Development
Based on an earlier 1915 design, Soviet naval planners set out to design a large sea-going monitor, that was also capable of operating on the Amur River and the Strait of Tartary in the Pacific Ocean against the threat of Japanese aggression. Since 1932 both the Soviet Union and Japan had been embroiled in a series of skirmishes and pitched battles over Japan's creation of Manchukuo. Work on designing Project 1190 began in 1935. While originally envisioned to carry four twin 130 mm guns and house a seaplane, due to overloading issues, the amount of turrets were reduced from four to three and plans for the seaplane were scrapped. Instead, replacing the aft superfiring 130 mm gun were a pair of twin 76 mm 39-K anti-aircraft guns. The Khasan class's air defence capabilities were supplemented by three twin-mounted 41-K anti-aircraft guns.
The Khasan class had small forecastles allowing for limited high seas capabilities along the Strait of Tartary and the Amur River Basin. The flat bottom hull and bows of the ships were stiffened, giving the monitors icebreaking capabilities.
The Khasan class were well protected for monitors, with steel belt armour ranging from 77 mm amidships to 36 mm at both ends of the ship. The citadel was closed by 25 mm bulkheads. The Khasan class possessed an armoured deck was 40 mm thickness amidships and 25 mm of protection at the fore and aft. The conning tower and turrets had 50–100 mm protection, and machine gun turrets had 10 mm armour protecting them. [1]
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Soviet Navy