Soviet cruiser Molotov Molotov ( ) was a Project 26bis 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 . The ship was extensively modernized between 1952 and 1955 . She was renamed " Slava " ( , " Glory " ) in 1957 after Vyacheslav Molotov fell out of favour . " Slava " was reclassified as a training ship in 1961 before being sold for scrap in 1972 . Description . " Molotov " and her sister " Maxim Gorky " had heavier armor and were slightly improved from the first two " Kirov " - class cruisers of Project 26 , and were thus designated Project 26bis . She was long at the waterline , long overall , with a beam of and a draft between . She displaced at standard load and at full load . Her steam turbines produced a total of during her sea trials , reaching a maximum speed of , just shy of her designed speed of 37 knots , mainly because she was overweight by . " Molotov " normally carried of fuel oil , at full load and at overload . This gave her a range of at . " Molotov " carried nine 57 - calibre B - 1 - P guns in three electrically powered MK - 3 - 180 triple turrets . Her secondary armament consisted of nine single 56 - calibre B - 34 anti - aircraft guns fitted on each side of the rear funnel . Her light AA guns consisted of six semi - automatic 21 - K AA guns and four DK machine guns . Six 39 - Yu torpedo tubes were fitted in two triple mountings . " Molotov " was the first Soviet ship to carry radar , a Redut - K air warning system , which she used for the entire war . Soviet - designed Mars - 1 gunnery radar systems were added by 1944 . Wartime modifications . By 1943 three of " Molotov ' s " 45 mm semi - automatic guns were replaced with twelve fully automatic 70 - K AA guns with one thousand rounds per gun and two extra DK machine guns . Her aircraft catapult was removed in 1942 to make room for more light AA guns . In 1943 an improved ZK - 1a catapult was fitted and successfully test - launched a Supermarine Spitfire fighter . However , in 1947 the concept was abanonded and the catapult was removed . World War II . " Molotov " was laid down at the Marti South , Nikolayev on 14 January 1937 , launched on 4 December 1939 and was completed on 14 June 1941 . As the only ship in the Soviet Navy with radar " Molotov " remained in Sevastopol for the initial period of Operation Barbarossa to provide air warning . The advance of German troops into the Crimea in late October 1941 forced her to transfer to Tuapse where she continued to provide air warning . However , the ship did bombard German troops near Feodosiya with nearly 200 180 mm shells on 9 November before returning to Tuapse . " Molotov " helped to carry the 386th Rifle Division from Poti to Sevastopol between 24 and 28 December 1941 . While off - loading troops on 29 December her stern was damaged by German artillery and she shelled Axis positions in retaliation , firing 205 180 mm and 107 100 mm shells . The ship evacuated 600 wounded upon her departure on 30 December . " Molotov " reprised her role as a transport during the first week of January . Her bow was damaged during a heavy storm in Tuapse when she was thrown against the jetty on 21 – 22 January 1942 . The ship spent most of the next month under repair , although her bow could not be straightened ; the residual damage reduced her speed by several knots . She made a number of bombardment sorties in support of Soviet troops on the Kerch Peninsula until 20 March when she returned to Poti for more permanent repairs . On 12 June " Molotov " transported 2998 men of the 138th Rifle Brigade to Sevastopol , shelling German positions while unloading . She evacuated 1065 wounded and 350 women and children as she departed . On 14 – 15 June the ship returned , carrying 3855 reinforcements in company with other ships , bombarded German positions again , and evacuated 2908 wounded and refugees . On 2 August , while returning from another bombardment mission near Feodosiya , of her stern was blown off by Heinkel He 111 torpedo bombers of 6 . / KG 26 acting in concert with Italian MAS torpedo boats . The damage reduced her speed to and " Molotov " had to be steered by her engines . " Molotov " was under repair at Poti until 31 July 1943 and used the stern of the incomplete " Frunze " , the rudder of the incomplete cruiser " Zheleznyakov " , the steering gear from the cruiser and the steering sensor from the submarine . The loss of three destroyers to German air attack on 6 October 1943 resulted in Stalin ' s order that forbade the deployment of large naval units without his express permission ; this meant the end of " Molotov " s active participation in the war . Postwar career . " Molotov " was refitted in November 1945 to repair the last of her wartime damage . She suffered a fire in the shell handling room for Turret # 2 on 5 October 1946 that had to be extinguished by flooding the magazine and handling room at the cost of 22 dead and 20 wounded . The ship served as the test bed for the radars intended for the and s during the late 1940s . " Molotov " s postwar modernization began in 1952 and lasted until 28 January 1955 . As part of this modernization " Molotov " received a radar suite composed of Gyuys for air search , Rif for surface search , Zalp for main - armament gunnery and Yakor ' for anti - aircraft gunnery . All of her light anti - aircraft guns were replaced by eleven twin gun water - cooled 37 mm V - 11 mounts and her 100 mm guns were reinstalled on fully powered B - 34USMA mountings . Her anti - aircraft fire - control system was replaced by a Zenit - 26 with SPN - 500 stabilized director s . In addition she lost her torpedo tubes , anti - submarine weapons , boat cranes and all remaining aircraft equipment . This cost 200 million rubles , between half and three - quarters the cost of a new Project 68bis . On 29 October 1955 the ship participated in rescue efforts after an explosion sank the ex - Italian battleship " Novorossiysk " . Five of her own men were lost when the battleship capsize d almost three hours after the explosion . She was renamed " Slava " on 3 August 1957 after Vyacheslav Molotov was purged from the government after an unsuccessful coup against Nikita Khrushchev that same year . She was reclassified as a training cruiser on 3 August 1961 . " Slava " was deployed to the Mediterranean between 5 – 30 June 1967 to show Soviet support of Syria during the Six - Day War . She returned to the Mediterranean between September – December 1970 where the ship assisted the Kotlin - class destroyer " Bravyi " after the latter ' s collision with the aircraft carrier on 9 November 1970 . " Slava " was sold for scrap on 4 April 1972 .