesweeper (such data was provided by aerial reconnaissance that discovered the enemy), although in reality the German detachment consisted of the Skagerrak minelayer, two minesweepers and two auxiliary anti-submarine ships. The torpedoes fired by the leader of “Baku” missed the target, and the information contained in the report of the commander of the Soviet detachment about the sinking of one transport was subsequently not confirmed.

This fleeting naval battle on the night of January 21, 1943 is notable for the fact that it was the only example in the entire history of the Soviet fleet of destroyers being used for their intended purpose - a torpedo and artillery attack on the enemy. Our ships never had a chance to use torpedo weapons in battle again. Thus, the task for which the destroyers of the Red Fleet were created in the first place turned out to be wrong. However, this is not surprising: usually the real course of a war does not go at all as it is imagined in advance by staff theorists and strategists...

The experience of the First World War showed that the destroyer had become the most versatile artillery and torpedo ship in the fleet. And Russian sailors were among the first to be convinced of this. The famous “noviki” successfully operated in the Baltic and Black Sea, essentially replacing light cruisers. Therefore, it is quite natural that in the list of priorities of the future Red Fleet, special attention was paid to large destroyers, or, according to the new classification, leaders. With the creation of just such a ship, the revival of domestic military shipbuilding began after a long break caused by the civil war and devastation.

According to the technical specifications developed by the RKKF headquarters back in 1925, the promising leader was more of an armorless light cruiser. It was supposed to have a displacement of about 4000 tons, a speed of 40 knots and, in addition to two three-tube torpedo tubes, carry four 183-mm (!) guns and even a catapult with a seaplane. Later, when drawing up the shipbuilding program of 1929, these characteristics changed to more realistic ones: displacement - 2250 tons, armament - five 130 mm guns and two four-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. True, the requirement to have it on board the aircraft remains. As a matter of fact, from that moment the history of a new generation of domestic - now Soviet - destroyers began.

The leaders of Project 1, which were given the names “Leningrad”, “Moscow” and “Kharkov”, were developed in the Leningrad design bureau under the general leadership of V.A. Nikitin. They were created without any prototype, literally “from scratch” and had a number of original features. Thus, they had an unconventional three-shaft steam turbine installation and unique contours of the aft part of the hull. Based on the requirement for a very high speed (40.5 knots), Soviet designers proposed and tested on the model an unusual theoretical drawing with sharp stern formations, as well as streamlined propeller shaft fillets without supporting brackets - the so-called “pants”. The artillery weapons also looked very impressive. Nominally it corresponded to the French leader “Jaguar”, but if the latter’s 130-mm guns had a barrel length of 40 calibers, then our ships had 50 calibers. For the first time in the Soviet fleet, fire control was carried out using a central firing machine. Since there was no experience in creating such systems in the USSR, three sets of such devices, together with command and rangefinder posts (KDP), were bought in Italy from the Galileo company.

All three leaders of Project 1 were laid down on the stocks of factories in Leningrad and Nikolaev in the fall of 1932. Their construction progressed with great difficulty - due to the weakness of the industrial base and the lack of qualified workers. A serious problem was fraught with the fact that almost all weapons and many systems at the time of development of the drawings of the ships themselves existed only on paper, and when they were finally embodied in metal, their weight and size characteristics significantly exceeded the design ones. Construction overload grew steadily; to compensate for it, in particular, it was necessary to abandon the seaplane.

Formally, the acceptance act on the transfer of the lead Leningrad to the fleet was signed on December 5, 1936, but in fact all three leaders entered service only in the second half of 1938. Completing the ships afloat and eliminating numerous deficiencies took twice as long as planned.

During sea trials, the leaders showed excellent results: “Leningrad” reached a speed of 43 knots on one of the runs, “Moskva” - 43.57 knots. This was an undoubted success for Soviet shipbuilders. At the same time, numerous shortcomings of the ships were revealed (which is quite natural): strong vibration, insufficient hull strength, poor seaworthiness. The sharp contours of the stern, although they reduced the resistance to movement, at high speeds caused a significant trim to the stern: because of this, it was necessary to take water ballast into the bow compartments. Therefore, they decided to build the next three leaders of the Minsk type according to a revised project, which was assigned number 38.

“Minsk” generally repeated the “Leningrad”, but was distinguished by the presence of a transom and more familiar contours of the stern. The “pants” were abandoned in favor of conventional propeller shafts with brackets. All this, of course, affected the performance (the best result in tests of the head leader was 40.5 knots), but it made it possible to eliminate the stern trim while moving, and also to simplify the hull construction technology. "Minsk", which joined the Baltic Fleet in 1938, received a control panel from the Italian company "Galileo", and the "Baku" and "Tbilisi" built in Komsomolsk-on-Amur were equipped with fire control devices exclusively of domestic production.

The creation of leaders of the Leningrad type was an important stage in the development of Soviet shipbuilding. The main task - to design and build ships that are not inferior in armament and speed to the best foreign representatives of this class - was completed, and done “from scratch”, without significant help from abroad. However, it seemed unrealistic to begin the mass construction of such ships: the three-shaft power plant was too complex and expensive, and the hull design was low-tech. And the size of the leader for the closed theaters of the Baltic and Black Seas looked excessive. Therefore, when the USSR government set a course for creating a “Big Fleet,” the design of a destroyer suitable for large-scale construction had to be developed anew. Moreover, the use of foreign experience was strongly encouraged here, for which a number of leading specialists were sent to foreign shipyards.

In 1932, a delegation of Soviet shipbuilders visited Italy. There, her attention was attracted by the destroyers Folgore and the Maestrale under construction (Model Designer No. 6, 2001). It was the latter that they decided to take as the prototype of the “Seven” - the serial destroyer of Project 7 (the “Gnevny” type). The Italian company Ansaldo willingly accepted the offer of cooperation. She provided all the necessary drawings and allowed Soviet designers to study ship construction technology at her factories. True, the artillery on the prototype seemed rather weak to our sailors, and they decided to replace the twin 120-mm cannons with 130-mm 50-caliber guns (the same B-13 model as on the leaders) in single installations. Looking ahead, we note that the desire typical of our shipbuilders to “shove” the most powerful weapons into the project very often became the root cause of many subsequent problems.

The development of the technical design of the destroyer was completed by the end of 1934, and the entire series of ships (53 units) was planned to be delivered to the fleet in record time - no later than 1938. At the same time, the real, very modest capabilities of industry were ignored by the country's leadership, and the emphasis was placed only on Stakhanov's methods and the effectiveness of the system of penalties - even to the point of bringing to trial all those responsible for falling behind schedule... Well, for greater importance, the series of destroyers themselves began to be called “Stalinist”.

262. Destroyer “Gnevny” (project 7), USSR, 1938

Built at the A. Zhdanov plant in Leningrad. Standard displacement 1657 tons, full displacement 2039 tons. Maximum length 112.5 m, width 10.2 m, draft 3.8 m. Power of twin-shaft steam turbine unit 48,000 hp. (design), speed 38 knots. Armament: four 130 mm guns, two 76 mm and two 45 mm anti-aircraft guns, two 12.7 mm machine guns, two three-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. A total of 28 units were built in 1938-1942; another ship (“Resolute”) was lost while being towed from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Vladivostok before its official commissioning.

263. Leader of the destroyers “Leningrad” (project 1), USSR, 1936

Built at the A. Zhdanov plant in Leningrad. Normal displacement 2282 tons, full displacement 2693 tons. Maximum length 127.5 m, beam 11.7 m, draft 4.18 m. Three-shaft steam turbine unit power 66,000 hp, speed 43 knots. Armament: five 130 mm guns, two 76 mm and two 45 mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12.7 mm machine guns, two four-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. A total of six units were built in 1936-1940, including three according to the improved project 38 (Minsk type).

264. Destroyer “Storozhevoy” (project 7U), USSR, 1940

Built at the A. Zhdanov plant in Leningrad. Standard displacement 1686 tons, full displacement 2246 tons. Maximum length 112.5 m, beam 10.2 m, draft 3.8 m. Power of twin-shaft steam turbine unit 54,000 hp. (design), speed 38 knots. Armament: four 130 mm guns, two 76 mm and three 45 mm anti-aircraft guns, four 12.7 mm machine guns, two three-tube 533 mm torpedo tubes. A total of 18 units were built in 1940-1945.

At first, the deadlines were more or less met. At the end of 1935, they managed to lay down the lead “Gnevny” and five more “sevens”, and the next year - all the rest. However, it soon became clear that it would not be possible to quickly solve all the problems that had arisen. Related enterprises delayed the supply of materials, equipment and mechanisms, and the shipyards themselves turned out to be unprepared for the planned pace of construction - even the round-the-clock work of the workshops did not save the situation. The designers' shortcomings provoked protracted battles between shipbuilders and designers, and each of the conflicting parties tried to shift the blame to the other... As a result, by the end of 1936, only seven destroyers were launched: three in Leningrad and four in Nikolaev.

But an incident in May 1937 off the coast of Spain played a fatal role in the fate of the “sevens”. The English destroyer Hunter, performing the role of a neutral observer of the fighting of the Republicans and Francoists in the roadstead of the port of Almeria, touched a drifting mine. As a result of the explosion, its linear power plant immediately failed (when all the boiler rooms are located first, followed by the turbine rooms). Although the ship remained afloat and was later repaired, the linear layout of the engine and boiler plant began to be criticized. The possibility of complete loss of speed from a single hit from a torpedo, bomb or large projectile forced shipbuilders in many countries to reconsider their views on ensuring the survivability of warships. The echelon layout of boilers and turbines looked preferable, when the main mechanisms were divided into two independent groups.

This discussion did not go unnoticed in the Soviet Union either. At a meeting in Moscow, held three months after the Hunter incident, Stalin was dissatisfied with the use of a linear layout of engine-boiler rooms on the Stalin-series destroyers. The result was not long in coming (remember, it was 1937): the ship’s project was declared “sabotage”, and the designers involved in its development were immediately arrested. The construction of destroyers, which had been launched with such difficulty at six factories, was suspended.

In an emergency - in just a month - the "seven" project was rearranged to fit the echelon scheme of the power plant and approved under the designation 7U ("improved"). The designers managed to “shove” a fourth steam boiler into the already cramped building; the ship, accordingly, became two-pipe. The bow superstructure was moved 1.5 m to the bow, the armament was kept the same (although the torpedo tubes were replaced with more advanced ones). The power of turbines and the survivability of energy have increased somewhat, but at the same time seaworthiness has deteriorated and the cruising range has decreased. In general, the “Seven-U” did not have any special advantages over its predecessor, but the decisions signed personally by Stalin were not discussed at that time.

At the same time, in the conditions of the impending war, delays in implementing the shipbuilding program looked extremely dangerous. Therefore, after a series of meetings, most of the destroyers - 29 units - nevertheless decided to complete construction according to the original project. Another 18 hulls, which were at a stage that made it possible to rearrange the power plant, were re-laid according to the 7U project (the Baltic “Storozhevoy” became the lead ship). The remaining six, which had a low degree of readiness, were dismantled on stocks.

Thus, instead of 53 destroyers of the “Stalin” series, by January 1, 1939, only seven were delivered to the fleet. The entire program, even in an abbreviated form, could not be completed by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War: on June 22, 1941, 22 “sevens” and nine “sevens-U” were in service. Another 15 ships were completed during wartime.

The war years became a severe test for the first generation Soviet destroyers. They engaged the enemy in all four fleets and suffered heavy losses. If you do not take into account the Pacific ships (their participation in the war against Japan was symbolic), then out of 36 destroyers of projects 7 and 7U, 18 died - exactly half. And out of the five leaders who fought, there were three of the “Leningrad” type, including both from the Black Sea. The main opponents of the Soviet fleet were aircraft and mines. But they practically never had the chance to launch an attack against enemy ships. Our destroyers and leaders fired torpedoes only twice during the entire war: in January 1943 in the North (as discussed above) and in December 1942 on the Black Sea, when the Boykiy and Besposhchadny, in a continuous fog, mistook the coastal cliffs for enemy transports... According to the latest data, of the destroyers of the “Stalinist” series, only one ship can lay claim to a real combat victory - “Razumny”. It was he who, together with the destroyer Zhivochiy, handed over by the British, pursued the German submarine I-387 on December 8, 1944, which after that did not make contact and did not return to base.

However, it is impossible to compare one’s own losses with the damage inflicted on the enemy purely mechanically. The Black Sea and Baltic destroyers simply did not have a worthy enemy at sea, and the tasks that they had to perform were not provided for by any pre-war plans. As for the torpedo ships of our fleet themselves, they were not so bad. They had powerful artillery weapons, advanced fire control devices and, in general, had good survivability. Many of their shortcomings - weak anti-aircraft weapons, insufficient hull strength, low stability, short cruising range - were characteristic of almost the majority of their foreign peers. In terms of design and concept, Soviet destroyers were conventionally in the middle of the “scale” of their class, undoubtedly second only to American ones. And if it were not for the critical situation that had developed in our naval theaters at the very beginning of the war, they would certainly have been able to realize their capabilities much more successfully.

S. BALAKIN

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The series of destroyer leaders of the “Project 1” type consisted of 3 units - “Leningrad”, “Moscow” and “Kharkov”. "Leningrad" was built at the Leningrad shipyard No. 190 and accepted into service with the Baltic Fleet in 1936. "Moscow" and "Kharkov" were built at the Nikolaev shipyard No. 198 and in 1938 included in the Black Sea Fleet. The destroyers "Moscow" and "Kharkov" were lost in 1941 and 1943. respectively. Leningrad was sunk in 1958 after being shot as a target. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 2 thousand tons, full displacement - 2.6 thousand tons; length – 122 m, width – 11.7 m; draft – 4.2 m; speed – 40 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 3 steam boilers; power – 66 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 613 tons of oil; cruising range - 2.1 thousand miles; crew – 250 people. Armament: 5x1 - 130 mm guns; 2x1 – 76 mm anti-aircraft guns; 6x1 – 37 mm anti-aircraft guns; 4-6x1 – 12.7 mm machine guns; 2x4 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 onboard bomb launchers; 76 min; 12 depth charges.

The series of destroyer leaders of the Project 38 type consisted of 3 units - Minsk, Baku and Tbilisi. The destroyer "Minsk" was built at the Leningrad shipyard No. 190 and commissioned by the Baltic Fleet in 1938. The destroyer "Baku" was laid down at the plant No. 199 of Komsomolsk-on-Amur as "Kyiv". In 1938, it was renamed "Sergo Ordzhonikidze" and accepted into service with the Pacific Fleet, and in 1940 it received the name "Baku". The destroyer "Tbilisi" (Tiflis) was built at plant No. 199 and commissioned by the Pacific Fleet in 1940. "Minsk" was sunk in 1958 as a target, "Baku" was decommissioned in 1963, and "Tbilisi" in 1964 g. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.9 thousand tons, full displacement - 2.5 - 2.7 thousand tons; length – 122 m, width – 11.7 m; draft – 4.1 m; speed – 40 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 3 steam boilers; power – 66 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 621 tons of oil; cruising range - 2.1 thousand miles; crew - 250 - 310 people. Armament: 5x1 - 130 mm guns; 3x1 – 76 mm anti-aircraft guns; 4-8x1 – 37 mm anti-aircraft gun; 4-6x1 – 12.7 mm machine guns; 2x4 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 onboard bomb launchers; 76 min; 36 depth charges.

The ship was built at the Italian shipyard "OTO" by order of the USSR and enlisted in the Black Sea Fleet in 1939. The destroyer was lost in 1942. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement – ​​2.8 thousand tons, total displacement – ​​4.2 thousand tons .; length – 133 m, width – 13.7 m; draft – 4.2 m; speed - 42.7 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 steam boilers; power – 110 thousand hp; fuel reserve – 1.1 thousand tons of oil; cruising range - 5 thousand miles; crew – 250 people. Armament: 3x2 - 130 mm guns; 1x2 – 76 mm anti-aircraft gun; 6x1 – 37 mm anti-aircraft guns; 6x1 – 12.7 mm machine guns; 3x3 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 onboard bomb launchers; 110 min.

The destroyer "Novik" was built at the Putilov plant in St. Petersburg and commissioned into the Baltic Fleet in 1913. In 1926, the ship was renamed "Yakov Sverdlov". In 1929, the destroyer underwent rearmament. The ship was lost in 1941. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement – ​​1.7 thousand tons, full displacement – ​​1.9 thousand tons; length – 100.2 m, width – 9.5 m; draft – 3.5 m; speed - 32 knots; power plants - 3 steam turbine units and 6 steam boilers; power – 36 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 410 tons of oil; cruising range - 1.8 thousand miles; crew - 170 people. Armament: 4x1 - 102 mm guns; 1x1 – 76 mm anti-aircraft gun; 1x1 – 45 mm anti-aircraft gun; 4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 3x3 – 450 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 58 min; 8 depth charges.

From the first series of Novik-class destroyers, 6 units took part in the war (“Frunze” (Bystry), “Volodarsky” (Winner), “Uritsky” (Zabiyaka), “Engels” (Desna), “Artem” (Azard), "Stalin" (Samson) The destroyer "Frunze" was built at the Kherson plant of A. Vaddon and accepted into the Black Sea Fleet in 1915. The remaining ships were built at the St. Petersburg Metal Plant and were introduced into the Baltic Fleet in 1915-1916. The first The ships underwent modernization in 1923-1927, the second in 1938-1941. The destroyers “Frunze”, “Volodarsky”, “Engels” and “Artem” were lost in 1941. “Uritsky” was decommissioned in 1951, and “Stalin” "sunk during testing of nuclear weapons in 1956. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.2 thousand tons, full displacement - 1.7 thousand tons; length - 98 m, width - 9.8 m; draft - 3 - 3.4 m; speed - 31 - 35 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 - 5 steam boilers; power - 23 - 30 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 350 - 390 tons of oil; cruising range – 1.6 – 1.8 thousand miles; crew - 150 - 180 people. Armament: 4x1 - 102 mm guns; 1-2x1 – 76 mm anti-aircraft gun; 2x1 - 45 mm or 2x1 - 37 mm or 2x1 20 mm anti-aircraft guns; 2-4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 3x3 – 457 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 10 - 12 depth charges; 80 min.

From the second series of Novik-class destroyers, 6 units took part in the war: Lenin (Captain Izylmetyev), Voikov (Lieutenant Ilyin), Karl Liebknecht (Captain Belli), Valerian Kuibyshev (Captain Kern), Karl Marx" (Izyaslav), "Kalinin" (Pryamislav). All ships served in the Baltic Fleet. The destroyer "Karl Marx" was built at the Becker and Co. plant and commissioned in 1917. The remaining ships were built at the Putilov plant. “Lenin” and “Voikov” have been in operation since 1916, and “Valerian Kuibyshev”, “Kalinin” and “Karl Liebknecht” since 1927-1928. The destroyers Lenin, Kalinin and Karl Marx were lost in 1941, the rest were decommissioned in 1955-1956. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.4 thousand tons, full displacement - 1.6 thousand tons; length – 98 – 107 m, width – 9.3 – 9.5 m; draft - 3.2 - 4.1 m; speed – 31 – 35 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 steam boilers; power – 30.5 – 32.7 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 350 - 390 tons of oil; cruising range - 1.7 - 1.8 thousand miles; crew - 150 - 180 people. Armament: 4x1 - 102 mm guns; 1x1 - 76.2 mm anti-aircraft gun or 4x1 - 37 mm anti-aircraft gun or 2x1 - 45 mm and 2x1-mm anti-aircraft gun; 2-4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 3x3 – 457 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 46 depth charges; 80 - 100 min.

From the third series of Novik-class destroyers, 4 units took part in the war: “Dzerzhinsky” (Kaliakria), “Nezamozhnik” (Zante), “Zheleznyakov” (Corfu), “Shaumyan” (Levkas). The ships were built for the Black Sea Fleet at the Russud and Naval factories in Nikolaev. The destroyer "Dzerzhinsky" entered service in 1917, "Nezamozhnik" - in 1923, and "Zheleznyakov" and "Shaumyan" in 1925. The destroyers "Dzerzhinsky" and "Shaumyan" were lost in 1942, "Nezamozhnik" was decommissioned in 1949, and “Zheleznyakov” - in 1953. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.5 thousand tons, full displacement - 1.8 thousand tons; length – 93 m, width – 9 m; draft – 3.2 m; speed – 27.5 – 33 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 5 steam boilers; power - 22.5 - 29 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 410 tons of oil; cruising range - 1.5 - 2 thousand miles; crew - 140 - 170 people. Armament: 4x1 - 102 mm guns; 2x1 - 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns or 2x1 - 45 mm and 5x1 - 37 mm anti-aircraft guns; 4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 4x3 – 457 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 8 depth charges; 60 - 80 min.

The series of destroyers of the "Gnevny" type (Project 7) consisted of 28 units and were distributed among the fleets as follows: Northern Fleet - 5 units ("Terrible", "Gromky", "Thundering", "Swift", "Crushing"), Baltic – 5 units (“Wrathful”, “Threatening”, “Proud”, “Guarding”, “Sharp-witted”), Black Sea – 6 units (“Cheerful”, “Fast”, “Brisk”, “Ruthless”, “Impeccable”, “Vigilant”), Pacific – 12 units (“Frisky”, “Efficient”, “Striking”, “Zealous”, “Sharp”, “Zealous”, “Decisive”, “Jealous”, “Furious”, “Record”, "Rare", "Reasonable"). The destroyers were built at shipyards No. 35, No. 189, No. 190, No. 198, No. 199, No. 200 and No. 202 and commissioned in 1938-1942. In 1941-1943. nine ships were lost. The destroyers “Rezky”, “Rekordny”, “Retivy” and “Resolute” were transferred to China in 1955. The remaining ships were decommissioned in 1953-1965. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.7 thousand tons, full displacement - 2 thousand tons; length – 112.5 m, width – 10.2 m; draft – 4 m; speed – 38 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 3 steam boilers; power – 54 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 535 tons of oil; cruising range - 2.7 thousand miles; crew – 200 people. Armament: 4x1 - 130 mm guns; 2x1 - 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns or 2x1 - 45 mm anti-aircraft guns; or 4x1 – 37-mm anti-aircraft gun; 2x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 2x3 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb launchers; 10 depth charges; 56 – 95 min.

The series of destroyers of the "Storozhevoy" type (Project 7U) consisted of 18 units and were distributed among the fleets as follows: Baltic - 13 units ("Storozhevoy", "Stokiy", "Strashny", "Strong", "Brave", "Strict" , “Fast”, “Fierce”, “Stately”, “Slender”, “Nice”, “Severe”, “Angry”, Black Sea - 5 units (“Perfect”, “Free”, “Capable”, “Intelligent”, "Sobrazitelny") The destroyers were built at shipyards No. 189, No. 190, No. 198, No. 200 and put into operation in 1940-1942. In 1941-1943, nine ships were lost. The remaining destroyers were decommissioned in 1958-1966 The ship's performance characteristics: standard displacement - 2.3 thousand tons, full displacement - 2.5 thousand tons, length - 112.5 m, width - 10.2 m, draft - 4 m, speed - 38 knots. ; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 steam boilers; power - 54 - 60 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 470 tons of oil; cruising range - 1.8 thousand miles; crew - 270 people. Armament: 4 ×1 - 130 mm guns; 2-3x1 - 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns, 3x1 - 45 mm anti-aircraft guns or 4-7x1 - 37 mm anti-aircraft guns; 4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 2x3 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb launchers; 10 depth charges; 56 – 95 min.

The destroyer was built at the Nikolaev plant No. 200 and commissioned by the Black Sea Fleet in 1945. The ship was decommissioned in 1958. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 2 thousand tons, total displacement - 2.8 thousand tons; length – 111 m, width – 11 m; draft – 4.3 m; speed - 37 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 steam boilers; power – 54 thousand hp; fuel reserve – 1.1 thousand tons of oil; cruising range - 3 thousand miles; crew - 276 people. Armament: 2x2 - 130 mm guns; 1x2 – 76 mm anti-aircraft gun: 6x1 – 37 mm anti-aircraft guns; 4x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 2x4 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 22 depth charges; 60 min.

The destroyer was built at the Leningrad plant No. 190 and commissioned by the Baltic Fleet in 1941. Since 1944, the ship was mothballed, decommissioned in 1953. Performance characteristics of the ship: standard displacement - 1.6 thousand tons, total displacement - 2 thousand. T.; length – 113.5 m, width – 10.2 m; draft – 4 m; speed - 42 knots; power plants - 2 steam turbine units and 4 steam boilers; power – 70 thousand hp; fuel reserve - 372 tons of oil; cruising range - 1.4 thousand miles; crew - 260 people. Armament: 3x1 - 130 mm guns; 4x1 - 45 mm anti-aircraft gun; 1x2 and 2x1 – 12.7 mm machine gun; 2x4 – 533 mm torpedo tubes; 2 bomb releasers; 10 depth charges; 60 min.