One was cancelled in 1940 because of poor workmanship.
The Soviet Union laid down four of the intended 16 battleships between 19, parceling out construction between Leningrad, Nikolayev (on the Black Sea) and Molotovsk (on the White Sea).
This made them competitive in size with the most powerful battleships in the world, although inexperience and shoddy Soviet construction practice would likely have rendered them troublesome in battle. The Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships spearheaded an ambitious acquisition plan, which also included battlecruisers and aircraft carriers.īased loosely on the Italian Littorio class, the Sovetsky Soyuzs would displace approximately 60,000 tons, carry nine 16-inch guns, and make 28 knots.
After the Russo-Japanese War, however, Russian shipbuilding fell steadily behind the West, and the revolution disrupted both the industry and the navy itself.īy the late 1930s, the Soviet economy had recovered to the point that Stalin could seriously consider a program of naval construction.
