Some were destroyed in battle,
others weren’t completed.
Some are laid up, and can only dream about battles…
But now they’re getting a new lease of life!
We recreate ships accurately,
according to their historical blueprints,
and send them into battle!
World of Warships: Dry Dock
Immediately after the U.S.S.R. had been formed,
the Workers' and Peasants' Red Fleet
began developing plans to rebuild their naval forces
in which a special place was given to the so-called "large destroyers."
These ships had a displacement of about 2,000 tons,
and their task was not only to act as the leaders of destroyers,
leading them into torpedo attacks,
but also to counter similar enemy ships.
Unfortunately, the experience of building Leningrad-class leaders
in the 1930s showed that the Soviet shipyards
lacked both the shipbuilding experience and technical equipment.
It was then decided to order a destroyer leader
of a new project from Western countries.
On September 9, 1935, following lengthy negotiations
with French and Italian shipbuilders,
a contract for the design and construction
of a "fast reconnaissance ship" in Italy using the 20I project was signed—
the "I" in 20I stands for international, foreign.
The contract also stipulated technical support for the construction
of same-class ships in the U.S.S.R.
However, in 1937, a decision was made to cancel the construction
of three extra leaders of that project.
In essence, the new ship remained an experimental one—
a successful ship, but at the same time,
huge, expensive, and complex in terms of its design.
The leader was laid down at the shipyard in Livorno on January 11, 1937.
She was given the name Tashkent.
The ship was put afloat on December 28,
and during her cruising trials, she reached a record speed
for Soviet destroyers of 44.5 knots.
In the spring of 1939, the acceptance certificate was signed,
even though no armament had been mounted on Tashkent yet.
The leader was armed after arriving in the U.S.S.R.
In 1941, Tashkent's main battery comprised six 130 mm guns
housed in twin deck-turret artillery mounts.
No leader or destroyer of the Soviet Red Navy ever had such firepower.
In their final form, the leader's AA defenses
consisted of a 76 mm twin antiaircraft mount,
six 37 mm automatic guns, and six large-caliber machine guns.
Three 533 mm triple-tube torpedo launchers
were installed on the ship's middle superstructure.
On October 22, 1939, in Odesa, destroyer leader Tashkent
was enlisted to the Black Sea Fleet,
where she met the Great Patriotic War.
Tashkent participated in the defense of Odesa and Sevastopol—
she escorted transport vessels, suppressed enemy artillery batteries,
delivered arms and reinforcements to the cities under siege,
and evacuated the wounded.
On July 2, 1942, the destroyer received several direct hits
by air bombs and eventually sank in the port of Novorossiysk.
On the high seas of World of Warships,
Tashkent is a Soviet Tier IX destroyer.