Design
Following the October Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War, Soviet industry was not capable of designing large, complex warships by itself and sought foreign assistance. The Ansaldo company provided plans for the contemporary Raimondo Montecuccoli-class cruisers and a design displacing 7,200 tonnes (7,086 long tons) and armed with six 180-millimetre (7.1 in) guns in twin turrets was produced in 1933. The Italians guaranteed that the cruiser could make 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph) on trials if the size was kept under the 7200-tonne limit. The designer of the new turret managed to persuade his superiors that he could fit triple turrets to the ship while keeping it within the specified limit, and this design was approved in November 1934 as the Project 26.
The Soviets bought an example of, and plans for, the machinery of the later Duca d'Aosta class cruisers and had some difficulty in adapting the smaller hull for the larger and more powerful machinery, so much so that it delayed the start of construction. Another problem was that the Italian design had to be adapted to use the Soviet preference for a mix of longitudinal framing for the hull framing amidships and transverse framing for the ends while also reinforcing the hull structure to withstand the more severe weather conditions that the Soviets commonly encountered.
The Kirovs were built in pairs, each pair incorporating some improvements over the earlier pair. These pairs were designated as the Project 26, Project 26bis, and Project 26bis2 in sequence. The differences between pairs usually related to size, armor, armament and aircraft.
Read more about this topic: Kirov Class Cruiser
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