Sovietsky Soyuz class battleship

The "Sovietsky Soyuz "class battleships (Project 23, _ru. Советский Союз, Soviet Union), also known as Stalin's Republics, were a class of battleships laid down by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s but never brought into service. Initially there were plans for the completion of up to 15 ships of this class by 1947, and they were to form the main striking force of the Soviet Navy. However, the slow design process and looming war with Nazi Germany led to reconsideration of this overly optimistic plan.

In the end only four hulls were laid down by October 1940, when the decision was made to stop the laying down of more ships of the class, as the Soviet Union shifted its resources to building its land forces to prepare for the imminent war. The construction of the ships that were laid down continued, but was suspended when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June, 1941, and did not resume after the end of the war in 1945.

The class consisted of 4 ships:

*"Sovietsky Soyuz" ("Soviet Union") - laid down 15 July 1938 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)
*"Sovietskaya Ukraina" ("Soviet Ukraine") - laid down 28 November 1938 in Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv),
*"Sovietskaya Rossiya" ("Soviet Russia") - laid down late 1939 in Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk),
*"Sovietskaya Belorussiya" ("Soviet Belorussia") - laid down about the same time also in Molotovsk.

The second ship of the class, laid down in the Ukrainian city of Nikolayev, was partially scuttled in the yard before the German capture of the city in 1941 during Operation Barbarossa, and the Germans found no use for the hulk. There is some contradiction about the fourth ship, "Sovietskaya Belorussiya", as some sources state it was never laid down at all, while others postulate that it was, in fact, laid down, but was canceled in a matter of months with little actual work done.

If completed, these ships would have been only slightly smaller than the Japanese "Yamato" class battleships, the largest ever to enter service. However, after the war, despite plans to complete them to one of the advanced designs, it was considered too costly for the war-ravaged Soviet economy. Moreover, the focus of the naval warfare shifted from battleships to aircraft carriers, so their completion would bring few benefits. "Sovietsky Soyuz" was eventually launched in 1949, but only to free slip space for new construction. By 1950 all were scrapped in the yards.

References

* Jürgen Rohwer and Mikhail S. Monakov, "Stalin's Ocean Going Fleet - Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programmes: 1935-1953", Frank Cass, 2001, ISBN 0-7146-4895-7.en icon
* [http://web.ukonline.co.uk/aj.cashmore/russia/battleships/sovietskysoyuz/sovietskysoyuz.html Class specifications] en icon
* [http://ship.bsu.by/main.asp?id=100157 article Article from ship.bsu.by] ru icon
* [http://www.battleships.spb.ru/0796/history.html Article from www.battleships.spb.ru] ru icon