The Gnevny class () were a group of 29 destroyers built for the Soviet Navy in the late 1930s. They are sometimes known as the Gremyashchiy class and the official Soviet designation was Project 7. These ships fought in World War II.
In the early 1930s the Soviets felt able to restart construction of fleet destroyers and forty-eight ships were ordered under the Second Five-Year Plan.
The design was produced with Italian assistance despite ideological differences between the Soviets and Fascist Italy. They resembled contemporary destroyers built in Italy for the Greek and Turkish navies.
They suffered from some of the same weaknesses of contemporary Italian ships with structural weakness and limited seaworthiness. There were also significant machinery problems in the earliest ships. The design flaws were apparent after trials of the first units in 1936–1937 and production stopped after 29 ships. A modified design was then placed into production as the Type 7U.
Four surviving ships from the Pacific Fleet were transferred to the People's Liberation Army Navy and served as the s.
Design and description
Having decided on the specifications of the large destroyer leaders, the Soviet Navy sought Italian assistance in designing smaller and cheaper destroyers. They licensed the plans for the and, in modifying it for their purposes, overloaded a design that was already somewhat marginally stable.Yakubov & Worth, pp. 99, 102–103
The Gnevnys had an overall length of , a beam of , and a draft of at deep load. The ships were significantly overweight, almost heavier than designed, displacing at standard load and at deep load. Their crew numbered 197 officers and sailors in peacetime and 236 in wartime.Yakubov & Worth, p. 101
The ships were powered by two geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed propeller using steam provided by three water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of and a temperature of .Platonov, p. 172 The turbines, rated at , were intended to give the ships a speed of .Budzbon, p. 330 The designers had been conservative in rating the turbines and many, but not all, of the ships handily exceeded their designed speed during their sea trials. Others fell considerably short of it; reached during her trials in 1943. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between at .Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 106–107
Armament and fire control As built, the Gnevny-class ships mounted four 50-caliber B-13 guns in two pairs of superfiring single mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. Each gun was provided with 150 rounds. The development of the gun was troubled by excessive barrel erosion problems and three variants were built in a not entirely successful effort to resolve the problem which complicated logistical and operational support as each performed slightly differently. The manually operated mounts had an elevation range between −5° and +45° and had a rate of fire of 6–10 rounds per minute. They fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of , which gave them a range of .Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 103–104
Anti-aircraft defense was provided by two 55-caliber 34-K AA guns and two 46-caliber 21-K AA guns, all in single mountsHill, p. 40 as well as a pair of DK or DShK machine guns. The 34-K guns could elevate between −5° and +85°, had a rate of fire of fire of 15–20 rounds per minute, and the ships carried 300 rounds per gun for them. Their muzzle velocity of gave their high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of and an effective ceiling of . The 21-K was a converted anti-tank gun with a rate of fire of 25–30 rounds per minute with an elevation range between −10° and +85°. The gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . This gave them a range of . The Project 7s stowed 500 rounds for each gun. The DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of .Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 104
The ships were equipped with six torpedo tubes in two rotating triple mounts amidships; each tube was provided with a reload. The Project 7-class ships primarily used the 53-38 or the 53-38U torpedo, which differed only in the size of their warhead; the latter had a warhead heavier than the warhead of the 53-38. The torpedoes had three range/speed settings: at ; at and at . The ships could also carry a maximum of either 60 or 95 mines and 25 depth charges. They were fitted with a set of Mars hydrophones for anti-submarine work, although it was useless at speeds over .Yakubov & Worth, pp. 101, 105–106
Fire control for the main battery of the Gnevnys was provided by a Mina-7 fire-control system that was derived from an Italian Galileo system. It included a TsAS-2 mechanical analog computer that received information from a KDP2-4 gunnery director on the roof of the bridge which mounted a pair of DM-4 stereoscopic rangefinders. Anti-aircraft fire control was strictly manual with only a DM-3 rangefinder to provide data to the guns.Yakubov & Worth, pp. 104–105
Ships
Black Sea Fleet
Ship Builder Launched Completed Fate – Marti Yard, Nikolaev19361938scrapped 1950s page in Russian – Marti Yard, Nikolaev1936Nov 1938sunk 1 July 1941 by magnetic mine – 61 Kommunar yard, Nikolaev19361938sunk 26 June 1942page in Russian – 61 Kommunar yard, Nikolaev19361938sunk 2 July 1942page in Russian by KG 76 – Marti Yard, Nikolaev29 Oct 19361 May 1939scrapped 1958page in Russian – Marti Yard, Nikolaev1937Sept 1939sunk 6 October 1943, bombing by Stukaspage in Russian
Baltic Fleet Ship BuilderLaid down Launched Completed FateGnevny ( (Angry))Shipyard No. 190 (Zhdanov), Leningrad8 December 193513 July 193623 December 1938Sunk by aircraft, 26 June 1941 ( (Proud))25 June 193610 June 193723 December 1938Sunk by mines, 14 November 1941 ( (Loud))29 April 19366 Dec 193731 December 1938 Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, used as a target for nuclear testing 1957, near Novaya Zemlya ( (Formidable))21 December 31 July 19369 December 1938 Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, scrapped 1960 ( (Thunderous))23 July 193612 August 193728 August 1938Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, used as a target for nuclear testing 1957, near Novaya Zemlya ( (Threatening))18 June 19365 January 193717 September 1939During the first day of the Winter War, captured small Finnish steamer Auvo and took it as prize to Paldiski. Damaged by bombing near Leningrad, scrapped 1950s ( (Destructive))29 October 193623 August 193713 August 1939 Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, sunk in a storm 22 November 1942 after her stern broke off, 35 dead ( (Sly))Shipyard No. 189 (Ordzhonikidze), Leningrad17 September 193616 July 19376 November 1938Sunk by mines, 4 November 1941 ( (Watchful))12 August 193618 January 193830 October 1939Bombed and sunk 21 September 1941 near Kronstadt, salvaged in 1944 and returned to service 1948, scrapped 1959 ( (Impetuous))22 August 19364 February 193718 November 1938Transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1941, sunk 20 July 1941 by German Bombers in Ekatirinskaya Bay, Murmansk, partially raised in 1942 and cannibalised for spare parts to repair Raz'yaryonny
Pacific Fleet All the Pacific Fleet ships were built by Dalzavod, Komsomolsk na Amure and towed to Vladivostok for fitting out due to the shallow depth of the Amur River. One unit, Reshitelny (i), was lost by stranding on passage 7 November 1938, being damaged beyond repair. The material for these ships was assembled in Nikolayev and then shipped east via the Trans-Siberian railway.
Ship Launched Completed FateReshitelnyy Решительный (decisive)1937Not completedLost while being towed between Sovetskaya Gavan and Vladivostok for final fitting out Резвый (Frisky)1937Dec 1939Scrapped 1950s Рьяный (Spirited)Oct 19371940Sunk as target 8 January 1961 in the Sea of Japan Расторопный (Prompt)19391941Scrapped 1950s Редкий (Rare)1941Scrapped 1962 Разящий (Furious)19381941sunk as target ship 1961 Решительный (Decisive)19391941sold to China 1955 first as Changchun, Museum ship in Rushan from 1990 Ретивый (Ardent)19401941sold to China 1955 as Chi Lin(Jilin) and then renamed to Taiyuan, Stationary training ship for Dalian Naval Academy from September 1991. Scrapped 2026. Ревностный (Fervent)19401941scrapped 1950s Разъярённый (Enraged)May 1941Dec 1941transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1942, target ship 1958 Разумный (Sensible)19401941transferred to the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1942, foundered 1960s Рекордный (Record breaking)19401941sold to China 1955 as Anshan, Museum ship in Qingdao from April 1992 Резкий (Brusque)19401942sold to China 1954 as Fushun, Scrapped 1989
See also Freccia-class destroyer Kountouriotis-class destroyer Tinaztepe-class destroyer
Citations
Sources