Project 69 - General Estimation
During many decades in Soviet Naval and technical literature heavy cruisers of the type "Kronstadt" (as battleships of the type "Soviet Union") were represented as the "strongest in the world". This did not completely correspond to reality.
On the power of major caliber artillery, the armoring and the anti-mine protection the ships of Projects 69 and 69I actually exceeded the analogus ships of foreign fleets. However, they had essential deficiencies.
"Kronstadt", exceeding its potential enemy "Scharnhorst" in the main battery, was inferior to it in the quantity of trunk and antiaircraft artillery (8 152-mm and 8 100-mm against 12 150-mm and 14 105-mm). Yes even present aboard large ships Soviet, placed at the end the 1930s, two "medium" calibers - 152-mm anti-surface and 100-mm zenith can be considered the most serious deficiency. Without having adequate experience, Soviet designers turned themselves for help to foreign firms. The Italians rendered the greatest assistance to the Soviet Union. The "Italian school" was reflected with the selection of the composition of armament. Soviet heavy ships - as with the Italian and German - bore anti-mine artillery and zenith of long-range. The French "Dunkirk", which was considered as one of the potential enemies of "Kronstadt"; was armed with 16 130-mm universal guns.
Soviet designers and seamen kenw of the installation of "universal" [ie, dual purpose] artillery aboard the American and English ships. Moreover, in 1937-1939 an American firm "Gibbs and Cock" carried out several studies of battleships to the order of the Soviet side. They were distinguished by displacement, measurements, caliber of main battery, but all had 127-mm universal twin installations. The Naval academy debated the question about the equipment of heavy ships with universal artillery. The supporters of the Italian and German way of the development of naval artillery conquered in these disputes. This conducted to an increase in the nomenclature of the fire control directors and battle posts.
In Russia on the eve of the Great War in arsenal of fleet was accepted the excellent rapid-firing 130-mm gun with a length of barrel of 55 calibers of the system of the Oobukhovskogo plant. According to its ballistic and mass-and-size characteristics, it was considered the optimum combat means to counter the torpedo boats and as the light cruisers of that time and it adapted on the Black Sea battleships of the type "empress Maria", the line cruisers of the type "Izmail" and the light cruisers of the type "Svetlana". Unfortunately, the sea forces of RKKA and on their order industry continued to improve the instruments of this caliber in the 1930s only for shooting at sea and coast targets. Only at the end the 1930s began the works on the universal twin installation B-2-U, but at the beginning war was not prepared even prototype. Actually universal 130-mm installations for the first time appeared on the destroyers "Undaunted" (Project 41} and "Calm" (Project 56) at the beginning of the 1950s, after being late as the minimum by 10 years.
Hence followed another most important deficiency in the heavy cruisers - weak anti-aircraft [zenith] armament. The newest ship, if it entered the system in 1944, would have 100-mm of guns, as light cruisers of the type "Chapaev" and even the obsolete "Red Caucasus". As a result with the reflection of air attacks on heading angle of 90° in Soviet cruisers would shoot 4 x 100-mm guns, and the Americans 8-10 x 127-mm. But as showed the experience of war, one anti-aircraft gun, which shoots projectiles with the time fuse, it is more effective than the battery of the small-caliber automatic weapons, which had only projectiles with the contact fuses. To go onto the ocean with this zenith armament without the reliable air cover (on aircraft carriers which only just had begun design studies) would be an "adventure", which borders on the suicide. On this it was indicated in the findings of the commission S.P.Stavitskogo on the preliminary design in 1938.
Kronstadt was inferior to its potential enemies, also, in the armoring. Armor belt in "Scharnhorst" had a thickness of 350 mm, and in "Dunkirk" 241 mm (with the angle of the slope of 12°). And this with the fact that the displacement of the German and French ships was less. The effectiveness of armor protection and PMZ of the cruisers of Project 69 can be judged only from the theoretical calculations. The effectiveness of the protection "Scharnhorst" was checked in combat with the superior forces of English fleet on December 26, 1943. It did not lose combat efficiency after entry of approximately 30 152-356- mm of projectiles and 4 Torpedoes.
The presence of one conning tower and the limited survey from the pilot bridge was another serious deficiency. Desiring to obtain the greatest target sectors guns, designers strongly narrowed superstructure in the bow section. The Commander, being located on the bridge, could not observe not only the stern of his ship, but also wide sector in the rear portion, which hampered control of ship in the narrowness and in the harbor. However, a similar problem the seamen encountered with the entrance into the system of battleships of the type "Sevastopol" in 1914. Then it was necessary to urgently attach wings to the pilot bridge [ie, a "flying bridge"].
And finally speed. As a result overload (especially in the Project 69I) it was reduced to 31 knots, and possibly, and it is below. On TTZ the ship had to overtake "Scharnhorst" and depart from the battleships. If "Kronstadt" entered the system, it could not overtake "Scharnhorst", to say nothing of other heavy cruisers, but new American battleships generally developed 33 knots.
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