The Stalingrad-class battlecruiser, also known as Project 82 (), was a Soviet battlecruiser design from 1941. It was a smaller and less-expensive counterpart to the s of 1939. The original role was for a light, fast ship intended to break up attacks by British fast-cruiser forces that might attempt bombardment of Russia's northern ports. In keeping with the battlecruiser design concept, they would have been able to outgun any ship with similar speed, or outrun anything more heavily armed. Design work had just started when the German invasion of the Soviet Union opened and the design was put on hold.
The design was reimagined in 1944, intended to operate along with the s and proposed aircraft carriers to make up powerful task forces able to challenge the American fleet. In this role it would need to be a more powerful ship than the original design, taking over for the now-cancelled Kronstadts. They were intended to fend off enemy attacks and protect the carriers when bad weather prevented flying. A series of four were ordered, and Stalingrad finally began construction in 1951.
Supported primarily by Joseph Stalin and opposed by a considerable part of the naval staff, the project came to an abrupt end with Stalin's death in 1953. By this time second and third examples were under construction and abandoned on the slipway, while a fourth was never started. The partially completed Stalingrad ended as a target ship for testing anti-ship missiles, before being broken up around 1962.
Background and genesis
The roots of the Project 82-class began back in May 1941 when the Main Naval Staff approved tactical requirements (, OTZ) for a medium-sized cruiser between the light cruisers of the and classes, and the Kronshtadts. It was intended to fulfill the following roles: Engage enemy cruisers armed with guns Destroy enemy light cruisers Support its own light cruisers Lay minefields Suppress the enemy's medium-caliber coast defense batteries and support landing operations Conduct operations against the enemy's maritime lines of communication
To accomplish these missions, the Navy desired a ship of or smaller, armed with eight 203 mm and twelve guns, a dozen anti-aircraft (AA) guns and one triple torpedo mount. It was to be armored to withstand 203 mm shells with a speed not less than , a range of at and able to carry four seaplanes launched by two catapults. Three preliminary designs were proposed in response, but only one, which displaced , was able to meet all of the requirements. However, the designers recommended an increase in the main armament caliber to , a strengthened anti-aircraft battery and reductions in the armor protection, speed, and range. The opening of Operation Barbarossa a month later rendered these plans moot as both the Project 82 and the Kronshtadt (Project 69) classes were put on hold.
The project was revived in 1943 with a new requirement issued on 15 September. This was basically identical to the original, but added one new requirement: "Protect the operations of aircraft carriers and conduct joint operations with them." Estimated characteristics were a displacement between , nine main guns between , a secondary battery of a dozen dual-purpose guns and thirty-two 37 mm AA guns. The speed, range and aircraft requirements remained the same, although the torpedo tubes were dropped. Over a dozen preliminary designs had been proposed by May 1944, but none were acceptable.
A new tactical requirement was issued in November 1944 that envisioned a more realistic displacement of while the speed was dropped to and the range to . Armament was also revised to nine 220 mm guns, sixteen 130 mm guns, thirty-two and twenty AA guns. These last weapons were changed to in 1945.
Admiral Nikolai Kuznetsov believed that these ships could protect the planned Soviet aircraft carriers in bad weather from American cruisers and pushed to have them built, but the Shipbuilding Commissariat balked. It refused to begin detailed design work pleading the uncertainty of the post-war building situation and the already heavy workload of its design bureau. Undeterred, the Navy continued studying cruiser designs and planned a ten-year construction program for the period 1946–1955. This was based on defensive operations along the periphery of the Soviet Union against Anglo-American carrier groups while submarines would attack their lines of communication. Ten of these large cruisers were envisioned as part of this construction program. When the program was discussed by the Politburo on 29 September 1945 there was no great disagreement on the large cruisers, although Stalin favored increasing the size of their main guns to , but did not push the issue when Admiral Kuznetsov resisted.