Ognevoy at Sevastopol on 1 May 1947
Class overview
Name	Ognevoy class (Project 30)
Operators	Soviet Navy Bulgarian Navy
Preceded by	Soobrazitelnyy class
Succeeded by	Skory class
Subclasses	Project 30, Project 30K
Built	1938–1948
In service	1945–1966
Planned	24
Completed	11
Cancelled	13
Scrapped	11
General characteristics (Project 30K)
Type	Destroyer
Displacement	2,125 t (2,091 long tons) (standard)
Length	117 m (383 ft 10 in) (o/a)
Beam	11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Draught	4.25 m (13 ft 11 in)
Installed power	4 water-tube boilers 54,000 shp (40,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts; 2 geared steam turbines
Speed	36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Range	2,950 nmi (5,460 km; 3,390 mi) at 16.9 knots (31.3 km/h; 19.4 mph)
Complement	20 officers and 281 crewmen
Sensors and processing systems	Gyuis-1b, Ryf-1 radars Vympel-2 gunnery radar Tamir-5N sonar
Armament	2 × twin 130 mm (5.1 in) guns 2 × single 85 mm (3.3 in) AA guns 6 × single 37 mm (1.5 in) AA guns 2 × triple 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes 52–60 mines 22 × depth charges, 2 × depth charge launchers

The Ognevoy-class destroyers consisted of 26 destroyers built for the Soviet Navy during and immediately after World War II. The official Soviet designation was Project 30 and Project 30K. Construction was disrupted by the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 (Operation Barbarossa) and many ships were cancelled or scrapped. Only a single ship was completed during the war and the other 10 were finished in 1947–1950.

The Type 7 destroyers proved to have a less than adequate seaworthiness for Soviet conditions. The Soviets decided to build a larger ship with main armament in enclosed turrets. These ships proved popular with the Soviet Navy and formed the basis for the post-war Skory class or Project 30bis.

Design

The specification (TTZ in Russian) for these ships was issued by the Naval staff in November 1937. The design work was done by Zhdanov Yard in Leningrad under the leadership of A. Yunovidova and approved by the government in 1939.

Hull strength was significantly increased and the hull was enlarged compared to the Project 7 ships. Longitudinal framing was used and hull plating was thicker than the Project 7 ships. Hull height was increased giving extra free board.

The machinery consisted of two boiler rooms and two engine rooms similar to the Project 7U destroyers but in less cramped spaces. Electricity generation capacity was increased to two 100 kW (130 hp) plants and two 50 kW (67 hp) plants. An alternative design Project 30A using super-heated high pressure machinery based on American designs was projected but not built.

The armament was housed in two enclosed splinter-proof and weatherproof turrets in 'A' and 'Y' positions. This was a significant advance over the open mountings used in the Project 7 ships. The B-2LM turrets were introduced in the Tashkent class and proven successful in service but had no anti-aircraft capability. Anti-aircraft armament comprised two 85 mm (3.3 in) guns in a twin mounting in 'X' position and six 37 mm (1.5 in) guns in single mountings. The ships also carried two sets of quadruple torpedo tubes and 50 mines.

The ships were fitted with air warning, surface search and gunnery control radars and sonar after the war.

Ships

24 ships were ordered in 1938–1940 but the programme was disrupted by the German invasion in 1941. The ships being built in Nikolayev were demolished before launch or evacuated incomplete while those built in other yards were suspended for the duration of the conflict. Some of the intact ships were completed after the war to a modified design (K for korrektirovany – corrected).

Service history

Ognevoy's hull was towed to Poti, Georgia; her turrets were salvaged from the wreck of the destroyer Tashkent.

References

Sources

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ognevoy class destroyer.

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