The October Revolution cruiser of the USSR Navy of the USSR was built according to the project 68 bis, almost immediately after the Great Patriotic War and entered service in 1954. It should be noted that from the moment of laying the 402 plant in Molotovsk (today's name Severodvinsk) to the completion of all tests and transfer to the fleet, just over 2 years have passed, which contrasts sharply with the state of affairs in the modern shipbuilding industry. In the photo below, Molotovsk in the early 50s.
Cruiser Name
The cruiser “October Revolution” belonged to the type of light cruisers and at first, until 1957, was called “Molotovsk”, in honor of the city where it was built, and only then it was renamed. The hymn of this warship mentions that he is the heir to the legendary battleship of the same name, who took an active part in the defense of Leningrad, and the foreman Ivan Tombasov , who accomplished the feat and saved the battleship from destruction during the fighting, was forever enlisted in the personnel of the cruiser under number one.
Battleship "October Revolution"
It was built before the revolution, during the period of the restoration of the Russian navy after the defeat at Tsushima in the Russo-Japanese war. By the way, the cruiser Aurora, the October Revolution symbol, also took part in this battle.
The battleship was named "Gangut" in honor of the first victory of the Russian regular fleet led by Peter the Great over the Swedish squadron in 1714 in the vicinity of Cape Gangut of the Hakko Peninsula (present-day Finland).
During the Second World War, the battleship, renamed the "October Revolution," made a significant contribution to the defense of Leningrad with the fire of its large-caliber guns. Most of his crew was directly involved in the fighting on the outskirts of the city. The battleship was subjected to numerous bombardments, was even partially flooded, but did not cease fire on the enemy. Numerous casualties and the stubborn heroic struggle of the ship and its crew were repeatedly marked with awards and honorary titles.
Design of the ship and its tasks
In total, 14 military ships of the class 68-bis light cruiser class were built at the shipyards of the Soviet Union, including the “October Revolution” cruiser. These warships were the last artillery ships in history, the main weapons of which were 152 mm guns, located in four towers of three guns each.
Initially, the main task of these light cruisers was to confront the fleets of a potential enemy in order to inflict sufficient damage on him and create obstacles to attack the territory of the USSR and its allies. Why, with the participation of these ships, special task forces were created that were on combat duty in the areas where NATO warships were concentrated.
However, with the advent of a new era, when various guided missile systems became the main armament, the tasks for these ships changed. Now the main thing was the provision of naval assault forces, as well as the support of their ground forces during operations under the cover of coastal aviation. In addition, the responsibilities of these cruisers also included the task of the so-called flag demonstration.
The appearance of the warship itself made an extremely strong impression. Fortunately, in the entire history of its existence, the cruiser (project 68) has not fired a single shot at the enemy, but it performed its task of preventing conflicts perfectly.
Cruiser Features
The cruiser “October Revolution” was built according to the project 68 bis, in marine circles the ships of this series were affectionately called “besyat”, according to NATO classification - “Sverdlov”. The hull of the ship is fully welded using homogeneous reservations, but with old power plants and insufficient air defense weapons, which all experts noted.
The ship was 210 meters long, 22 meters wide, and over half the football field in area. The total displacement is 16340 tons, and such a colossus could reach a maximum speed of 33 knots, or more than 60 km / h. The crew is 1270 people. In addition to the already mentioned main-caliber guns, 12 100-mm guns and 30-mm automatic guns were installed on board. By firepower it was a very serious weapon. Photo cruiser "October Revolution" in Baltiysk is presented below.
Combat service
The first years of its history, the cruiser “October Revolution”, then “Molotovsk”, began as part of the Northern Fleet and almost immediately, together with other ships, took part in testing nuclear weapons on Novaya Zemlya Island. The details of this event are still classified, but the fact itself is remarkable.
In 1956, the ship made calls at the ports of Oslo and Gothenburg. After his renaming, there were more courtesy visits to Bergen and Copenhagen. In 1960, the ship was transferred from the Northern Fleet to the Baltic. All this coincided in time with the reorganization of the Armed Forces of the country, begun by Secretary General N. S. Khrushchev, who, as you know, had a special passion for missiles. The fate of the artillery cruiser “October Revolution” in Baltiysk (photo of those times, unfortunately, is absent), these reforms affected sadly.
Three months after the transfer to the Baltic Fleet, the ship was withdrawn from the combat crew of the USSR Navy and transferred to Kronstadt, where it was put on conservation. In this captivity, the cruiser spent a long 5 years until it was mothballed and almost immediately sent for modernization to the plant in Sevastopol, where the cruiser was modified to the level of the flagship of the landing force in accordance with the new concept of its possible use.
The project was named 68-a, and according to it, in addition to the cruiser “October Revolution”, 3 more of the same cruisers were altered: “Alexander Suvorov”, “Mikhail Kutuzov” and “Admiral Ushakov”. The ship received a number of new electronic communication and control systems, as well as 8 AK-230 quick-firing systems. In the future, in addition to the “demonstration of the flag” in Cherbourg, Gdynia, Copenhagen and Rostock in the 70s, the cruiser “October Revolution” performed real combat missions.
He was almost constantly on alert, escorting ships of the 6th US Navy. In addition, twice (in 1970-1972), the ship participated in hostilities, assisting in Arab-Israeli conflicts in the Mediterranean Sea, first off the coast of Syria, and then near Egypt. The objective was to prevent US interference in these confrontations.
Everything was very serious, the command of the ship was given the task of being fully prepared for the destruction of the American task force in these areas. Fortunately, nothing happened. There is practically no information about this in the public domain, but the voltage was extremely high.
Mauritius
In the book of A. Shirokorad, “Sverdlov-type cruisers”, the participation of the cruiser “October Revolution”, or rather its crew, in assisting the state of Mauritius in 1974 is mentioned. A severe tropical hurricane passed there, causing great damage to this island nation, which gained independence from Britain. For two weeks, the cruiser’s crew participated in the restoration of damaged power lines, telephone lines and clearing rubble.
End of service
The Kursk submarine and the October Revolution were created at the same shipyard. But if the death of the "Kursk" had a serious resonance, then cutting the artillery cruiser into "needles" went almost unnoticed. In September 1987, after more than 30 years of service, the October Revolution cruiser was disarmed and expelled from the Soviet Navy for the second and last time. A year later, its cutting began on the basis of Glavvtorchermet in Leningrad.
A scandal was associated with the disposal of the ship, caused by the complaint of an Indian businessman with an English passport of Keshava Bhagata. He claimed to have purchased this cruiser for butchering in India, but then the deal did not take place, although he had allegedly already paid the money.
Like it or not, the end of the cruiser, the symbol of the October Revolution, was itself symbolic. He ended his life at the same time as the recognition of the world-historical significance of the revolution in official propaganda ended, without ever falling into the hands of an Englishman, if not an Anglo-Saxon.