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Kirov-class cruiser
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===World War II=== ====Baltic Fleet==== ''Kirov'' was commissioned into the [[Baltic Fleet]] in the autumn of 1938, but was still being worked on into early 1939.<ref name=y1>Yakubov and Worth, p. 91</ref> She sailed to [[Riga]] on 22 October 1940 when the Soviet Union began to occupy [[Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940|Latvia]]; the following day she sailed for [[Liepāja]].<ref>Rohwer, p. 7</ref> During the [[Naval warfare in the Winter War|Winter War]], ''Kirov'', escorted by the destroyers ''Smetlivyi'' and ''Stremitel'nyi'', attempted to bombard [[Finland|Finnish]] coast defense guns at [[Russarö]], {{convert|5|km}} south of [[Hanko, Finland|Hanko]]. She fired only 35 rounds before she was damaged by a number of near misses and had to return to the Soviet naval base at Liepāja for repairs. She remained there for the rest of the Winter War and afterwards was under repair at [[Kronstadt]] from October 1940 to 21 May 1941.<ref name=y1/> Both ''Kirov'' and ''Maxim Gorky'' were transferred to the [[Gulf of Riga]] on 14 June 1941, shortly before the beginning of [[Operation Barbarossa]]. Both cruisers were active in the last days of June covering Soviet defensive mining operations, but ''Gorky'' and her escorts ran into the German-laid "Apolda" [[minefield]] on the 23rd and ''Maxim Gorky'' and the destroyer ''Gnevny'' both lost their bows. ''Gnevny'' sank, while ''Gorky'' made it to port before being transferred, with assistance, to [[Tallinn]] and later to Kronstadt. ''Kirov'' followed her to Tallinn at the end of the month, after being lightened to pass through the shallows of [[Muhu|Moon Sound]].<ref>Rohwer, pp. 81-2, 84</ref> ''Gorky'' had a new bow section fabricated in Kronstadt and it was mated with the ship on 21 July.<ref>Yakubov and Worth, p. 93</ref> ''Kirov'' provided gunfire support during the defense of Tallinn and served as the flagship of the [[Evacuation of Tallinn|evacuation fleet]] from Tallinn to [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] at the end of August 1941.<ref>Rohwer, pp. 94-5</ref> For most of the rest of the war both cruisers were blockaded in Leningrad and Kronstadt by Axis minefields and could only provide gunfire support for the defenders during the [[siege of Leningrad]] and support for the Soviet [[Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive]] in mid—1944. Both ships were damaged by German air and artillery attacks, but were repaired during the war.<ref name="Yakubov and Worth, pp. 91, 93">Yakubov and Worth, pp. 91, 93</ref> ====Black Sea Fleet==== On 23 June 1941, ''Voroshilov'' covered Soviet destroyers [[Raid on Constanța|bombarding Constanţa]], but the [[destroyer leader]] ''Moskva'' was sunk by a mine and ''Kharkov'' was damaged by return fire. She bombarded Axis positions near [[Odessa]] in mid-September, but was transferred to [[Novorossiysk]] shortly afterwards. On 2 November, she was hit twice in harbor by [[Junkers Ju 88]] bombers of [[Kampfgeschwader 51|KG 51]]; one hit started a fire in #3 [[Magazine (artillery)|magazine]] that was extinguished by water flooding in from the second hit.<ref>Yakubov and Worth, p. 92</ref> She had to be towed to [[Poti]] for repairs, which lasted until February 1942. She shelled Axis positions near [[Feodosiya]] on 2 April 1942, but was damaged by some near misses on 10 April and had to return to [[Batumi]] for repairs. In May she supported Soviet troops around [[Kerch]] and the [[Taman Peninsula]] while helping to transfer the 9th Naval Infantry Brigade from Batumi to [[Sevastopol]]. On 29 November 1942, she was damaged by nearby [[Naval mine|mine]] explosions while bombarding [[Snake Island (Black Sea)|Feodonisi]], but managed to return to Poti under her own power. Just after her repairs were completed she assisted Soviet forces landing behind German lines at the so-called "[[Malaya Zemlya]]" at the end of January 1943. The loss of three destroyers to German aircraft attempting to interdict the German evacuation of the Taman Bridgehead on 6 October 1943 caused [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] to forbid the deployment of large naval units without his express permission and this meant the end of ''Voroshilov''{{'}}s active participation in the war.<ref>Whitley, p. 211</ref> ''Molotov'' was commissioned just before the German invasion and spent most of 1941 moving from port to port to take advantage of her air warning radar, the first fitted in the Soviet Navy. She bombarded Axis positions near Feodosiya in early November and was sent to reinforce Sevastopol with elements of the 386th Rifle Division from Poti. Damaged by a number of shell hits while off-loading troops on 29 December, she was still able to take 600 wounded when she departed. She reprised her role as a transport during the first week of January. Her bow was damaged during a heavy storm in Tuapse when it was thrown against the jetty on 21–22 January 1942. She spent most of the next month under repair, although her bow could not be straightened which reduced her speed by several knots. After making a number of bombardment sorties in support of Soviet troops on the [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)#The Soviet landing at Kerch|Kerch Peninsula]], she returned to Poti for more permanent repairs on 20 March. In June she made a number of transport runs in support of the garrison of [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)|Sevastopol]]. On 2 August her stern was blown off by torpedo bombers acting in concert with Italian [[MAS (boat)|MAS torpedo boats]]. The damage reduced her speed to {{convert|10|knots}} and she had to be steered by her engines. She was under repair at Poti until 31 July 1943, using the stern of the incomplete {{sclass|Chapayev|cruiser|1}} ''Frunze'', the rudder of the incomplete cruiser ''Zheleznyakov'', the steering gear from ''Kaganovich'' and the steering sensor from the submarine ''L-25''. She saw no action after completing her repairs due to Stalin's order.<ref>Yakubov and Worth, p. 94</ref> ====Pacific Fleet==== [[File:Kaganovich cruiser.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Cruiser ''Lazar Kaganovich''|alt=Water-level rear quarter view of a large grey warship at anchor. One gun turret, the main mast and both funnels are prominent.]] Even though ''Lazar Kaganovich'' and ''Kalinin'' were both commissioned before the end of the war, they saw no action during the [[Soviet invasion of Manchuria]] in 1945;<ref name=w/> in any event, ''Lazar Kaganovich'' was not fully completed until 29 January 1947.<ref name=y95>Yakubov and Worth, p. 95</ref>
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