In the early 30s of the last century, the navy of the Soviet Union was rather poorly equipped. It consisted of only 17 Novikovs, as the destroyers existing at that time were called. At the time of their creation, they could be considered the best in the world, but by the 1930s they could no longer be compared with those destroyers that were in service with the leading powers of the world. There was an urgent need to build fundamentally new ships capable of competing with their "twins". This is how project 7 destroyers appeared.
Italian prototype
At that time, Italian-made destroyers were considered the best in the world. Therefore, a group of Soviet scientists and engineers was urgently sent to Italy, whose goal was to learn from the experience of foreign colleagues in the shop. Soviet engineers studied the documentation, watched the progress of construction and returned home with new ideas.
Building new destroyers
From that moment, the construction of fundamentally new, modern destroyers began in the Soviet Union. The technical design of these ships was approved in 1934 and was named "Project No. 7". The construction of destroyers of a new generation, also known as the destroyers of project 7 ("Wrathful" - one of them), from that moment was put on stream and took place under the personal control of the head of state I. V. Stalin. At this very time, not far from the borders of the Soviet state, an English destroyer ran into a mine and sank. Construction was temporarily suspended because a ship that goes out of action from one mine could hardly be called perfect. By order of Stalin, checks were urgently carried out, several designers were punished. As a result, it was decided to complete and launch the construction of the planned number of project 7 destroyers, and improve the next batch of ships and produce according to the improved project.
Destroyers armament
During the construction of destroyers, the main emphasis was placed on weapons in order to maximize the defense power of the country, which suffered in the First World War. Gradually, the ships improved. In particular, the air defense system was significantly improved, which initially did not differ in particular accuracy. The first Parsons turbines on the destroyers of Project 7 were designed with a solid margin. And the designers were not mistaken - Soviet-made destroyers built according to project 7 were the moststrongest in the world at that time.
By the beginning of World War II, Soviet designers had built and launched 28 Project 7 destroyers. reliability. As a result, it was the ships of this series that became the main backbone of Russia's weapons at the start of World War II. They were used in all maritime theaters of operations. Only 10 destroyers were put out of action by the enemy during the war, but they managed to accomplish more than one feat before that.
Famous Battles
During the war, it often happens that an ordinary ordinary battle goes down in history forever. That was the battle at Cape Kanin Nos. In the difficult year of 1942, Russia needed the help of the allies. Weapons, fuel - all this we received by sea thanks to convoys. But it was in September 1942 that Winston Churchill spoke out about the need to temporarily stop the convoys due to heavy losses. However, the country's leadership persuaded the UK to organize another convoy, which began moving on September 18. Being in the zone of responsibility of the allies, he lost 11 ships. After that, Soviet destroyers took over the guards. Among them were the famous "sevens" - "Thundering" and "Crushing". Near Cape Kanin Nos, the Germans attacked the convoy from all sides. German aircraft and submarines participated in a powerful combined strike. The fierce battle lasted two and a half hours. WithThe air convoy was attacked by dozens of torpedo bombers and bombers, but they were all met with powerful coordinated fire. As a result of a heated battle, the convoy arrived at its destination and suffered minimal losses. Only one ship was torpedoed. The Germans lost 15 aircraft in that battle. It became clear that convoys were needed, that it was dangerous, but fully justified.
Destroyer "Reasonable"
The Project 7 destroyer Razumny was tested and launched in November 1941. The task of the destroyer and his team was to carry out sentinel service. During this period, one of the significant pages was the rescue of the crew of the ship "Striking", which had an accident. The command of "Reasonable" successfully coped with the task. To reinforce the Northern Fleet in 1942, Razumny, along with three more destroyers, was transported by the Northern Sea Route to the port of Polyarny. During the crossing of the ships, the Razumny was squeezed on both sides by ice floes, but, in the end, it nevertheless arrived safely at the port. From that moment on, the ship began to serve as part of the Northern Fleet, made several military campaigns, and until the end of the war actively carried out escort service.
Destroyer "Wrathful"
One of the most famous Project 7 destroyers of that time. The team of "Wrathful" was faced with the task of installing minefields in the Gulf of Finland. Purpose: to stop the enemy and prevent a breakthrough to Leningrad. To accomplish the task, a squadron was assembled, duringheaded by "Wrathful". Suddenly there was an explosion - the destroyer was blown up by a German mine. Then 20 people died. They tried to take the damaged ship in tow, but it turned out to be impossible. The command decided to sink the destroyer so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy. The remaining team was transferred to the escort ships, and fire was opened on the "Wrathful". This Project 7 destroyer was the first major loss in the Russian Navy since the start of the war.
The fate of the Sevens after the war
After the end of the war, all Project 7 destroyers that participated in the battles were sent for overhaul, after which they returned to service again. They served in the navy of the Soviet Union for about 12 more years. Over the years, their design and armament have been modernized and improved. Even the appearance of the Project 7 destroyers has changed. Later, in the 50s, the "sevens" began to be gradually replaced by fundamentally new and advanced destroyers and withdrawn from the Navy. To date, only three legendary "sevens" have survived, which were transferred to service in the PRC. There they were renamed and named after the Manchurian cities. One of these ships is the destroyer Rekordny, which served in the Russian Navy for the entire period, and after modernization in China, it regularly served on patrol until the 80s.
