In the early 1930s the Soviets felt able to restart construction of fleet destroyers and forty-eight ships were ordered under the Second Five-Year Plan.
The design was produced with Italian assistance despite ideological differences between the Soviets and Fascist Italy. They resembled contemporary destroyers built in Italy for the Greek and Turkish navies.
They suffered from some of the same weaknesses of contemporary Italian ships with structural weakness and limited seaworthiness. There were also significant machinery problems in the earliest ships. The design flaws were apparent after trials of the first units in 1936–1937 and production stopped after 29 ships. A modified design was then placed into production as the Type 7U.
Having decided on the specifications of the large 40-knot (74 km/h; 46 mph) Leningrad-classdestroyer leaders, the Soviet Navy sought Italian assistance in designing smaller and cheaper destroyers. They licensed the plans for the Folgore class and, in modifying it for their purposes, overloaded a design that was already somewhat marginally stable.[2]
The Gnevnys had an overall length of 112.8 meters (370 ft 1 in), a beam of 10.2 meters (33 ft 6 in), and a draft of 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in) at deep load. The ships were significantly overweight, almost 200 metric tons (197 long tons) heavier than designed, displacing 1,612 metric tons (1,587 long tons) at standard load and 2,039 metric tons (2,007 long tons) at deep load. Their crew numbered 197 officers and sailors in peacetime and 236 in wartime.[3]
The ships were powered by two geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed 3.18-meter (10 ft 5 in) propeller using steam provided by three water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of 26.5 kg/cm2 (2,599 kPa; 377 psi) and a temperature of 350 °C (662 °F).[4] The turbines, rated at 48,000 shp (36,000 kW), were intended to give the ships a speed of 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph).[5] The designers had been conservative in rating the turbines and many, but not all, of the ships handily exceeded their designed speed during their sea trials. Others fell considerably short of it; Boyky reached 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) during her trials in 1943. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between 1,670 and 3,145 nautical miles (3,093 and 5,825 km; 1,922 and 3,619 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).[6]
Armament and fire control
As built, the Gnevny-class ships mounted four 50-caliber130-millimeter (5.1 in) B-13 guns in two pairs of superfiring single mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. Each gun was provided with 150 rounds. The development of the gun was troubled by excessive barrel erosion problems and three variants were built in a not entirely successful effort to resolve the problem which complicated logistical and operational support as each performed slightly differently. The manually operated mounts had an elevation range between −5° and +45° and had a rate of fire of 6–10 rounds per minute. They fired a 33.4-kilogram (74 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 870 m/s (2,900 ft/s), which gave them a range of 25,597 meters (27,993 yd).[7]
Anti-aircraft defense was provided by two 55-caliber 76.2-millimeter (3 in) 34-KAA guns and two 46-caliber 45-millimeter (1.8 in) 21-K AA guns, all in single mounts[8] as well as a pair of 12.7-millimeter (0.50 in) DK or DShKmachine guns. The 34-K guns could elevate between −5° and +85°, had a rate of fire of fire of 15–20 rounds per minute, and the ships carried 300 rounds per gun for them. Their muzzle velocity of 801 meters per second (2,630 ft/s) gave their 26-pound (11.9 kg) high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of 14,640 meters (16,010 yd) and an effective ceiling of 6,500 meters (21,300 ft). The 21-K was a converted anti-tank gun with a rate of fire of 25–30 rounds per minute with an elevation range between −10° and +85°. The gun fired a 1.41-kilogram (3.1 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of 760 m/s (2,500 ft/s). This gave them a range of 9,200 meters (10,100 yd). The Project 7s stowed 500 rounds for each gun. The DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of 2,500 meters (2,700 yd).[9]
The ships were equipped with six 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes in two rotating triple mounts amidships; each tube was provided with a reload. The Project 7-class ships primarily used the 53-38 or the 53-38U torpedo, which differed only in the size of their warhead; the latter had a warhead 100 kilograms (220 lb) heavier than the 300-kilogram (660 lb) warhead of the 53-38. The torpedoes had three range/speed settings: 10,000 meters (11,000 yd) at 30.5 knots (56.5 km/h; 35.1 mph); 8,000 meters (8,700 yd) at 34.5 knots (63.9 km/h; 39.7 mph) and 4,000 meters (4,400 yd) at 44.5 knots (82.4 km/h; 51.2 mph). The ships could also carry a maximum of either 60 or 95 mines and 25 depth charges. They were fitted with a set of Mars hydrophones for anti-submarine work, although it was useless at speeds over 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).[10]
Fire control for the main battery of the Gnevnys was provided by a Mina-7 fire-control system that was derived from an Italian Galileo system. It included a TsAS-2 mechanicalanalog computer that received information from a KDP2-4 gunnery director on the roof of the bridge which mounted a pair of DM-4 four-meter (13 ft 1 in) stereoscopic rangefinders. Anti-aircraft fire control was strictly manual with only a DM-3 three-meter (9 ft 10 in) rangefinder to provide data to the guns.[11]
During the first day of the Winter War, captured small Finnish steamer Auvo and took it as prize to Paldiski.[17] Damaged by bombing near Leningrad, scrapped 1950s
Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, sunk 20 July 1941 by German Bombers in Ekatirinskaya Bay, Murmansk, partially raised in 1942 and cannibalised for spare parts to repair Raz'yaryonny
Pacific Fleet
All the Pacific Fleet ships were built by Dalzavod, Komsomolsk na Amure and towed to Vladivostok for fitting out due to the shallow depth of the Amur River. One unit, Reshitelny (i), was lost by stranding on passage 7 November 1938, being damaged beyond repair. The material for these ships was assembled in Nikolayev and then shipped east via the Trans-Siberian railway.
Ship
Launched
Completed
Fate
Reshitelnyy Решительный (decisive)
1937
Not completed
Lost while being towed between Sovetskaya Gavan and Vladivostok for final fitting out
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