Project 69I Heavy Cruiser
The Project 69I Heavy Cruiser actually is simply re-armed by new guns and had some differences in construction. While the forming of the housings of cruisers on the stocks occurred by high rates, development and production of armament and mechanisms considerably lagged behind the planned periods. the production of installations MK-17 and MZ-16 was not begun. Although LMZ, without waiting until the end of the release of working drawings, and approached the production of experimental installation MK-15 guns B-50, for it was still located in the stage of design. Priority in the delivery of turbines and other equipment returned to the constructed battleships.
Delays with the production of armament and need for the execution of the established periods of building ships forced command the Navy and management of ship-building industry to examine the proposal of German firm "Krupp" about the delivery for the main battery turrets of 380-mm guns.
The firm "Krupp" had a large reserve of 380-mm guns for turret installations for the battleships of the type "Bismarck". In February 1939 Germany approved a ship-building program (plan "Z") under which Germany was to have 6 battleships by 1944. But the command of the Krigsmarine limited to building only two ships of this class, and instead concentrate on submarines. In order not to incur losses from the unrealized installations, "Krupp" proposed to place them in the USSR. During the negotiations with the Soviet "economic commission" headed by the head of ship-building industry I.F.Tevosyanom, the German side expressed the readiness to place six complete sets twin 380- mm of towers (aboard two ships of Project 69) and control instruments of shooting (PUS) for them. This proposal interested Stalin.
One indication for evaluating the combat capabilities of the heavy cruisers with 380-mm turrets of main battery, the Naval academy in May 1940 conducted additionally two tactical games, where as the enemies of the ship of Project 69 were considered the same small battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Dunkirk". The results of games showed that the replacement of 305-mm guns to 380-mm, even with their smaller quantity, qualitatively changes the power of its artillery armament. Armor of the ships of enemy in this case was penetrated by larger projectiles and are excluded unfavorable before for the Project 69 distances of battle. The smaller number of 380-mm of projectiles was compensated by an increase in the lethal area after the armor. This predetermined making a decision about the development of the design of the rearmament of "Kronstadt".
The political solution about the acquisition in Germany of 380-mm guns started without taking into account opinion the Navy. "This was not the first case, when naval questions were solved through the head of people's commissariat", wrote subsequently in his book "the day before" the head the Navy N.G.Kuznetsov. Nevertheless on July 10, 1940 he affirmed "TTZ to the rearmament of the ship of Project 69 by German 380-mm turrets of instead of 305-mm turrets MK-15 and PUS of main battery". Only three months were necessary by the association TSKB-17 for the development of the preliminary design of 69I (the heavy cruiser with the imported guns and mountings). On October 16 the same year the Project was presented for consideration into the people's commissariats the Navies and to ship-building industry.
The Project showed that the arrangement of new guns and mountings would require significant changes of the general layout from the internal bottom to the upper deck, and also of superstructures. PMZ lengthened the hull by 9 meters for positioning the new control instruments of shooting. It was necessary to increase the overall sizes of conning tower, to change the upper tiers of the foremast, superstructure under stern KDP. Simultaneously at the proposal the Navy the arrangement of aircraft changed, instead of the launcher, the cranes were established with aircraft according to the type of those accepted by the cruiser "Petropavlovsk".
Into the complete set PUS of the delivery of firm "Siemens" entered two KDP with one 10- meter range-finder in each {they were established on the places KDP -8), and also night view-finders, three-meter range-finders and 150- cm combat searchlights. Their arrangement required the expansion of the existing and creation of new bridges and areas. In connection with an increase in elektronagruzki and combat mode it was necessary to increase the single power of turbogenerators to 1300 kW.
All these changes led to the fact that the standard displacement of ship grew to 36,240 tons, exceeding the limitation established by the Washington agreement of 1922 for the battleships (35,000 t). Average displacement ["sagging"] with the full load displacement increased to 9.7 meters. It decreased to 2.58 m (in comparison with 2.8 m in Project 69) the metacentric height and, as a result, it deteriorated stability. The reserve of bouyancy was reduced to 75% in general and to 33% in combat. The speed of the ship of the Project 69I would be not lower than in Project 69, as it was intended to increase its propulsive coefficient due to the development of new screws.
At the same time the German 380-mm gun, with a length of the barrel of 52 calibers, exceeded the Soviet 305-mm of gun by the weight of projectile (800 against 470 kg), was inferior to them in the range of fire - 87 kbt (34.3 km) instead of 260 kbt (47.6 km), the rate of fire (2.3 rounds/min instead of 3.24) and the total mass of projectiles with the simultaneous shooting of all guns of the main battery per minute (11,000 instead of 13,700 kg). Ammunition was reduced by more than third (570 total 380-mm projectiles instead of 900 for the 305-mm).
At the beginning October 1940 N.G.Kuznetsov with the consideration of the draft of the plan of shipbuilding at the session of government it in 1941 proposed to forego completely the building of the heavy cruisers, to dismantle those already placed and to build instead of them the new destroyers of Project 30, which it would be possible to introduce into the system considerably more rapid. However, Stalin insisted on their building. In that left on October 19, 1940 the decision SNK by TsK the AUCP(B) "about the plan of military shipbuilding in 1941" it was recorded: "The new layings of battleships and heavy cruisers not to produce, to bind NKSP to concentrate forces on the building of the heavy cruisers "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol", to set a period of their descent to the water in THE III quarter 1942, a question about the caliber of main battery for them to solve not later than the middle of November. To stop the building of battleship "Soviet Belorussia" and instead of it to place at the plant of #402 in Molotovske four destroyers of Project 30". The delivery of cruisers was planned in 1944.
For adopting the measures for the fulfillment of this decision, the management TSKB-17 at the end October 1940 reported to the People's Commissariat of Ship-building Industry, that obtaining imported materials was tightened. Construction plants concluded works on the housings in the regions, not touched upon by changes. It was necessary to boost the development of drawings for the variable regions. It was necessary to urgently obtain drawings from the Germans, otherwise the work of designers, and then plants, could be paralyzed.
In November 1940 agreement on the delivery of 380-mm turrets and PUS was signed, however, in spite of timely obtaining of payments with it, the German side did not hurry with the fulfillment of its obligations. Although the guns and turrets were practically finished, they did not send to the USSR.
At the conference at the beginning April 1941 Stalin listened to a report about the state of matters for deliveries for the completion of cruisers "Petropavlovsk", "Kronstadt" and "Sevastopol", but he decided not to tear up the agreements, avoiding the complication of relations with Germany. On April 10 the same year the Defense Committee made the final decision to establish to constructed the heavy cruisers of Project 69 on three twin 380-mm of the tower of main battery, it affirmed changes in the basic tactical-technical elements connected with this and bound the People's Commissariat of Ship-building Industry (NKSP) to correct engineering design and to affirm it in the final form by October 15, 1941.
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