Kronshtadt Class Battlecruiser Summary

This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Kronshtadt class battlecruiser by EBard Models.

The Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers, with the Soviet designation as Project 69 heavy cruisers, were ordered for the Soviet Navy in 1939. Two ships were started but none were completed due to World War II. These ships had a complex and prolonged design process which was hampered by constantly changing requirements and the Great Purge in 1937.

A total of sixteen ships were planned in the 1939 building program, but this was scaled back to four in July 1940 and two in October 1940 when it became clear just how unprepared the Soviets were for any large-scale naval construction program. Stalin's naval construction program was more ambitious than the shipbuilding and armaments industries could handle.

The Soviet shipbuilding and related industries proved to be incapable of supporting the construction of the four Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships as well as the two Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers at the same time. The largest warships built in the Soviet Union prior to 1938 were the 8,000-metric-ton Kirov-class cruisers and even they had suffered from a number of production problems, but the Soviet leadership preferred to ignore the industrial difficulties when making their plans.

Ship component prototypes had not been completed when war broke out, almost two years after the start of construction, so the Soviets bought twelve surplus 38-centimeter (15.0 in) SK C/34 guns, and their twin turrets, similar to those used in the Bismarck-class battleships, from Germany in 1940. The ships were partially redesigned to accommodate them, after construction had already begun, but no turrets were actually delivered before Germany invaded the following year.

The Kronshtadt hull survived the war but was considered to be obsolete. The Soviets considered converting her into an aircraft carrier, but the idea was rejected and her hull was scrapped in 1947. The Sevastapol was captured by the Germans who destroyed her hull and building slip before evacuating.

It remains to speculation as to how good the design ultimately would have proven. The ships had relatively light armor, an inconsistent design and flawed manufacturing. Given how badly the Soviets treated the British Royal Sovereign on loan to them, it is likely maintenance would have been neglected and combat performance degraded acordingly.

Ship of Class:

• Kronshtadt
• Sevastopol

Insignia can be added to each deck decal to make it easier to identify ship nationality. 

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