The Russian Gangut Class battleship Poltava was laid down in July of 1909, launched
in July 1911, and completed in December 1914.
She was 23,400 tons, 600 feet overall by
87 feet of beam, and had the same four triple-turret
layout as the Italian Dante Alighieri. At 24 knots, the class was rather fast
for their day, but the long completion times
made the class obsolete even as they entered
service. Poltava led a rather uneventfull life, patroling
the Gulf of Finland in WWI. In 1918 she was
laid up, and caught fire sometime in 1919.
In 1920, she was renamed Mikhail Frunze, which was shortened to Frunze sometime later.
In 1922, the ship caught fire again in the
Neva River, and was beached to avoid her
loss. This fire was devastating, and the
ship was a total loss. Her main turrets were
removed, and all other armament was salvaged.
The hull was refloated, and was used as an
experimental hulk. In 1928, thought was first
given to rebuilding the vessel, and returning
her to service. Some work appears to have
been started on the repairs.
In the 1930s, the Soviets began to plan for
an expansion of their navy. The inability
to domestically manufacture heavy guns and
armor was a major stumbling block, so plans
were drawn up to convert the hulk of the
Frunze into a modern battlecruiser. The hull still
had its original armor belt, and the turrets
and guns were still on hand, so construction
could commence much sooner than a scratch-built
design.
In 1933, two variants were drawn up, Version A and Version B. They differed visually, with Version A
having all the boiler uptakes trunked into
one funnel, but they had the same specifications.
Plans are from the Russian language magazine Gangut. Special thanks to Vladimir Yakubov.
| Laid down N/A |
Launched N/A |
Completed N/A |
Commissioned N/A |
| Fate Project abandoned |
Builders N/A |
Complement N/A |
|
| Displacement 27,000 tons standard |
Dimensions 613 ' x 92' Approx |
Draught 29.5' Approx |
|
| Main guns 9 x 12"/52cal (3 x 3) |
Secondary guns 16 x 5.1" (16 x 1) |
Light guns 8 x 100mm AA (8 x 1) 6 x 45mm (6 x 1) |
Torpedo tubes none |
| Armour Belt: 11" Turrets: 12" Deck: 3"+ 1.4" C.T.: 10" |
|||
| Machinery Raymondo Montecucolli Type |
Turbines 4 x steam |
Power output 120,000 shp |
Shafts 4 |
| Speed 27 kts |
Range N/A |
Fuel oil capacity unknown |
|
Soon after these plans were drawn up, the USSR and Italy entered into an agreement which provided the Italian design firm of Ansaldo with contracts to build warships and merchant ships, and allowed the Italian government to purchase Soviet grain, ore, and fuel. Work soon began on an Italian designed battleship, and work was stopped soon afterwards on this conversion project. Perhaps the project was deemed to be economically unrealistic, resources were not sufficient for both projects, or perhaps the availability of Italian guns and armor made the conversion less attractive. For whatever reason, the Frunze was converted into a barracks ship, with all usable parts being stripped to provide spares for her three sisters, and she was eventually scuttled as a blockship in 1941. The hulk was raised in 1944, but not broken up until 1956. Two of the turrets were installed as Coast Artillery Battery No 981 in the mid 1930s, on a Russian Island near Vladivostok. The other two were kept in storage at Leningrad, until were installed at Sevastopol after the war. Both batteries remained in operation until 1996, and are still in place today as museums.
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