The Russian battleships in 1937

Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsitya. ©Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

Parizhskaya Kommuna. ©Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

Marat. ©Warshipsresearch.blogspot.com

With her letter dated Moscow, Russia 9 June 1937 sentthe US Embassy at Moscow a memorandum dealing in detail with the composition of the Soviet Navy and her ships. The information was obtained privately from a non-Soviet source which source the Embassy considered to be entirely reliable. This source was even more valuable while the information available in publications like Jane’s Fighting Ships or the British parliamentary report titled “Fleet” dated February 1937 was general outdated and just of a secondary value. The British report was based on Russian public information from 1 February 1935 which was the last time as far as known the Soviet Union supplied statistical description of her fleet. The source wanted that the information was handed over to the Department of State for further use and not to other departments.

There were three battleships namely Marat [ex-Petropavlovsk], Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsitya [ex-Gangut] and Parizhskaya Kommuna [ex-Sevastopol]. All were laid down in 1909 and between January 1914-January 1915 completed. Armament consisted of 12-12” guns, 16-4.7” guns, 10-3” anti aircraft guns and 4-21” torpedo tubes. With oil-fuelled turbine propulsion and a s peed of 20 knots. The first two ships stationed in the Baltic Sea were modernized. The third one stationed in the Black Sea underwent recently a long refit. Her secondary armament removed in 1936 was placed back. There existed a fourth ship of this class namely the Mikhail Frunze, but she was docked since 1934 with all turrets and guns removed and she would probably be broken up.(1)

Note

1. All part of the Gangut- or Sevastopol-class preceded by the Andrei Pervozvanny-class succeeded by the Imperatritsa Mariya-class. The Frunze ex Poltava was stricken on 1 December 1940 and in 1949 was started with her breaking up.

Source

Record Group 59: General Records of the Department of State Series: Central Decimal Files. 861.30 - Naval Affairs, Navy, Naval Vessels. Roll 26 Target 2.