Soviet cruiser Kaganovich
Encyclopedia
Kaganovich was a Project 26bis2 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 was built during 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...
. She was built in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
from components shipped from European Russia. She saw no action during the war and served into the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. She was renamed Lazar Kaganovich in 1945 to distinguish her from Lazar's
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
disgraced brother Mikhail Kaganovich. Her post-war career was generally uneventful, although her superstructure was badly damaged by a Force 12 typhoon
Pacific typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E. This region is referred to as the northwest Pacific basin. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern , central , and...
in 1957. She was renamed Petropavlovsk in 1957. Sources disagree on her fate; some say that she was converted into a floating barracks in 1960 and later sold for scrap while another says that she was simply sold for scrap in 1960.
Description
Kaganovich was 187 metre long at the waterline, and 191.2 metre long overall. She had a beamBeam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 17.66 metre and had a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
between 5.88 metre. Kaganovich displaced 8400 tonnes (8,267 LT) at standard load and 10040 tonnes (9,881 LT) at full load. Her geared steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s produced a total of 126900 shp on trials, but she fell somewhat short of her designed speed of 37 knots, only reaching 36 knots (19.6 m/s), on trials, because she was over 1200 tonnes (1,181 LT) overweight. She normally carried 650 tonnes (640 LT) of fuel oil
Fuel oil
Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...
, 1331 tonnes (1,310 LT) at full load and 1714 tonnes (1,687 LT) at overload. This gave her an endurance of 5590 nautical miles (10,352.7 km) at 18 knots (9.8 m/s) with overload fuel.
Kaganovich carried nine 180 mm (7.1 in) 57-caliber
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
B-1-P guns in three electrically powered MK-3-180 triple turrets. The turrets were very small; they were designed to fit into the limited hull space available and were so cramped that their rate of fire was much lower than designed—only two rounds per minute instead of six. The guns were mounted in a single cradle to minimize space and were so close together that their shot dispersion was very high because the muzzle blast from adjacent barrels affected each gun. Unlike her half-sisters built in European Russia, her secondary armament initially consisted of eight single 85 mm (3.3 in) 90-K dual-purpose anti-aircraft guns. Kaganovichs initial light AA armament is unknown, although her sister ship Kalinins initially consisted of six semi-automatic 45 mm (1.8 in) 21-K
45 mm anti-aircraft gun (21-K)
The 45 mm anti-aircraft gun was a Soviet design adapted from the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 . This was a copy of a German weapon designed by Rheinmetall that was sold to the Soviets before Hitler came to power in 1933 that had been enlarged to in increase its penetrating power...
AA guns with 600 rounds per gun, ten fully automatic 37 mm (1.5 in) 70-K AA guns with a thousand rounds per gun, and six DK
DShK
The DShK 1938 is a Soviet heavy machine gun firing the 12.7x108mm cartridge. The weapon was also used as a heavy infantry machine gun, in which case it was frequently deployed with a two-wheeled mounting and a single-sheet armour-plate shield...
12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns with 12,500 rounds per gun. During the 1950s her light anti-aircraft armament was replaced by nine powered 37 mm V-11 mounts.
Six 533 millimetres (21 in) 39-Yu torpedo tubes were fitted in two triple mountings, one on each side. She received the Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
ASDIC-132 sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
system, which the Soviets called Drakon-132, as well as the experimental Soviet Mars-72 system.
Kaganovichs radar suite is unknown, but it is likely she was equipped with a mix of Soviet and British and American Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
radars. At some point during the 1950s her radars were replaced by modern Soviet-built radars; Gyuys for air search, Rif for surface search, Zalp for main-armament gunnery and Yakor for anti-aircraft gunnery.
Service
Kaganovich was one of the Project 26bis2 cruisers, the third pair of the s. She was larger and had a more powerful anti-aircraft armament than her half-sisters. She was assembled at Shipyard 199, Komsomolsk-on-AmurKomsomolsk-on-Amur
Komsomolsk-on-Amur is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, situated on the left bank of Amur River. It is located on the BAM railway line, northeast of Khabarovsk. Population: -Geography and climate:...
, from components built at the Shipyard 198 (Marti South)
Black Sea Shipyard
The Black Sea Shipyard is located in Mykolaiv, Ukraine and is the largest shipyard with near direct access to the Black Sea. It is most often referred to as the Nikolayev South Shipyard and was known as Soviet Shipyard No...
in 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:...
. She was laid down on 12 August 1938, launched from drydock on 7 May 1944 and was officially accepted into the Pacific Fleet on 6 December 1944 after being towed down the Amur River to Vladivostok
Vladivostok
The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...
. She was still incomplete on this date and the official report of all work completed was not signed until 29 January 1947. Her construction was prolonged by late deliveries from western factories. For example her propeller
Propeller
A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's...
s had to be shipped from Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
after it had been surrounded by the Germans in September 1941 and her propeller shafts had to be removed from the Barrikada factory in Stalingrad before it was destroyed by the Germans in 1942. Another problem was the collapse of nine girders supporting the roof of Dock 8 onto the ship in early December 1942.
She was renamed Lazar Kaganovich in 1945 to disassociate her from Lazar's
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
disgraced brother Mikhail Kaganovich. She remained inactive during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in 1945. She spent the post-war period on routine training missions. She was renamed Petropavlovsk on 3 August 1957 after Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
was purged from the government after an unsuccessful coup against Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
that same year. Her superstructure was badly damaged by a Force 12 typhoon
Pacific typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E. This region is referred to as the northwest Pacific basin. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the eastern , central , and...
on 19 September 1957. Sources disagree on her fate; one says that she was converted into a floating barracks on 6 February 1960 and later sold for scrap while another says that she was simply sold for scrap on 6 February 1960.