Molotovsk was a of the Soviet Navy which was later renamed Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.
Development and design
The Sverdlov-class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional gun cruisers built for the Soviet Navy. They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed prior to the Second World War. They were modified to improve their sea keeping capabilities, allowing them to run at high speed in the rough waters of the North Atlantic. The basic hull was more modern and had better armor protection than the vast majority of the post Second World War gun cruiser designs built and deployed by peer nations. They also carried an extensive suite of modern radar equipment and anti-aircraft artillery. The Soviets originally planned to build 40 ships in the class, which would be supported by the s and aircraft carriers.
The Sverdlov class displaced 13,600 tons standard and 16,640 tons at full load. They were long overall and long at the waterline. They had a beam of and draught of and typically had a complement of 1,250. The hull was a completely welded new design and the ships had a double bottom for over 75% of their length. The ship also had twenty-three watertight bulkheads. The Sverdlovs had six boilers providing steam to two shaft geared steam turbines generating . This gave the ships a maximum speed of . The cruisers had a range of at .Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 378
Sverdlov-class cruisers main armament included twelve /57 cal B-38 guns mounted in four triple Mk5-bis turrets. They also had twelve /56 cal Model 1934 guns in six twin SM-5-1 mounts. For anti-aircraft weaponry, the cruisers had thirty-two anti-aircraft guns in sixteen twin mounts and were also equipped with ten torpedo tubes in two mountings of five each.
The Sverdlovs had belt armor and had a armored deck. The turrets were shielded by armor and the conning tower, by armor.
The cruisers' ultimate radar suite included one 'Big Net' or 'Top Trough' air search radar, one 'High Sieve' or 'Low Sieve' air search radar, one 'Knife Rest' air search radar and one 'Slim Net' air search radar. For navigational radar they had one 'Don-2' or 'Neptune' model. For fire control purposes the ships were equipped with two 'Sun Visor' radars, two 'Top Bow' 152 mm gun radars and eight 'Egg Cup' gun radars. For electronic countermeasures the ships were equipped with two 'Watch Dog' ECM systems.
Construction and career The ship was built at Sevmash in Severodvinsk and was launched on 29 June 1951 and commissioned on 27 March 1953.
On 18 February 1954, she joined the Northern Fleet as Molotovsk.
From 3 to 7 August 1956, she visited Oslo. From 8 to 12 August, she visited to Gothenburg. On 3 August 1957, she was renamed Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.
From 30 August to 2 September 1958, she visited Bergen. From 8 to 12 September, she visited Copenhagen.
On 16 December 1960, she was transferred to the Baltic Fleet.
On 27 March 1961, she was decommissioned from the Navy, mothballed and put on hold in Kronstadt.
On 29 April 1966, she was reactivated and put into operation.
In 1967, she visited Port Said.
On 16 November 1968 to 25 December 1969, she was modernized at Kronstadt according to Project 68A.
From 8 to 13 May 1970, she visited Cherbourg.
From 17 to 23 July 1970 and 25 September to 1 October 1972, she took part in the war zone to carry out a combat mission to provide assistance to the Syrian armed forces.
From 17 May to 25 June 1971, 5 to 8 July and 8 to 12 September 1972, she again performed a combat mission to provide assistance to the armed forces of Egypt. From 17 to 22 August 1971, she visited Copenhagen.
From 20 to 24 July 1978, she visited Gdynia. From 8 to 10 October, she visited Rostock.
From 4 to 9 October 1979, she visited Rostock.
From 27 to 30 July 1980, she visited Gdynia.
From 9 to 14 August 1982, she visited Rostock.
On 16 September 1987, she was disarmed and decommissioned from the navy.
On 11 February 1988, she was struck by the navy.
From 1988 to 1990, she was scrapped at the Glavvtorchermet base in Leningrad.
Pennant numbers DatePennant number1957221958461960202842891196711819708461971899197289019740201976015197789219788441978141198015419861941987154
See also Cruiser Sverdlov-class cruiser List of ships of the Soviet Navy List of ships of Russia by project number
References