Ognevoy-class destroyer

The Ognevoy-class destroyers consisted of 26 destroyers built for the Soviet Navy during and immediately after World War II. The official Soviet designation was Project 30 and Project 30K. Construction was disrupted by the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) and many ships were cancelled or scrapped. Only a single ship was completed during the war and the other 10 were finished in 1947–1950.

Ognevoy at Sevastopol on 1 May 1947
Class overview
NameOgnevoy class (Project 30)
Operators
Preceded bySoobrazitelnyy class
Succeeded bySkory class
SubclassesProject 30, Project 30K
Built1938–1948
In service1945–1966
Planned24
Completed11
Cancelled13
Scrapped11
General characteristics (Project 30K)
TypeDestroyer
Displacement2,125 t (2,091 long tons) (standard)
Length117 m (383 ft 10 in) (o/a)
Beam11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught4.25 m (13 ft 11 in)
Installed power
Propulsion2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Range2,950 nmi (5,460 km; 3,390 mi) at 16.9 knots (31.3 km/h; 19.4 mph)
Complement20 officers and 281 crewmen
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Gyuis-1b, Ryf-1 radars
  • Vympel-2 gunnery radar
  • Tamir-5N sonar
Armament

The Type 7 destroyers proved to have a less than adequate seaworthiness for Soviet conditions. The Soviets decided to build a larger ship with main armament in enclosed turrets. These ships proved popular with the Soviet Navy and formed the basis for the post-war Skory class or Project 30bis.

Design edit

The specification (TTZ in Russian) for these ships was issued by the Naval staff in November 1937. The design work was done by Zhdanov Yard in Leningrad under the leadership of A. Yunovidova and approved by the government in 1939.

Hull strength was significantly increased and the hull was enlarged compared to the Project 7 ships. Longitudinal framing was used and hull plating was thicker than the Project 7 ships. Hull height was increased giving extra free board.

The machinery consisted of two boiler rooms and two engine rooms similar to the Project 7U destroyers but in less cramped spaces. Electricity generation capacity was increased to two 100 kW (130 hp) plants and two 50 kW (67 hp) plants. An alternative design Project 30A using super-heated high pressure machinery based on American designs was projected but not built.

The armament was housed in two enclosed splinter-proof and weatherproof turrets in 'A' and 'Y' positions. This was a significant advance over the open mountings used in the Project 7 ships. The B-2LM turrets were introduced in the Tashkent class and proven successful in service but had no anti-aircraft capability. Anti-aircraft armament comprised two 85 mm (3.3 in) guns in a twin mounting in 'X' position and six 37 mm (1.5 in) guns in single mountings. The ships also carried two sets of quadruple torpedo tubes and 50 mines.

The ships were fitted with air warning, surface search and gunnery control radars and sonar after the war.

Ships edit

24 ships were ordered in 1938–1940 but the programme was disrupted by the German invasion in 1941. The ships being built in Nikolayev were demolished before launch or evacuated incomplete while those built in other yards were suspended for the duration of the conflict. Some of the intact ships were completed after the war to a modified design (K for korrektirovany – corrected).

Construction data
Ship Builder[1] Laid down[1] Launched[1] Commissioned[1] Fate[1]
Project 30
Ognevoy (Огневой, Fiery) Shipyard No. 200 (61 Communards), Nikolayev 20 November 1939 12 November 1940 22 March 1945 Struck, 1960s
Organizovanny (Организованный, Organized) Shipyard No. 189 (Sergo Ordzhonikidze), Leningrad 21 March 1941 Suspended 20 June 1941, bow removed September 1943 to repair badly damaged Project 7U destroyer Storozhevoy
Project 30-K
Ozornoy (Озорной, Mischievous) Shipyard No. 200 (61 Communards), Nikolayev 20 November 1939 25 December 1940 9 January 1949 Transferred to the Bulgarian Navy, 25 March 1950 as Georgi Dimitrov, scrapped 1963
Otverzhdyonny (Отверждённый, cast out) Sevastapol Navy dockyard 1947 Not completed
Osmotritelny (Осмотрительный, Observant) Shipyard No. 189 (Sergo Ordzhonikidze), Leningrad 5 May 1940 24 August 1947 29 September 1947 Struck, 1966
Otlichny (Отличный, Excellent) Shipyard No. 190 (Zhdanov), Leningrad 2 December 1939 7 May 1947 30 October 1948 Struck, 1966
Obraztsovy (Образцовый, Exemplary) 30 July 1947 29 December 1949 Struck, 20 June 1971
Otvazhny (Отважный, Courageous) 30 July 1940 2 January 1948 2 March 1950 Struck, 1966
Odaryonny (Одарённый, Gifted) 30 December 1939 27 December 1948 28 June 1950 Struck, 1965
Stalin (Сталин) Shipyard No. 402, Molotovsk 25 June 1940 19 July 1947 29 September 1949 scrapped in the 1960s
Osmotritelny 5 May 1940 24 August 1947 Struck, 1966
Vnushitelny (Внушительный, Imposing) Shipyard No. 199, Komsomolsk-on-Amur 16 December 1940 14 May 1947 29 December 1947 Struck, 1960
Vlastny (Властный, Powerful) 29 October 1940 15 June 1948 27 December 1948 Struck, 30 August 1960
Vynoslivy (Выносливый, Hardy) 17 November 1947 5 December 1948

Service history edit

Ognevoy's hull was towed to Poti, Georgia; her turrets were salvaged from the wreck of the destroyer Tashkent.

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Pavlov, p. 6

Sources edit

  • Berezhnoy, S.S. (January 1995). "Советский ВМФ 1945-1995: крейсера, большие противолодочные корабли, эсминцы" [Soviet Navy, 1945–1995: Cruisers, large anti-submarine ships, and destroyers]. Морская коллекция [Morskaya kollektsiya] (in Russian) (1).
  • Budzbon, Przemysław (1980). "Soviet Union". In Chesneau, Roger (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 318–346. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
  • Budzbon, Przemysław; Radziemski, Jan & Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Vol. I: Major Combatants. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-877-6.
  • Friedman, Norman (1995). "Soviet Union 1947–1991: Russian Federation and Successor States 1991–". In Chumbley, Stephen (ed.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. pp. 337–426. ISBN 978-1-55750-132-5.
  • Erikson, Rolf; Frampton, Viktor; Freivogel, Zvonimir & Wright, Christopher C. (1998). "Question 34/97: Soviet Ognevoi-Class Destroyers". Warship International. XXXV (3): 315–317. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Pavlov, A. S. (1997). Warships of the USSR and Russia 1945–1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-671-X.
  • Rohwer, Jürgen & Monakov, Mikhail S. (2001). Stalin's Ocean-Going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs 1935–1953. London: Frank Cass. ISBN 0-7146-4895-7.
  • Westwood, J. N. (1994). Russian Naval Construction, 1905–45. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0-333-55553-8.
  • Whitley, M. J. (2000). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 1-85409-521-8.