In early 1951, at a meeting with the Soviet naval command, Stalin said,
"The US Navy is phasing in new heavy cruisers,
while the Soviet Union is building only light ones with 152-mm primary armament,
which won't be able to counter the American ships.
At the same time,
using the Stalingrad-class "heavy" cruisers
with their 305-mm guns against
Des Moines-class cruisers with 203-mm primary armament
is not reasonable—it's like using a cannon to shoot a fly."
As a result, a decision was taken to immediately start
building a national fleet of "medium" cruisers.
The new ship was designated as Project 66.
The same year, the newly appointed Soviet naval minister, Vice Admiral Kuznetsov,
approved the operational requirements of this ship.
Her primary purpose was to successfully resist heavy cruisers and sink light ones.
The ship was also intended to destroy coastal targets
and support the Navy's light forces.
An important requirement was the maximum unification of her mechanisms and armaments,
and that she even share her silhouette with the Stalingrad-class cruisers,
which were under construction at the time.
The cruiser's main battery was to comprise nine 220-mm guns placed in three turrets.
The dual-purpose battery consisted of eight 130-mm guns in four turrets.
The anti-aircraft armament had six 45-mm and six 25-mm quadruple autocannons.
The ship's maximum length was 252 and a half meters;
the beam was about 26 meters. Total displacement was 30,750 tons.
Armor: main armor belt—155 mm;
upper armor deck—50 mm;
middle armor deck—70 mm;
magazines—up to 90 mm.
The torpedo protection was to sustain an explosion equivalent to 250 kg of TNT.
The main power plant produced 210,000 horsepower.
Maximum speed: 34 and a half knots.
Cruising range: 5,000 miles at 18 knots.
Crew: 1,428 people.
Victory in the naval part of World War II
was achieved by the Western Allies mainly thanks to aircraft carriers.
Battleships and cruisers became a combat support element
for carrier groups
and a fire support asset for ground forces.
Nevertheless,
the Soviet military and political leadership didn't fully realize this
and continued to view heavy artillery ships as a key naval strike force.
The Soviet Navy was far behind its US and British counterparts,
who were now its former allies.
New ships were required.
And the Project 66 cruisers were to serve as such.
In August 1953, the Central Design Bureau No. 17
completed the ship's schematic design.
But in March, after Stalin had passed away,
the Soviet government changed its plans for military shipbuilding.
The country stopped constructing "heavy" cruisers and designing a new battleship.
The "medium" cruiser became the largest combat ship for the Soviet Navy.
The lead Project 66 ship was to be laid down at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad.
Serial ships of the class were to be built in Nikolayev,
Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk),
and at a new large shipyard, restored especially for this purpose
in Sovetskaya Gavan
However, the first cruiser of the class could be commissioned
only in the second half of 1958.
During the tactical assessment of Project 66,
her combat capability was matched
with that of the Des Moines-class heavy cruiser.
Developed and tested in 1954,
the 220-mm gun for the SM-6 turret
had almost double the range of the American 203-mm Mark 16 gun—
50 kilometers against 27.8.
But the automated main battery guns of Des Moines
had about twice the rate of fire.
In terms of other key combat characteristics,
the two ships were also of about equal strength.
In February 1954, the Naval Academy in Leningrad
held a tactical game involving Project 66 and Des Moines.
As a result, a conclusion was made that the Soviet cruiser's excessive displacement
was inadequate for her combat capability.
Throughout the year, until late September 1954,
Minister of Shipbuilding Ivan Nosenko
was debating with Commander of the Navy Nikolai Kuznetsov
and Defense Minister Nikolai Bulganin
whether it was reasonable to build the Project 66 cruisers.
The military believed these ships would be effective
against Des Moines-class cruisers
and the like by having the advantage in firepower,
deck armor, maximum speed,
torpedo protection, survivability, and unsinkability.
On the other hand,
people from the industry were saying that this ship,
which cost as much as three Project 68bis Sverdlov-class light cruisers,
was too expensive,
but still lacked reliable protection
from the rapidly developing naval missile systems.
As a result, Soviet leadership agreed with the shipbuilders,
and the "medium" cruiser project was closed.
Had the Project 66 cruisers been completed,
they could have escorted carrier battle groups,
which were to be formed from 1956 through 1965.
But times changed, and Project 66 went down in history
as the last design
for a large artillery ship developed
in the Soviet Union and probably in the whole world.