SOVIET NAVY (USSR)

Project history: Built under 1933-1938 Naval shipbuilding programme. Italian destroyer Maestrale served as prototype, from her arrangement and construction of machinery, in particular, was borrowed. The project 7 has been approved in December, 1934. Mass building of a class has begun in 1935, 53 ships were laid down, thus ships intended for Pacific, were laid down in Nikolaev and transported in the taken apart kind to the Far East for completion.
    As a whole rather successful ships, ensured to the Soviet Navy an exit on qualitatively new level. Thanks to a linear arrangement of machinery, allowed to deduce smoke ducts of all boilers into one wide and stocky funnel, ships possessed a graceful prompt outline profile. The hull was gathered under the mixed scheme: longitudinal amidships and cross-section at ship ends. As has shown operating experience, in places of transition from one system to another there were the raised stresses leading to rends and even a brake-off of the ships ends. Ships shown high speed qualities: on trials lead Gnevny reached 39.37kts at 53100hp and Ryany in 1945 shown 39.4kts at 56500hp. However an endurance was appeared significantly below than designed.
    In total on project 7 29 ships have been built; 18 more were completed under project 7u, and 6 hulls were taken apart on slipways. Reshitelny (i) under tow to Vladivostok 8.11.1938 has been wrecked by a storm on rocks S off Soviet Harbour.

Modernizations: 1941, Gremyashchiy, Groznyy, Gromkiy, Sokrushitelnyy: + 2 x 1 - 37/63 70K

1942 - 1944, all survived: + 2 DCT (67 DC at all), type 128 sonar

early 1942, Ryanyy, Steregushchiy, Rastoropnyy, Rezvyy, Razyashchiy, Rekordnyy, Reshitelnyy, Retivyy, Razumnyy, Revnostnyy, Raz`yaryonnyy: - 2 x 1 - 45/43 + 3 x 1 - 37/63 70K, 2 x 1 - 12.7/79

1942, Bodryy, Bystryy, Boykiy, Bezuprechnyy, Besposhchadnyy, Bditelnyy, Grozyashchiy: - 2 x 1 - 45/43; + 3 x 1 - 37/63 70K

1942, Gremyashchiy, Groznyy, Sokrushitelnyy; 1943, Gromkiy: - 2 x 1 - 45/43; + 2 x 1 - 37/63 70K, 2 x 2 - 12.7/90, type 286M radar

1942 - 1943, all survived except Rezkiy and Redkiy: + 2 DCT (30 - 40 at all)

1943, Razumnyy, Raz`yaryonnyy: - 2 x 1 - 45/43; + 4 x 1 - 37/63 70K, 2 x 2 - 12.7/90, type 286M radar

1943, Boykiy; 1944, Bodryy: + 2 x 1 - 37/63 70K, 2 x 2 - 12.7/90

1943, Grozyashchiy: + 1 x 1 - 76/52 34K, 1 x 1 - 37/63 70K, 1 x 1 - 20/70 Oerlikon Mk IV, 1 x 2 - 12.7/90

1944, Grozyashchiy: - 1 x 1 - 20/70; + 2 x 1 - 37/63 70K

1945, Ryanyy, Rastoropnyy, Rezvyy, Razyashchiy, Rekordnyy, Reshitelnyy, Retivyy, Revnostnyy, Rezkiy, Redkiy: + (1 - 2) x 1 - 37/63 70K, 2 x 1 - 12.7/79, type 291 radar

1949, Gremyashchiy, Ryanyy; 1950, Razyashchiy; 1951, Rastoropnyy; 1952, Rekordnyy, Revnostnyy; 1953, Reshitelnyy; 1954, Groznyy, Retivyy; 1955, Rezkiy; 1956, Gromkiy, Redkiy; 1957, Razumnyy: all were armed with 4 x 1 - 130/51 B-13, 4 x 2 - 37/70 V-11, 2 x 3 - 533 TT, 2 DCT, 2 DCR (67), 60 mines, Giuys-1, Rif-1, Vympel-2 radars, Tamir-5N sonar; standard displacement was 1900 t, max speed was 34 - 35kts.

Naval service: To the beginning of Great Patriotic War Gnevny, Gordy, Grozyashchiy, Smetlivy and Steregushchiy served on Baltic; Gremyashchiy, Grozny, Gromkiy, Sokrushitelny and Stremitelny on the North; Bditelny, Bezuprechny, Besposhchadny, Bodry, Boykiy and Bystry on the Black Sea; remaining ships on Pacific, but Razumny and Razyaryonny in 1942 passed to the Northern Fleet.

   Gnevny 23.6.1941 was lost on German mine in the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. Smetlivy and Gordy were lost on German mines in Gulf of Finland during evacuation of Hanko 5.11.1941 and 14.11.1941 respectively. Steregushchiy 21.9.1941 was sunk by German aircraft at Peterhof; salvaged 20.7.1944, re-commissioned in 1945, but ultimately repaired only in 1948.
   Stremitelny 20.7.1941 was sunk by German aircraft at Polyarny. Sokrushitelny 20.11.1942 was broken apart during a storm in Barents Sea; 22.11.1942 she was left by salvaging ships; the exact place and loss time are unknown.
   Bystry 1.7.1941 was stricken by ground mine at Sevastopol and sunk; she was salvaged 13.7.1941, 30.8.1941 towed off to Kilen-bay where ultimately sunk by German aircraft. Bezuprechny 26.6.1942 was sunk by German aircraft S of Crimea. Bditelny 2.7.1942 was sunk by German aircraft at Novorossiysk. Besposhchadny 6.10.1943 was sunk by German aircraft S of Yalta.

Gromkiy 1940s

Gromkiy 1945

Bditelnyy 1941

© Ivan Gogin, 2009-15