The ''Tashkent'' class (officially known as Project 20) consisted of a single

destroyer leader Destroyer leader (DL) was the United States Navy designation for large destroyers from 9 February 1951 through the early years of the Cold War. United States ships with hull classification symbol DL were officially frigates from 1 January 1955Blac ...

, built in Italy for the Soviet Navy just before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Three others were ordered from shipyards in the Soviet Union, but they were cancelled before they were

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

as they were too difficult to build with the existing technology in Soviet shipyards. Completed in 1939, participated in the Sieges of Odessa and

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

in 1941–1942, during which she ferried reinforcements and supplies into those cities, evacuated wounded and refugees, and provided

naval gunfire support Naval gunfire support (NGFS) (also known as shore bombardment) is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibiou ...

for Soviet troops. The ship was badly damaged twice by Axis bombers before she was sunk in harbor in mid-1942. Her wreck refloated in 1944, but it was too badly damaged to be worth repairing and was scrapped after the war.

Design and description

Unsatisfied with the destroyer leader, the Soviets decided that they needed foreign design assistance around 1934–1935. The French were not willing to share ship plans so the Soviets turned to Italy, based on their earlier experience with the Italians during the preliminary design work for the s. They requested designs for a high-speed destroyer leader from three Italian shipbuilders and accepted the submission by Odero-Terni-Orlando (OTO) in September 1935. They would build the lead ship, named ''Tashkent'', in their Livorno shipyard, and provide assistance for the Soviets to build others in their own shipyards. Three other ships were ordered, although the only ship to receive a name was ''Baku'', before they were all cancelled due to difficulties with adapting the Italian design to Soviet shipbuilding practices. A total of eleven ships in the class were planned: three for the Baltic Fleet, two for the Black Sea Fleet, two for the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

and four for the Pacific Fleet.Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski, p. 103 The ''Tashkent''-class ships had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a beam of , and a mean

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of .Budzbon, p. 329 The ships displaced at standard load, at

full load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

, and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

. Their crew numbered 250 officers and sailors.Platonov, p. 140 The ships had a pair of geared steam turbines, each driving one three-bladed propeller using steam from a pair of

Yarrow boiler Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships. The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...

s that operated at a pressure of and a temperature of . The turbines, designed to produce , were intended to give the ''Tashkent''s a maximum speed of and ''Tashkent'' herself reached from during her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in 1938, although her armament had yet to be fitted. She reached once her armament had been installed.Hill, p. 44 The ships had a maximum capacity of of fuel oil which gave them a range of at a speed of . They were equipped with a pair of

turbogenerator A turbo generator is an electric generator connected to the shaft of a steam turbine or gas turbine for the generation of electric power. Large steam-powered turbo generators provide the majority of the world's electricity and are also use ...

s and three

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression-ig ...

s, two of and one of .

Armament and fire-control

''Tashkent''s main armament was intended to consist of six 50- caliber B-13 guns in three twin-gun B-2LM turrets, one superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and the other mount aft of it. However, the turrets were not ready in time so three single mounts were substituted. The manually operated mounts had an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

range between -5° to +45° and had a rate of fire of 6–10

rounds per minute Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * The contour of a closed curve or surface with no sharp corners, such as an ellipse, circle, rounded rectangle, cant, or sphere * Rounding, the shortening of a number to reduce the numbe ...

. The B-13 gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of , which gave them a range of .Yakubov & Worth, p. 103

Anti-aircraft defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

aboard ''Tashkent'' was designed to be provided by four 46-caliber semi-automatic 21-K AA guns in single mounts, but six weapons were actually installed, all of which were clustered around the aft

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construct ...

as well as six

DShK The DShK 1938 ( Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped bu ...

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s. The 21-K had a rate of fire of 25–30

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 DShK had an effective rate of fire of 125 rounds per minute and an effective range against aircraft of .Yakubov & Worth, p. 104 The ''Tashkent''s carried nine

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in three rotating triple mounts

amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...

. The ships could also carry 76 mines and 24 depth charges which were delivered by two throwers and one stern rack. ''Tashkent'' was equipped with a gunnery

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

on top of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, fitted with a duplex

rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...

installation, that provided data for an Italian-made "Galileo"

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

fire-control computer, and a rangefinder. Two rangefinders were provided for the AA guns. It is uncertain what fire-control systems would have been used by the Soviet-built ships had they not been canceled.

Modifications

During a brief refit in February 1941, the three B-2LM turrets were installed. At the same time the 45 mm guns were replaced by an equal number of fully automatic 70-K AA guns. The gun had a range of from its fragmentation shells that were fired at a muzzle velocity of . They had a maximum elevation of +90° and a rate of fire of 160–180 rounds per minute. A twin-gun 39-K mount for 34-K AA guns was fitted on her stern while ''Tashkent'' was under repair on 31 August; it had been originally intended for the destroyer which was still under construction.Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski, p. 104 The 34-K guns could elevate between -5° and +85° and had a rate of fire of 15–20 rounds per minute. Their muzzle velocity of gave their high-explosive shells a maximum horizontal range of and an effective ceiling of . Esploratore veloce Tashkent, 1936 - san dl SAN IMG-00001374.jpg, Right elevation File:Esploratore veloce Tashkent, pianta, 1936 - san dl SAN IMG-00001372.jpg, Plan File:Esploratore veloce Tashkent, disegno, 1936 - san dl SAN IMG-00001373.jpg, Longitudinal section

Ships

Service

During the Siege of Odessa, ''Tashkent'' escorted a transport to Odessa and provided naval gunfire support before she was badly damaged by Axis bombers in August. After repairs were completed in November, the ship ferried reinforcements and supplies, evacuated wounded and refugees, and bombarded Axis positions during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1941–1942. ''Tashkent'' was crippled by Axis bombers on a return voyage to Novorossiysk in late June and was sunk a few days later during an air strike on the harbor there. Her wreck was refloated in 1944, but it was a total

constructive total loss Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...

and was scrapped after the war.Platonov, pp. 141–142; Wright, pp. 349–350, 352, 358–360

References

Bibliography

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External links

page in Russian language
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tashkent-class destroyer Destroyer classes Destroyers of the Soviet Navy World War II destroyers of the Soviet Union Italy–Soviet Union relations History of Tashkent Ships built in Livorno