![]() The largest warships built in the Soviet Union prior to 1938 were the 8,000-metric-ton Kirov-class cruisers and even they had suffered from a number of production problems, but the Soviet leadership preferred to ignore the industrial difficulties when making their plans. The Soviet shipbuilding and related industries proved to be incapable of supporting the construction of the four Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships as well as the two Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers at the same time. Stalin's naval construction program was more ambitious than the shipbuilding and armaments industries could handle. These ships had a complex and prolonged design process which was hampered by constantly changing requirements and the Great Purge in 1937.Ī total of sixteen ships were planned in the 1939 building program, but this was scaled back to four in July 1940 and two in October 1940 when it became clear just how unprepared the Soviets were for any large-scale naval construction program. Two ships were started but none were completed due to World War II. The Kronshtadt-class battlecruisers, with the Soviet designation as Project 69 heavy cruisers, were ordered for the Soviet Navy in 1939. ![]() ![]() This is a 3D printed sculpt of the Kronshtadt class battlecruiser by EBard Models. ![]()
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