The Sverdlov-class cruisers, Soviet designation Project 68bis, were the last conventional gun cruisers built for the Soviet Navy. They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed before the Second World War. They were modified to improve their sea capabilities, allowing them to operate at high speeds in the rough waters of the North Atlantic. The design carried an extensive suite of modern radar equipment and anti-aircraft artillery. The Soviets originally planned to build 40 ships in the class, to be supported by the Stalingrad-class battlecruisers and various aircraft carriers.
The Stalingrad-class battlecruiser, also known as Project 82, was a Soviet battlecruiser design from 1941. It was a smaller and less-expensive counterpart to the Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers of 1939. The original role was for a light, fast ship intended to break up attacks by British fast-cruiser forces that might attempt bombardment of Russia's northern ports. In keeping with the battlecruiser design concept, they would have been able to outgun any ship with similar speed, or outrun anything more heavily armed. Design work had just started when the German invasion of the Soviet Union opened and the design was put on hold.
The South Dakota class was a group of four fast battleships built by the United States Navy. They were the second class of battleships to be named after the 40th state; the first were designed in the 1920s and canceled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Four ships comprised the class: South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama. They were designed to the same treaty standard displacement limit of 35,000 long tons (35,600 t) as the preceding North Carolina class and had the same main battery of nine 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 guns in three-gun turrets, but were more compact and better protected. The ships can be visually distinguished from the earlier vessels by their single funnel, compared to twin funnels in the North Carolinas.
Kalinin (Калинин) was one of six Kirov-class cruisers built for the Soviet Navy in the Russian Far East from components shipped from European Russia during World War II. The ship was one of the last pair constructed, known as the Project 26bis2 subclass. Completed at the end of 1942 and assigned to the Pacific Fleet, she saw no action during the Soviet–Japanese War in 1945 and served into the Cold War. Sometimes serving as a flagship, her post-war career was uneventful until she was disarmed and converted into a floating barracks in 1960. She was scrapped in the early 1960s.
The Myōkō-class cruisers were a series of four heavy cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 1920s. Three were lost during World War II.
Murmansk was a light cruiser project no. 68-bis of the Soviet and later the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.
Molotov was a Project 26bis Kirov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy that served during World War II and into the Cold War. She supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Sevastopol, the Kerch-Feodosiya Operation and the amphibious landings at Novorossiysk at the end of January 1943.
Mikhail Kutuzov is a Project 68bis light cruiser of the Soviet and later the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet.
RI Irian (201), previously named Ordzhonikidze was a Sverdlov-class cruiser, Soviet designation "Project 68bis", of the Soviet Navy that was acquired by Indonesian Navy in the 1960s.
Sverdlov was the lead ship of the Sverdlov-class cruisers of the Soviet Navy. The ship was constructed at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad, Soviet Union and was launched on 5 July 1950. The cruiser was commissioned on 15 May 1952. The lead ship of the last class of gun cruisers of the Soviet Navy, Sverdlov spent most of her career making ceremonial port visits to allied and non-allied nations. From 1966 to 1972, the vessel was laid up out of service, only operating again before being laid up again in 1977. In 1989 the ship was disarmed and sold for scrap to an Indian company and broken up in 1993.
Zhdanov was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of Soviet Navy.
Admiral Ushakov was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Aleksandr Suvorov was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of Soviet Navy.
Admiral Senyavin was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Dmitry Pozharsky was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Aleksandr Nevsky was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Dzerzhinsky was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Admiral Nakhimov was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy.
Molotovsk was a Sverdlov-class cruiser of the Soviet Navy which was later renamed Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya.
Soviet Union
