The Chapayev class (Project 68 Чапаев) were a group of cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s built for the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 during and after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. Seventeen ships were planned but only seven were actually started before the German invasion

Operation Barbarossa

Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

. Three incomplete ships were destroyed when their building yard in Nikolaev

Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...

 was captured by Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and the remaining five cruisers were completed only in 1950.

Design

The design was based on the Kirov class cruiser

Kirov class cruiser

The Kirov-class cruisers were six vessels built between 1935 and 1944 for the Soviet Navy: Kirov, Voroshilov, Maxim Gorky, Molotov, Kalinin, and Kaganovich. After the first two ships, armor protection was increased and subsequent ships are sometimes called the Maxim Gorky class...

, but with significant changes in armament: 4 triple 152 mm (6 in) gun turrets replacing 3 triple 180 mm (7.1 in) gun turrets. The 152mm B38 guns fired a 55 kg (121.3 lb) shell to 24000 m (26,246.7 yd). The rate of fire was 6 to 7 rounds per minute. The guns were mounted in individual cradles with separate elevation.

The secondary armament consisted of 100 mm (3.9 in) CM-5 guns in twin enclosed powered turrets with a rate of fire of 15-18 rounds per minute. The light AA guns consisted of 37 mm (1.5 in) weapons.

The hull was enlarged, and protection was improved compared to the Kirov class. The machinery was based on a unit system with alternating boiler rooms and engine rooms.

The five ships were completed after the war to a modified design (Project 69K). The aircraft facilities and torpedo tubes were removed and radar and improved anti-aircraft artillery added (37mm guns in twin powered and water cooled mountings).

Ships

A large programme was envisaged and seventeen ships were authorised in 1939 and eleven ordered. Six ships were to be built for the Baltic Fleet

Baltic Fleet

The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...

, four for the Black Sea Fleet

Black Sea Fleet

The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....

 and one for the Pacific Fleet

Pacific Fleet (Russia)

The Pacific Fleet is the part of the Russian Navy that is stationed in the Pacific Ocean, which formerly secured the Far Eastern borders of the Soviet Union. The fleet headquarters is located at Vladivostok and a number of fleet bases are located in the Vladivostok area...

. Seven ships were actually laid down before the German invasion in 1941.

• Chapayev (Чапаев)

Named after Vasily Chapayev

Vasily Chapayev

Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev was a celebrated Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.-Biography:...

Built by Ordzhinikidze Yard Leningrad,

Laid down 8 October 1939,

Launched 28 April 1946,

Completed 16 May 1950,

Decommissioned 29 October 1960

• Zheleznyakov (Железняков)

Named after Anatoly Zheleznyakov (1895-1919) a Bolshevik,

Built by Marti Yard Leningrad,

Laid down 31 October 1939,

Launched 25 June 1941,

Completed 19 April 1950,

Decommissioned 1976

• Kuybyshev (Куйбышев)

Named after Valerian Kuybyshev -

Built by Marti Yard Nikolayev

Mykolaiv

Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...

 -

Laid down 31 August 1939,

Launched 31 January 1941, evacuated to Poti

Poti

Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also...

, Georgia (country)

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

; stern used to repair damaged cruiser Maxim Gorki,

Completed 20 April 1950,

Decommissioned 1965

• Chkalov (Чкалов) - later renamed Komsomolets
  Komsomol
  The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
  
   -

Originally named after Valery Chkalov

Valery Chkalov

Valery Pavlovich Chkalov was a Russian aircraft test pilot and a Hero of the Soviet Union .-Early life:...

 -

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

Mikhail Frunze

Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.-Life and Political Activity:Frunze was born in Bishkek, then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Turkestan, to a Moldovan medical practitioner and his Russian wife...

-

Built by Marti Yard Nikolayev -

Laid down 29 August 1939,

Launched 31 December 1940, evacuated to Poti, Georgia,

Completed 15 December 1950,

Decommissioned 1960

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