Soviet cruiser Krasnyi Kavkaz Krasnyi Kavkaz ( from Russian : " Красный Кавказ " - " Red Caucasus " ) was a cruiser of the Soviet Navy that began construction during World War I , but was still incomplete during the Russian Revolution . Her design was heavily modified by the Soviets and she was completed in 1932 . During World War II she supported Soviet troops during the Siege of Odessa , Siege of Sevastopol , and the Kerch - Feodosiya Operation in the winter of 1941 — 42 . She was awarded the Guards title on 3 April 1942 . She was reclassified as a training ship in May 1947 before being used as a target in 1952 . Service history . Laid down on 18 October 1913 at the Rossud Dockyard as " Admiral Lazarev " for the Imperial Russian Navy as a cruiser of the , she was launched on 8 June 1916 . Construction was abandoned in 1917 during the October Revolution when the ship was 63 % complete . In the second half of 1918 , the Marine Department of Hetman Pavlo Skoropadskyi was engaged in completion of ship . On 25 January 1919 , the ship was formally renamed in " Hetman Petro Doroshenko " , but Mykolaiv was captured shortly afterward by the Entente . The hull was relatively undamaged and the Soviets decided to finish the ship to a modified design . She was renamed " Krasnyi Kavkaz " on 14 December 1926 , and completed to a modernized design , being commissioned on 25 January 1932 . " Krasnyi Kavkaz " was initially intended to accommodate eight guns in four twin turret s , but this was impossible given her small and lightly constructed hull . Three twin turrets mounting the new 57 - caliber " B - 1 - K " gun under development also proved impracticable and the Soviets had to settle for four " MK - 1 - 180 " single 180 mm gun turrets , two at each end . Her superstructure was massively revised to fit these turrets and all of the original casemate d / 55 B7 Pattern 1913 guns were removed . As completed her secondary armament was only four 30 - caliber 76 . 2 mm " Lender " AA guns mounted between her funnels . Her original internal torpedo tubes were replaced by four triple torpedo mounts mounted on each side of the main deck abaft the forecastle break . She was given an aircraft - handling crane , but a catapult wasn ' t installed aft of her rear funnel until 1935 when a Heinkel catapult was imported from Germany . She was also fitted for mine rails with a capacity of up to 120 mines . The " Komintern " collided with her in May 1932 , shortly after her commissioning , and badly damaged her bow . It was extensively rebuilt and increased her overall length by over . In 1933 she made port visits in Turkey , Greece and Italy . She was refitted before Operation Barbarossa , probably about 1940 , her catapult was removed , and her anti - aircraft armament was greatly increased . Her four 76 . 2 mm Lender AA guns were exchanged for four Italian " Minizini " twin gun 50 - caliber AA mounts and she received four single mounts for the semi - automatic 76 . 2 mm 34 - K were fitted as well as six AA machine guns . Two single mounts for " 34 - K " guns were also fitted , one on each side of the quarterdeck just aft of the rearmost main gun turret . Some of these guns may have been received earlier , the sources are unclear . While under repair at Poti in late 1942 she landed her aft pair of torpedo tubes and received two more " Minizini " mounts salvaged from the sunken " Chervona Ukraina " . Ten single mounts for the naval version of the 37 mm AA gun was also fitted . By 1944 she was also carrying one quadruple Vickers . 50 machine gun MK III mount on top of each of her superfiring main gun turrets and she may have been using Oerlikon 20 mm cannon . World War II . " Krasnyi Kavkaz " , in company with the cruisers " Chervona Ukraina " , " Komintern " and a number of destroyers , laid down a defensive mine barrage protecting the Black Sea Fleet base at Sevastopol on 22 June . She provided gunfire support to Soviet forces defending Odessa and escorted convoys bringing the 157th Rifle Division into Odessa during the month of September 1941 . She also transported one battalion of the 3rd Marine Regiment from Sevastopol in a successful amphibious assault behind Romanian lines to destroy Romanian coastal batteries near Fontanka and Dofinovka . She escorted convoys from 3 — 6 October that evacuated the 157th Rifle Division from Odessa to Sevastopol and escorted the final evacuation convoy during the night of 15 – 16 October . During the Siege of Sevastopol she provided gunfire support and evacuated cut - off troops from elsewhere in the Crimea into Sevastopol and brought in reinforcements from Caucasian ports . She helped to transport the 388th Rifle Division from Novorossiysk and Tuapse to Sevastopol between 7 and 13 December and the 354th Rifle Division between 21 and 22 December , bombarding German positions in the interim . During the Kerch - Feodosiya Operation " Krasnyi Kavkaz " sailed into the harbor of Feodosiya on 29 December 1941 and disembarked reinforcements and provided gunfire support for Soviet troops already ashore . She was hit seventeen times by Axis artillery and mortar fire in retaliation . On 1 and 3 January she ferried supplies and reinforcements for the Soviet bridgehead on the Kerch Peninsula . On the return voyage she was severely damaged by German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive - bomber s from II . / StG 77 . Four near - misses close to her stern damaged her steering , her left propeller shaft , blew off one propeller and put enough holes in her stern that flooding caused her draft to increase by . She made it to Novorossiysk , escorted by the destroyer " Sposobnyi " , where she was patched up enough to make to Poti where more permanent repairs could be made . These took until October 1942 and the opportunity was taken to reinforce her anti - aircraft armament . She was awarded the Guards title on 3 April in recognition of her performance . Between 20 and 23 October , " Krasnyi Kavkaz " , her half - sister " Krasnyi Krym " , and three destroyers ferried 12 , 600 men of the 8th , 9th and 10th Guards Rifle Brigades from Poti to Tuapse to reinforce the defenses there . On the night of 4 February 1943 the Soviets made a series of amphibious landings to the west of Novorossiysk , behind German lines . " Krasnyi Krym " , " Krasnyi Kavkaz " , and three destroyers provided fire support for the main landing , but the Soviet troops there were wiped out by 6 February , although one secondary landing was successful . The loss of three destroyers attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead on 6 October 1943 caused Stalin to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission and this meant the end of " Krasnyi Kavkaz " s active participation in the war . Post - war history . Little is known about her activities after the end of the war other than she was redesignated as a training ship on 12 May 1947 . She was sunk as a target ship by SS - N - 1 missiles on 21 November 1952 .