History of the Kronshtadt Class

The Soviet Union again started battlecruiser construction in the late 1930s, and a preliminary design for a battlecruiser (Project 69) primarily intended to engage 10,000-ton 'treaty cruisers' was presented to the Soviet government in July, 1938. The vessel would have a displacement of 22,637 tons, a main battery of 9 * 10-inch guns, a speed of 33 knots, and an armored belt of just 5.5 inches. Upon review, this design was found to be inadequate, and naval authorities were directed to design vessels that were equivalent in size, protection, and striking power to the German Scharnhorst Class vessels. Two vessels were laid down in 1939, when the design was not yet complete.
The final design was approved in April, 1940. But even after construction started, the Russians continued to propose redesigns with heavier armament. The hulls were constructed with large open spaces where the barbettes would go, so as to not lock in the main battery size until the last possible moment. A plan may have included the use of the 14' guns originally manufactured for the Izmail class vessels, and German-manufactured triple turrets of 11.1-inch guns, as used on the Scharnhorst class, were a serious option for some time. But in the end twin 15" turrets were ordered from Germany, and the design became Project 69-I. These weapons were never delivered, as they were not yet completed when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.
Work on both battlecruisers had been of secondary importance to the Sovetskii Soyuz class battleships, and an Italian engineer, assisting the shipyard with the construction of the Chapaev class cruisers, reported that work on Kronshtadt was already stopped in February 1940, due to the Soviet's inability to deliver 14,000 tons of steel plate. The vessels were so incomplete that they were unrecognizable to the invading Germans, who interpreted the absence of barbettes to mean that the ships were aircraft carriers. Both vessels were cancelled, with Sevastopol being broken up on the slipway by the Germans, and the incomplete Kronshtadt being used for weapons testing in 1950.

Fates:

Kronshtadt - Partially cannibalised in 1941, when 12% complete.
Some construction resumed after war, incomplete hull used for weapons tests in 1950.

Sevastopol - Captured by invading Germans when 12% complete,
destroyed on slipway before recapture by Russians, broken up on slip post-war.

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