They were laid down in 1939, with an estimated completion date in 1944, but Stalin's naval construction program was more ambitious than the shipbuilding and armaments industries could handle. Prototypes of the armament and machinery had not even been completed by 22 June 1941, almost two years after the start of construction. This is why the Soviets bought twelve surplus &lt;a href="38%20cm%20SK%20C/34%20naval%20gun"&gt;SK C/34 guns&lt;/a&gt;, and their twin turrets, similar to those used in the s, from Germany in 1940. The ships were partially redesigned to accommodate them, after construction had already begun, but no turrets were actually delivered before Germany invaded the following year.