View source for Chapayev-class cruiser

{{Short description|Class of light cruisers of the Soviet Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}{{more footnotes needed|date=January 2013}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Kreiser komsomolec.jpg
|Ship caption=''Komsomolets''
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=''Chapayev'' class
|Builders=*[[Baltic Shipyard|Shipyard No.189 ''Ordzonikidze'']], [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]]
*[[Admiralty Shipyard|Shipyard No.194 ''Marti'']], Leningrad
*[[Black Sea Shipyard|Shipyard No.198 ''Marti'']], [[Mykolaiv|Nikolaev]]
*[[Mykolayiv Shipyard|Shipyard No.200 61 Communards]], Nikolaev
|Operators={{navy|Soviet Union}}
|Class before={{sclass|Kirov|cruiser|4}}
|Class after={{sclass|Sverdlov|cruiser|4}}
|Subclasses=
|Built range=1939-1951
|In commission range=1950–1981
|Total ships planned=17
|Total ships completed=5
|Total ships cancelled=12
|Total ships retired=5
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= Project 68<ref name=":0" />
|Ship type=[[Light cruiser]]
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|10620|LT|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
* {{cvt|13420|LT|abbr=on}} ([[full load]])
|Ship length={{convert|199|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|18.7|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|6.5|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|35.6|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|7000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}
|Ship complement=742
|Ship sensors=
|Ship power=*6 boilers
*{{cvt|110000|shp|lk=on}}
|Ship armament=*4 × triple {{convert|152|mm|abbr=on|0}}/57 B-38 guns
*4 × twin {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on}} B-54 guns
*6 × twin {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on}} 66-K AA guns
*4 × twin {{convert|12.7|mm|abbr=on}} DShK-M machine guns
*6 × {{convert|533|mm|abbr=on|0}} [[torpedo tube]]s
|Ship armour=*[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Conning tower]]: {{convert|130|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|50|mm|in|abbr=on}}
*[[Gun turret|Turrets:]] {{convert|175|mm|abbr=on}}
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption= Project 68K
|Ship type=[[Light cruiser]]
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|11130|LT|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
* {{cvt|14100|LT|abbr=on}} ([[full load]])
|Ship length={{convert|201|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|19.7|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|6.4|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts; 2 geared [[steam turbine]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|33.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|7000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|19|kn}}
|Ship complement=840
|Ship sensors=
|Ship power=*6 boilers
*{{cvt|124000|shp|lk=on}}
|Ship armament=*4 × triple {{convert|152|mm|abbr=on|0}}/57 B-38 guns
*4 × twin {{convert|100|mm|in|abbr=on}}/70 SM-5 guns
*14 × twin {{convert|37|mm|abbr=on}} V-11 AA guns
|Ship armour=*[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Conning tower]]: {{convert|150|mm|abbr=on}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{convert|50|mm|in|abbr=on}}
*[[Gun turret|Turrets:]] {{convert|175|mm|abbr=on}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''''Chapayev'' class''' (Project 68 Чапаев) were a group of [[cruiser]]s built for the [[Soviet Navy]] during and after [[World War II]]. Seventeen ships were planned in total, but only seven were actually started before the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion]]. Two incomplete ships were destroyed when their building yard in [[Mykolaiv|Nikolaev]] was captured by [[Nazi Germany]] and the remaining five cruisers were completed only in 1950, with the last ship serving until 1981.

==Design==

As part of Stalin's 1936 "Big Fleet Programme", many light cruisers were to be built over the next ten years. Project 26 [[Kirov-class cruiser|''Kirov''-class cruisers]] were planned to be constructed, but their armour and AA were considered inadequate. In August 1936, a new cruiser design similar to ''Kirov''-class cruisers named Project 28 resolved these issues. They were to form the backbone of light forces flotillas with additional tasks including offensive minelaying, [[commerce raiding]], and battleship [[Screening (tactical)|screening]] against enemy light forces. The 3 triple {{convert|180|mm|abbr=on}} gun turrets on the ''Kirovs'' were changed to 4 triple {{convert|152|mm|abbr=on}} gun turrets, offering a higher rate of fire. On 29 October 1937, the navy changed its requirements to 3 triple {{convert|152|mm|abbr=on}} guns and redesignated it as Project 68 before being reverted in March 1938.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Budzbon |first=Przemyslaw |title=Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939-1945, Volume I: Major Combatants |last2=Radziemski |first2=Jan |last3=Twardowski |first3=Marek |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2022 |isbn=1682478777}}</ref>

The final design was approved in July 1939 and five ships were ordered. Seven ships were under construction by June 1941. Weapons and systems development lagged behind its construction, leading to a planned redesign of the first two ships with German weaponry in September 1940 designated Project 68I. The plan was cancelled since German guns were in development too, but German secondary guns were added to ''Chkalov'', the second ship designated Project 68S.<ref name=":0" />

The 152&nbsp;mm B-38 guns could fire six to seven {{convert|55|kg|abbr=on}} shells {{convert|24000|m|yd|abbr=on}} in a minute. The guns were mounted in individual cradles with separate elevation.

The original secondary armament consisted of 4 twin {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}} B-54 guns in enclosed turrets. The anti-aircraft guns consisted of 6 twin [[37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)|{{convert|37|mm|abbr=on}} Model 1939]] guns and 4 twin {{convert|12.7|mm|abbr=on}} [[DShK]] machine guns.

The design featured a larger hull and improved protection compared to the ''Kirov'' class. The machinery was based on a unit system with alternating boiler rooms and engine rooms.

The five surviving ships were completed after the war with the modified Project 68K design. The K in Project 68K stands for Korrektirovanniy ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Корректированный, corrected). The modified design removed the aircraft facilities and torpedo tubes. It improved anti-aircraft artillery with twin {{convert|100|mm|abbr=on}} SM-5 guns in powered turrets with a high fire rate and twin [[37 mm automatic air defense gun M1939 (61-K)|{{convert|37|mm|abbr=on}} Model 1939]] in a new powered and water cooled mounting.

==Ships==
[[File:BalticShipyard26June1941.jpg|thumb|Luftwaffe aerial reconnaissance photo of the [[Baltic Shipyard|Ordzhinikidze Yard (Shipyard 189)]], Leningrad, showing the battleship ''Sovetsky Soyuz'' (top) and ''Chkalov'' under construction, 26 June]]
Seventeen ships were authorised in 1939 and eleven were ordered. Six ships were for the [[Baltic Fleet]], four for the [[Black Sea Fleet]] and one for the [[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|Pacific Fleet]]. Seven ships were laid down before the German invasion in 1941.
 
*''Chapayev (Чапаев)''
:Named after [[Vasily Chapayev]],  
:Built by [[Baltic Shipyard|Ordzhinikidze Yard]] (Shipyard 189), [[Leningrad]],<ref name="War94 p153">Jarovoj and Greger 1994, p. 153.</ref> 
:Laid down 8 October 1939,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Launched 28 April 1941,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Completed 16 May 1950,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Decommissioned 29 October 1960 
*''Zheleznyakov (Железняков)'' 
:Named after [[Anatoli Zhelezniakov|Anatoli Zheleznyakov]] (1895-1919),
:Built by [[Admiralty Shipyard]] (Shipyard 194), Leningrad,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Laid down 31 October 1939,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Launched 25 June 1941,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Completed 19 April 1950,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Decommissioned 1976<ref name="War94 p153"/>
*''Kuybyshev (Куйбышев)''  
:Named after [[Valerian Kuybyshev]],
:Built by [[Marti Yard]] (Shipyard 200), [[Mykolaiv|Nikolayev]],<ref name="War94 p153"/>
:Laid down 31 August 1939,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Launched 31 January 1941,<ref name="War94 p153"/> evacuated to [[Poti]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
:Completed 22 December 1950,<ref name="War94 p153"/> 
:Decommissioned 1965
*''Chkalov (Чкалов) –'' later renamed ''[[Komsomol|Komsomolets]]'',
:Originally named after [[Valery Chkalov]],
:Built by Ordzhinikidze Yard, Leningrad,
:Laid down 31 August 1939, 
:Launched 25 October 1947, 
:Completed 1 November 1950, 
:Decommissioned 1981
*''Frunze (Фрунзе)'' 
:Named after [[Mikhail Frunze]],
:Built by Marti Yard, Nikolayev,
:Laid down 29 August 1939, 
:Launched 31 December 1940, evacuated to Poti, Georgia; stern used to repair damaged cruiser ''Molotov'', 
:Completed 15 December 1950, 
:Decommissioned 1960

Two ships, ''Ordzhinikidze'' and ''Sverdlov'', were scrapped on the slipway after being captured by Germans in Nikolaev during World War II.

Ten more ships were planned to be laid down: ''Lenin'', ''Dzerzhinsky'', ''Avrora'', ''Lazo'', and an unnamed fifth in 1941, and ''Zhdanov'', ''Parkhomenko'', ''Kotovsky'', ''Shchors'', and ''Shcherbakov'' in 1942–1943. However, the German invasion led to their cancellation in July 1941.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor-last=Chesneau |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7 |last=Budzbon|first=Przemysław|pages=318–346|chapter=Soviet Union|editor-first=Roger}}
*{{cite book |last1=Budzbon |first1=Przemysław |last2=Radziemski |first2=Jan |last3=Twardowski |first3=Marek |title=Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945 |date=2022 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=978-1-68247-877-6|volume=I: Major Combatants|name-list-style=amp}}
*{{cite book|last1=Jarovoj|first1=V. V.|last2=Greger|first2=René|editor-last=Roberts|editor-first=John |chapter=The Soviet Cruisers of the ''Chapayev'' and ''Sverdlov'' classes|title=Warship 1994 |year=1994|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=London |isbn=0-85177-630-2|pages=147–158}}
* {{cite book | last=Friedman | first=Norman | editor-last1=Chumbley | editor-first1=Stephen | chapter=Soviet Union 1947–1991: Russian Federation and Successor States 1991– | title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995 | location=Annapolis | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=1995 | pages=337–426 | isbn=978-1-55750-132-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Whitley|first=M. J.|title=Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia |publisher=Cassell|location=London |year=1995|isbn=1-86019-874-0|author-link=Michael J. Whitley}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Chapaev class cruiser}}
*[http://flot.sevastopol.info/ship/cruiser/frunze.htm Cruiser "Frunze" from Black Sea Fleet (in Russian, with photos)]
*[http://flot.sevastopol.info/ship/cruiser/kuybishev.htm Cruiser "Kuybishev" from Black Sea Fleet (in Russian, with photos)]
* Article in Russian language – ⁣http://ship.bsu.by/main.asp?id=102259
* {{in lang|en}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20101130070421/http://russian-ships.info/eng/warships/project_68k.htm All Russian Chapayev Class Cruisers – Complete Ship List]

{{Chapayev-class cruiser}}
{{WWII Soviet ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapayev-class cruiser}}
[[Category:Cruiser classes]]
[[Category:Chapayev-class cruisers| ]]