Krasny Kavkaz
Encyclopedia
Krasnyi Kavkaz (from Russian
: "Красный Кавказ" - "Red Caucasus
") was a cruiser
of the Soviet Navy
that began construction during World War I, but was still incomplete during the Russian Revolution. Her design was heavily modified by the Soviets
and she was completed in 1932. During World War II she supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Odessa, Siege of Sevastopol, and the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation in the winter of 1941—42. She was awarded the Guards
title on 3 April 1942. She was reclassified as a training ship in May 1947 before being used as a target in 1952.
as a cruiser of the , she was launched on 8 June 1916. Construction was abandoned in 1917 during the October Revolution
when the ship was 63% complete. In the second half of 1918, the Marine Department of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi was engaged in completion of ship. On 25 January 1919, the ship was formally renamed in "Hetman Petro Doroshenko
", but Mykolaiv
was captured shortly afterward by the Entente. The hull was relatively undamaged and the Soviets decided to finish the ship to a modified design. She was renamed Krasnyi Kavkaz on 14 December 1926, and completed to a modernized design, being commissioned on 25 January 1932.
Krasnyi Kavkaz was initially intended to accommodate eight 8 inches (20.3 cm) guns in four twin turret
s, but this was impossible given her small and lightly constructed hull. Three twin turrets mounting the new 57-caliber 180 mm (7.1 in) B-1-K gun under development also proved impracticable and the Soviets had to settle for four MK-1-180 single 180 mm gun turrets, two at each end. Her superstructure was massively revised to fit these turrets and all of the original casemate
d 130 millimetres (5.1 in)/55 B7 Pattern 1913
guns were removed. As completed her secondary armament was only four 30-caliber 76.2 mm Lender AA guns mounted between her funnels. Her original internal torpedo tubes were replaced by four triple 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo mounts mounted on each side of the main deck abaft the forecastle break. She was given an aircraft-handling crane, but a catapult
wasn't installed aft of her rear funnel until 1935 when a Heinkel
catapult was imported from Germany. She was also fitted for mine rails with a capacity of up to 120 mines.
The Komintern
collided with her in May 1932, shortly after her commissioning, and badly damaged her bow. It was extensively rebuilt and increased her overall length by over 11 metres (36.1 ft). In 1933 she made port visits in Turkey
, Greece
and Italy
.
She was refitted before Operation Barbarossa
, probably about 1940, her catapult was removed, and her anti-aircraft armament was greatly increased. Her four 76.2 mm Lender AA guns were exchanged for four Italian Minizini twin gun 50-caliber 100 mm (3.9 in) AA mounts and she received four single mounts for the semi-automatic 76.2 mm 34-K were fitted as well as six 12.7 mm (0.5 in) AA machine guns. Two single mounts for 76.2 mm (3 in) 34-K guns were also fitted, one on each side of the quarterdeck just aft of the rearmost main gun turret. Some of these guns may have been received earlier, the sources are unclear. While under repair at Poti
in late 1942 she landed her aft pair of torpedo tubes and received two more Minizini mounts salvaged from the sunken Chervona Ukraina. Ten single mounts for the naval version of the 37 mm AA gun was also fitted. By 1944 she was also carrying one quadruple Vickers .50 machine gun
MK III mount on top of each of her superfiring
main gun turrets and she may have been using Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
.
and a number of destroyers, laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting the Black Sea Fleet
base at Sevastopol
on 22 June. She provided gunfire support to Soviet forces defending Odessa
and escorted convoys bringing the 157th Rifle Division into Odessa during the month of September 1941. She also transported one battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment from Sevastopol
in a successful amphibious assault behind Romanian lines to destroy Romanian coastal batteries near Fontanka and Dofinovka. She escorted convoys from 3—6 October that evacuated the 157th Rifle Division from Odessa to Sevastopol and escorted the final evacuation convoy during the night of 15–16 October. During the Siege of Sevastopol she provided gunfire support and evacuated cut-off troops from elsewhere in the Crimea into Sevastopol and brought in reinforcements from Caucasian ports. She helped to transport the 388th Rifle Division from Novorossiysk
and Tuapse
to Sevastopol between 7 and 13 December and the 354th Rifle Division between 21 and 22 December, bombarding German positions in the interim.
During the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation Krasnyi Kavkaz sailed into the harbor of Feodosiya on 29 December 1941 and disembarked reinforcements and provided gunfire support for Soviet troops already ashore. She was hit seventeen times by Axis artillery and mortar fire in retaliation. On 1 and 3 January she ferried supplies and reinforcements for the Soviet bridgehead on the Kerch Peninsula
. On the return voyage she was severely damaged by German Junkers Ju 87
Stuka dive-bombers from II./StG 77. Four near-misses close to her stern damaged her steering, her left propeller shaft, blew off one propeller and put enough holes in her stern that flooding caused her draft to increase by 5 metres (16.4 ft). She made it to Novorossiysk
, escorted by the destroyer Sposobnyi, where she was patched up enough to make to Poti
where more permanent repairs could be made. These took until October 1942 and the opportunity was taken to reinforce her anti-aircraft armament.
She was awarded the Guards
title on 3 April in recognition of her performance. Between 20 and 23 October, Krasnyi Kavkaz, her half-sister Krasnyi Krym
, and three destroyers ferried 12,600 men of the 8th, 9th and 10th Guards Rifle Brigades from Poti to Tuapse to reinforce the defenses there. On the night of 4 February 1943 the Soviets made a series of amphibious landings to the west of Novorossiysk, behind German lines. Krasnyi Krym, Krasnyi Kavkaz, and three destroyers provided fire support for the main landing, but the Soviet troops there were wiped out by 6 February, although one secondary landing was successful. The loss of three destroyers attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead on 6 October 1943 caused Stalin
to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission and this meant the end of Krasnyi Kavkazs active participation in the war.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: "Красный Кавказ" - "Red Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
") was a 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...
of 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...
that began construction during World War I, but was still incomplete during the Russian Revolution. Her design was heavily modified by the Soviets
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and she was completed in 1932. During World War II she supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Odessa, Siege of Sevastopol, and the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation in the winter of 1941—42. She was awarded the Guards
Guards unit
Guards units are elite units and formations in the armed forces of the former Soviet Union, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. These units were awarded Guards status after distinguishing themselves in service, and are considered to have elite status. The Guards designation originated during the...
title on 3 April 1942. She was reclassified as a training ship in May 1947 before being used as a target in 1952.
Service history
Laid down on 18 October 1913 at the Rossud Dockyard as Admiral Lazarev for the Imperial Russian NavyImperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...
as a cruiser of the , she was launched on 8 June 1916. Construction was abandoned in 1917 during the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
when the ship was 63% complete. In the second half of 1918, the Marine Department of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi was engaged in completion of ship. On 25 January 1919, the ship was formally renamed in "Hetman Petro Doroshenko
Petro Doroshenko
Petro Dorofeyevych Doroshenko was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine and a Russian voyevoda.-Earlier life:...
", but Mykolaiv
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 shortly afterward by the Entente. The hull was relatively undamaged and the Soviets decided to finish the ship to a modified design. She was renamed Krasnyi Kavkaz on 14 December 1926, and completed to a modernized design, being commissioned on 25 January 1932.
Krasnyi Kavkaz was initially intended to accommodate eight 8 inches (20.3 cm) guns in four twin turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, but this was impossible given her small and lightly constructed hull. Three twin turrets mounting the new 57-caliber 180 mm (7.1 in) B-1-K gun under development also proved impracticable and the Soviets had to settle for four MK-1-180 single 180 mm gun turrets, two at each end. Her superstructure was massively revised to fit these turrets and all of the original casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
d 130 millimetres (5.1 in)/55 B7 Pattern 1913
130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913
The 130mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913 naval gun was a 5.1-inch naval gun used predominantly on ships of the Imperial Russian Navy and later by the Soviet Navy. It was manufactured mainly by the Obukhov State Plant in St. Petersburg, as well as under licence by Vickers Limited in Great Britain...
guns were removed. As completed her secondary armament was only four 30-caliber 76.2 mm Lender AA guns mounted between her funnels. Her original internal torpedo tubes were replaced by four triple 533 millimetres (21 in) torpedo mounts mounted on each side of the main deck abaft the forecastle break. She was given an aircraft-handling crane, but a catapult
Aircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
wasn't installed aft of her rear funnel until 1935 when a Heinkel
Heinkel
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight.-History:...
catapult was imported from Germany. She was also fitted for mine rails with a capacity of up to 120 mines.
The Komintern
Soviet cruiser Komintern
Komintern was a Soviet light cruiser originally named Pamiat' Merkuria , a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea and survived the Russian Civil War, although heavily damaged. She was repaired by the Soviet Navy and put into...
collided with her in May 1932, shortly after her commissioning, and badly damaged her bow. It was extensively rebuilt and increased her overall length by over 11 metres (36.1 ft). In 1933 she made port visits in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
She was refitted before Operation Barbarossa
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...
, probably about 1940, her catapult was removed, and her anti-aircraft armament was greatly increased. Her four 76.2 mm Lender AA guns were exchanged for four Italian Minizini twin gun 50-caliber 100 mm (3.9 in) AA mounts and she received four single mounts for the semi-automatic 76.2 mm 34-K were fitted as well as six 12.7 mm (0.5 in) AA machine guns. Two single mounts for 76.2 mm (3 in) 34-K guns were also fitted, one on each side of the quarterdeck just aft of the rearmost main gun turret. Some of these guns may have been received earlier, the sources are unclear. While under repair at 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...
in late 1942 she landed her aft pair of torpedo tubes and received two more Minizini mounts salvaged from the sunken Chervona Ukraina. Ten single mounts for the naval version of the 37 mm AA gun was also fitted. By 1944 she was also carrying one quadruple Vickers .50 machine gun
Vickers .50 machine gun
The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was basically the same as the Vickers machine gun but scaled up to use a larger calibre round.-Mark II, IV and V:...
MK III mount on top of each of her superfiring
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
main gun turrets and she may have been using Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
.
World War II
Krasnyi Kavkaz, in company with the cruisers Chervona Ukraina, KominternSoviet cruiser Komintern
Komintern was a Soviet light cruiser originally named Pamiat' Merkuria , a protected cruiser built for the Imperial Russian Navy. She saw service during World War I in the Black Sea and survived the Russian Civil War, although heavily damaged. She was repaired by the Soviet Navy and put into...
and a number of destroyers, laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting 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....
base at Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
on 22 June. She provided gunfire support to Soviet forces defending Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and escorted convoys bringing the 157th Rifle Division into Odessa during the month of September 1941. She also transported one battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment from Sevastopol
Sevastopol
Sevastopol is a city on rights of administrative division of Ukraine, located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea peninsula. It has a population of 342,451 . Sevastopol is the second largest port in Ukraine, after the Port of Odessa....
in a successful amphibious assault behind Romanian lines to destroy Romanian coastal batteries near Fontanka and Dofinovka. She escorted convoys from 3—6 October that evacuated the 157th Rifle Division from Odessa to Sevastopol and escorted the final evacuation convoy during the night of 15–16 October. During the Siege of Sevastopol she provided gunfire support and evacuated cut-off troops from elsewhere in the Crimea into Sevastopol and brought in reinforcements from Caucasian ports. She helped to transport the 388th Rifle Division from Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
and Tuapse
Tuapse
Tuapse is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. It serves as the administrative center of Tuapsinsky District, although administratively it is separate from it...
to Sevastopol between 7 and 13 December and the 354th Rifle Division between 21 and 22 December, bombarding German positions in the interim.
During the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation Krasnyi Kavkaz sailed into the harbor of Feodosiya on 29 December 1941 and disembarked reinforcements and provided gunfire support for Soviet troops already ashore. She was hit seventeen times by Axis artillery and mortar fire in retaliation. On 1 and 3 January she ferried supplies and reinforcements for the Soviet bridgehead on the Kerch Peninsula
Kerch Peninsula
The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic feature located at the eastern portion of Crimea. Stretching towards the Taman peninsula, it is reminiscent of an isthmus between two neighboring seas: Azov Sea and Black Sea...
. On the return voyage she was severely damaged by German Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka was a two-man German ground-attack aircraft...
Stuka dive-bombers from II./StG 77. Four near-misses close to her stern damaged her steering, her left propeller shaft, blew off one propeller and put enough holes in her stern that flooding caused her draft to increase by 5 metres (16.4 ft). She made it to Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
, escorted by the destroyer Sposobnyi, where she was patched up enough to make 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...
where more permanent repairs could be made. These took until October 1942 and the opportunity was taken to reinforce her anti-aircraft armament.
She was awarded the Guards
Guards unit
Guards units are elite units and formations in the armed forces of the former Soviet Union, Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. These units were awarded Guards status after distinguishing themselves in service, and are considered to have elite status. The Guards designation originated during the...
title on 3 April in recognition of her performance. Between 20 and 23 October, Krasnyi Kavkaz, her half-sister Krasnyi Krym
Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Krym
Krasnyi Krym was a light cruiser of the Soviet Navy. She was laid down in 1913 as Svetlana for the Imperial Russian Navy, the lead ship of the . She was built by the Russo-Baltic Yard in Tallinn, Estonia and launched in 1915. Her hull was evacuated to Petrograd when the Germans approached the port...
, and three destroyers ferried 12,600 men of the 8th, 9th and 10th Guards Rifle Brigades from Poti to Tuapse to reinforce the defenses there. On the night of 4 February 1943 the Soviets made a series of amphibious landings to the west of Novorossiysk, behind German lines. Krasnyi Krym, Krasnyi Kavkaz, and three destroyers provided fire support for the main landing, but the Soviet troops there were wiped out by 6 February, although one secondary landing was successful. The loss of three destroyers attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead on 6 October 1943 caused Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission and this meant the end of Krasnyi Kavkazs active participation in the war.