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"The Party is in favor of small submarines with a short range. You can build three times as many submarines for your money as big ones.... but the actual problem lay in a quite different sphere. Big submarines mean a policy of aggression, to further world revolution. Small submarines mean coastal defense—that is, self-defense, and postponement of world revolution."
Arthur Koestler Darkness at Noon 1941

Stalin's "Great Shipbuilding Program" - “Big Navy Program"
bolshoi okeanskii flot - Large Oceanic Fleet

The termination of work on major surface combatants was associated with a short-term victory in the leadership of the fleet of the ideas of the "young school", demanding the abandonment of heavy ships and their replacement by light coastal forces: submarines, torpedo boats and coastal aviation. This fully corresponded to the strictly defensive doctrine of the Red Army Navy - their task was not to allow the enemy fleet to their shores, and for this it was supposed to give him a fight at a previously prepared mine and artillery position. However, already in the "Basic Considerations for the Development of the Naval Forces of the Red Army for the Second Five-Year Plan" of 1933, it was stated that "the basis of the Navy's construction program is the development of the fleet (primarily and primarily underwater) and heavy aviation." Under the rwen aviation was meant coastal aviation.

Stalin’s big-fleet program was driven by the slogan “catch up and overtake” [dognat i peregnat] (i.e., the West), a common phrase during the forced industrialization of the early Soviet era. Already in 1934 Stalin was increasingly becoming aware and confident of the Soviet heavy industry built during the first and second (still unfinished) five-year plan. In particular, the naval historian I. V. Kasatonov emphasized the Soviet achievements in the construction of tanks and warplanes. As usual, Stalin did not speak publicly on the Navy; he let others do it for him. One such proponent of the Big Fleet Program was Marshal of the Soviet Union and Commissar for Defense Kliment E. Voroshilov. At the XVIIth Congress of the CPSU in 1934, he linked the achievements in fast industrialization, with the expectation that "on the basis of victorious industrialization we shall be able to create our shipbuilding industry and soon to produce our fleets, which will become the most powerful among workers-and-farmers navies."

In fact, in 1934, Soviet designers started developing the design of a new battleship. The matter progressed with difficulty: the experience of creating large ships they completely absent. I had to attract foreign specialists - first Italian, then American. In August 1936, after analyzing the various options, the technical specification for designing battleships of the type "A" (project 23) and "B" (project 25) was approved. The latter was soon abandoned in favor of the heavy cruiser of Project 69, but type "A" gradually poured into an armored monster that left far behind all its foreign counterparts. Stalin, who had a weakness for the giant ships.

The first version of the Great Shipbuilding Program of the People's Commissariat of Defense was presented to the government in 1936. In July 1936, the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR, with the blessing of the Secretary General, approved the seven-year program of "large-scale marine shipbuilding" for 1937-1943 (because of the cacophony of the official name in the literature, it is usually called the "Big Fleet" program).

It was decided to build battleships, heavy cruisers and other classes of surface ships, that is, a large surface fleet. A large number of submarines were also built. The construction of an aircraft carrier was not ruled out, but it was postponed only for the last year of the five-year plan. In accordance with it, it was planned to build 533 ships, including 24 battleships! For the then Soviet economy, the figures are absolutely unrealistic. All this was understood, but no one dared to object to Stalin.

Before 1943, it was planned to put into operation 8 large and 16 small battleships, 20 cruisers (including already built ships of the Kirov type), 17 leaders (including 6 ships of the Leningrad type), 128 destroyers of the Gnevny type ( Project 7), as well as 90 large, 164 medium and 90 small submarines. There was not a word about the aircraft carriers in the program.

However, subsequent events violated these plans. The mass political repressions that unfolded in the Soviet Union in 1937 severely struck the highest command and commanding staff of the Red Army, including its naval forces. All persons involved in the development and implementation of the shipbuilding program of 1936 for the creation of a "large" fleet (the chief of the naval forces of the Red Army, the flagship of the 1st rank fleet, VM Orlov, the chief of the Naval Academy, the flagship of the 1st rank, IM Ludri, Deputy people's Commissar of defense industry RA Muklevich etc.), during the summer and autumn of 1937 were arrested and declared "enemies of the people", and soon shot. Accordingly, a complete change of the leadership of the MC of the Red Army affected the fate of the shipbuilding program, which was constantly revised and adjusted.

On August 13/15, 1937, the Soviet government issued a decree on the processing of the shipbuilding program of 1936, the creators of which (VM Orlov, RA Muklevich and others) were already in the prisons of the NKVD. By January 1, 1947, the new plan provided for 599 main class ships , including six A-class battleships, 14 B-class battleships, three Marat-class battleships, two aircraft carriers, ten heavy cruisers, 22 light cruisers, three "Old cruisers", 20 leaders of destroyers, 144 destroyers, 84 large, 175 medium and 116 small submarines. Compared with the 1936 program, the "Plan for the construction of naval ships of the Red Army Naval Forces" looked more tactical: the number of destroyers was increased with a reduction in the number of battleships; for the Pacific and Northern fleets, for the first time, one aircraft carrier with a displacement of 10,000 tons was provided.

In August-September 1937 a new version of the program appeared - the changes were motivated by the fact that the old one was created by the "wreckers" VM Orlov, IM Ludry and RA Muklevich, who had already been arrested as "enemies of the people". The new program, sponsored by MV Viktorov and LM Galler, turned out to be more balanced, it took into account the opinions of the specialists of the Naval Academy (a year earlier, the Chief of the Naval Forces of the Red Army, V. M. Orlov, ordered to stop consulting the shipbuilding industry with Professors from the WMA).

The number of battleships was reduced to 18 (6 large and 12 small), in addition to conventional light cruisers decided to build heavy with 254-mm artillery, and most importantly - for the North and Pacific fleets, it was planned to build two aircraft carriers, and not one, as before. The first of them was supposed to be laid in 1941, The second one a year later. Completion of both ships belonged to the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1943-1947).

By a Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 30, 1937, Soviet naval forces were separated from the People's Commissariat of Defense and transferred to the People's Commissariat for the Navy of the USSR, among the commissars were: PA Smirnov (30.12.1937 - June 30, 1938), M. P. Frinovsky (08.09.1938 on April 6, 1939), N. G. Kuznetsov (28.04.1939 on February 25, 1946). The People's Commissar of the Navy was simultaneously the Commander-in-Chief of the fleet. The Central Naval Headquarters became the central body of fleet management.

In 1936–37 in the Soviet Union, a ten-year, then a five-year program for the construction of a powerful sea and ocean fleet was developed. It is known that none of these programs was officially approved, although the development of projects already in 1938 was in full swing. According to the memoirs of the Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, N. G. Kuznetsov, at the end of 1936 the leaders of the Navy were invited to the Kremlin, where JV Stalin was interested in their opinion, which ships and in what quantity should be built. Most of those present, who were well acquainted with the orientation of the Soviet shipbuilding industry, spoke almost unanimously for the construction of submarines. However, it soon became necessary to understand that the owner of the Kremlin was planning something more grandiose, namely the construction of powerful battleships and heavy cruisers.

Finally, in February 1938, a third version of the "Great Shipbuilding Program" appeared for 1938-1945. It no longer had small battleships, but the number of large battleships (such as the "Soviet Union") increased to fifteen: 6 - for the Pacific; 4 - for the Baltic Sea; 3 - for the Black Sea; 2 - for the Northern Fleet. At the same time, the development of operational-tactical assignments for new ships was transferred to the newly created Main Naval Staff, headed by LM Galler. Design itself was carried out by the design bureaus of the People's Commissariat of the shipbuilding industry under the supervision of the Naval Commissariat of the Navy.

July 14, 1939, the Defense Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR received for consideration a 10-year plan for the shipbuilding program presented by the People's Commissar of the Navy N. G. Kuznetsov. Based on the instructions of the Defense Committee, on August 6, N. Kuznetsov introduced IV Stalin, VM Molotov and K. Ye. Voroshilov a revised and signed "10-year plan for the construction of ships of the RKKF". At that time, the construction of 3 battleships of the project 23, 2 heavy cruisers of the project 69, 5 light cruisers of the project 68, 5 light cruisers of the 26 and 26 bis projects, 2 leaders of the destroyers of the project 48, 2 project leaders 2, 6 destroyers were already under construction at the shipyards of the USSR. Project 30, 20 destroyers of Project 7, 18 destroyers of Project 7U, 5 Project 29 watchdog ships, 12 high-speed trawlers of Project 59, 21 basic diesel minesweepers, 6 river minesweepers.

The new plan for military shipbuilding, designed for 10 years (1938-1947), was built on the idea of creating "strong fleets in all maritime theaters of the Soviet Union", taking into account the forces of the fleets of possible adversaries. Moreover, the fleet included those ships that were commissioned before January 1, 1940. Together with them, by 1948, all naval theaters required 699 warships of main classes with a total displacement of 2,563 thousand tons, not including small Combat and auxiliary ships. In total, according to the 10-year plan, it was planned to build 15 battleships of the type "A", 2 aircraft carriers, 16 heavy cruisers, 32 light cruisers, 36 leaders, 162 destroyers, 88 submarine mine barriers, 225 medium submarines, and 120 small submarines. In addition, it was necessary to build another 358 torpedo boats, 8 gunboats, 274 hunters for submarines and 263 minesweepers with a total displacement of 465,000 tons. Thus, the total tonnage of the fleet was 3028 thousand tons, of which 1,154,000 tons were accounted for by the Pacific Fleet and 518,000 tons by the Northern Fleet

On August 6, 1939, the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov presented to the Council of People's Commissars a revised "Ten-Year Plan for the Construction of Navy Ships" (for 1938-1947), including the construction of 15 A-class battleships, 16 heavy and 32 light cruisers Six types of "Kirov"). The plan was to be carried out in two stages: the five-year plan for shipbuilding (1938-1942) and the five-year program (1943-1947). Within the five-year shipbuilding plan, eight battleships, five heavy and 16 light cruisers were to be laid down. The final version of the "Decade Plan for the Construction of Navy Ships" was to have by 1946: 15 battleships of Project 23 (type "Soviet Union").

Estimating the plan for the construction of the Navy on August 6, 1939, compared to the plan of 1938, in the new version of the program, the number of heavy and medium surface ships changed somewhat. If the battleships and aircraft carriers remained in the same proportion as before, the number of cruisers, leaders and destroyers, on the contrary, increased. Probably, this was done to ensure the combat stability of the naval maneuvering formations.

The first version of the new shipbuilding program at the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR was developed in 1937, then it was constantly reviewed and adjusted. Until the end of 1946, it was planned to build 15 battleships, 15 heavy and 28 light cruisers, two aircraft carriers, 20 leaders, 144 destroyers, 96 patrol ships, 204 minesweepers, 28 mine and 14 network loaders, 6 monitors and gunboats, 348 torpedo boats , 115 submarine hunters, 336 submarines.

The main point of this program was the construction of battleships. Of the two versions of the projects - “A” - with nine 406-mm guns of the main caliber and “B” - with nine 305-mm guns of the main caliber, preference was given to option “A” (project 23). In 1938, in accordance with the specified project, the battleships “Soviet Union” and “Soviet Ukraine” were laid, in 1939 - “Soviet Belarus”, in 1940 - “Soviet Russia”. Their total displacement was 65 thousand tons, a power plant with a capacity of 231 thousand liters. from. had to provide a speed of more than 28 knots. The battleships were supposed to be equipped with four ship planes starting from one catapult. It is known that the body of the lead battleship “Soviet Union” was almost ready for launch, when it was stopped at the end of 1940.

The second most important in the large shipbuilding program were heavy cruisers of the Kronstadt type (project 69-I). The ship’s greatest length was 250 m, the total displacement was over 41 thousand tons, and the capacity of the power plant was 210,000 shp, full speed 32 knots. The artillery weapons included three MK-15 three-gun turrets with 305 mm guns. The deployment of two KOR-2 aircraft on cruisers of the Kronstadt type was supposed to be in a special hangar; one rotary catapult was installed between the chimneys.

In November 1939, the head cruiser of the Kronstadt series was laid in Leningrad, and in Sevastopol of the same type with it. In June 1941, the readiness of the hulls of these ships was estimated at 12%. With the outbreak of war, their construction stopped. The armored plates of the Kronstadt corps in 1941 were used for the construction of defensive fortifications in Leningrad. "Sevastopol" remained in the territory occupied by German troops in Nikolaev. In 1943, leaving the south of Ukraine, the Germans blew up the cruiser’s hull along with the slipway. After the war, the construction of heavy cruisers of the Kronstadt type did not resume and they were dismantled for metal.

Compared to heavy artillery ships, less attention was paid to the development of aircraft carriers in the Soviet Union in the pre-war period. In mid-1939, at the TsNII-45 design institute, a preliminary preliminary design of a small aircraft carrier (project No. 71) with a displacement of 11,300 tons was designed to accommodate 20 aircraft. At the end of 1939, developers asked about the proposed types of aircraft and proposed to include their design for 1939–40. However, specific tasks of the aircraft industry were not received during this period, since the detailed design of the aircraft carriers was not deployed.

In addition to laying new ships at domestic shipyards, the Soviet Union was looking for opportunities to acquire them abroad. In particular, in Germany in 1940 they purchased the unfinished heavy cruiser Lutzow with a displacement of 15,340 tons. The cruiser was towed in May 1940 to Leningrad, where it was supposed to bring it to combat condition. In September 1940, the ship was renamed "Petropavlovsk", but it was not fully commissioned due to the outbreak of war.