''Zhdanov'' was a of

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

Development and design

The ''Sverdlov''-class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional gun

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...

s built for the

. They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. 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 Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

equipment and

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

. The Soviets originally planned to build 40 ships in the class, which would be supported by the s and

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s. The ''Sverdlov'' class displaced 13,600 tons standard and 16,640 tons at full load. They were

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and long at the waterline. They had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

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 A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

for over 75% of their length. The ship also had twenty-three

watertight bulkhead Floodability is the susceptibility of a ship's construction to flooding. It also refers to the ability to intentionally flood certain areas of the hull for damage control purposes, or to increase stability, which is particularly important in com ...

s. The ''Sverdlov''s had six boilers providing steam to two shaft

gear A gear or gearwheel is a rotating machine part typically used to transmit rotational motion and/or torque by means of a series of teeth that engage with compatible teeth of another gear or other part. The teeth can be integral saliences or ...

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s 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 Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * ...

. 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 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 two mountings of five each. The ''Sverdlov''s had

belt armor Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to ...

and had a armored deck. The turrets were shielded by armor and the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

, 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

''Zhdanov'' was

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 ...

on 11 February 1950 at

Baltic Shipyard The OJSC Baltic Shipyard (''Baltiysky Zavod'', formerly Shipyard 189 named after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze) () is one of the oldest shipyards in Russia and is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation today. It is located in Saint Petersburg in th ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and launched on 27 December 1950. The vessel was commissioned on 31 December 1952. On 25 January 1953, the Soviet naval flag was raised aboard the ship when the cruiser became part of the 8th task force of the KBF. Her homeport was

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. On 25 January 1954, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the raising of the naval flag, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Navy, Admiral of the Fleet N.G. Kuznetsov, was present on the cruiser. On 24 December 1955, the cruiser was added to the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

. In September 1988, ''Zhdanov'' took part in the

exercises Exercise or workout is physical activity that enhances or maintains fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons, including weight loss or maintenance, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovasc ...

of the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

"Autumn-88". The cruiser was command by Captain 1st Rank Adam Rimashevsky. On 21 February 1989, the name ''Zhdanov'' was removed. A new one was not assigned, and the vessel was listed as KRU 101. On 10 December 1989, by order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy, the vessel was re-registered as the command cruiser ''Zhdanov''. On 19 April 1990, the Soviet Navy flag was lowered and disarmament of the cruiser began for transfer to the Stock Property Department for dismantling and sale. In February 1991, the crew of the cruiser was disbanded. The cruiser was sold to a private foreign company for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

. On 27 November 1991, ''Zhdanov'', with the tug ''Shakhtar'', departed for the port of

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, to be broken up.

Pennant numbers

Gallery

File:Zhdanov1982.jpg, ''Zhdanov'' on 18 June 1982 File:Zhdanov1983a.jpg, ''Zhdanov'' underway on 10 July 1983 File:Zhdanov1983b.jpg, ''Zhdanov'' underway on 10 July 1983 File:Bezzavetnyy&Zhdanov&Magomed Gadzhiev.jpg, ''Zhdanov'' alongside '' Bezzavetnyy'' and on 30 October 1985.

References

External links

Photo gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhdanov 1950 ships Ships of the Soviet Union Ships built at the Baltic Shipyard Naval ships of the Soviet Union Sverdlov-class cruisers Cold War cruisers of the Soviet Union