Stalingard Class Battlecruiser

The Stalingrad-class battlecruiser, also known in the Soviet Union as Project 82 (Russian:Тяжёлые крейсера проекта 82), was battlecruiser design that began construction after World War II. Based on pre-war designs they would have been the last large-gun ships of the Soviet Navy. They were intended to operate along with the Sverdlov-class cruisers and aircraft carriers to make up powerful task forces, with the cruisers and battlecruisers providing protection for the carriers when bad weather prevented flying. Another envisioned role was to break up attacks by Royal Navy fast cruiser forces who might attempt bombardment of Russia's northern ports.
The design had a lengthy design history dating into the early 1940s, but the resources needed to build them did not become available until the early 1950s. A series of at least four were planned, and the Stalingrad finally began construction in 1951. Supported primarily by Joseph Stalin and opposed by a considerable part of the naval staff, the project came to an abrupt end with Stalin's death in 1953. By this time a second example was under construction and abandoned on the slips, while a third never started. The partially completed Stalingrad ended as a target ship for testing anti-ship missiles, before being broken up around 1962.
Category:Soviet Navy
Category:Battlecruisers