Kotovsky

Ballistics

Armor Model

Overview

In the early 1930s, the USSR, as part of rebuilding its fleet, began developing contacts with Italy within the framework of naval cooperation. In April 1932, the first operational-tactical requirement for a light cruiser project was approved. In the summer of the same year, a Soviet commission was sent to Italy, tasked with familiarizing itself with the Italian shipbuilding industry, selecting a prototype for the Soviet cruiser, and purchasing a boiler-turbine power plant with a capacity of 100–120 thousand hp. The choice fell on the cruiser Raimondo Montecuccoli, and the commission proposed purchasing the theoretical blueprint and power plant of this ship. In March 1933, a revised version of the operational-technical requirement was ready, and in April, the preliminary design of the 'cruiser with a displacement of 6,630 t' was approved, one variant of which envisaged armament of eight 152 mm guns. During further development, Project 26 cruisers emerged.