Sovetsky Soyuz (NB) (USSR) - Guide 257

The Sovetsky Soyuz class, never-completed battleships of the USSR, are today's subject.
Read more about the ship here:
www.usni.org/p...
www.amazon.co....
"Stalin's Super-battleships: The Sovietskii Soyuz Class" - Warship 2021
Naval photos and more - www.drachinifel.co.uk
Model ships of many periods - store.warlordga...?aff=21
Want to support the channel? - / drachinifel
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Want to get some books? www.amazon.co.uk/shop/drachinifel
Next on the list:
USS Marblehead
Pinguin
German Auxiliary Cruiser Atlantis
HMS Caroline
Des Moines Heavy cruisers.
Ships of Battle of Campeche
PT Boats

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@Cbabilon675]

If they had been completed, how would they have stacked up to their contemporaries? Such as those they would have gone against like tirpitz, Bismarck, and the other Italian battleship. Sorry I couldn't say the name, autocorrect would not let me.

[@unryumaru2095]

Would it be wrong to consider Admiral Nimitz a better admiral than Korean Admiral Yi (as in if they led two equally modern fleets into battle against each other with all else equal, Nimitz would win)?

[@michaelkovacic2608]

Can you do a video about spaced armour, for example the Littorios carried a 70mm armour plate before the 280mm main belt. Was this system more effective than a 350mm belt?

[@bernhardlangers778]

What is your take on the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustlov, being the greatest loss of life at sea?

[@SeveralWeezelsInaTrenchcoat]

What are your favorite ships among the major navies? (USN, IJN, Royal Navy, Regia Marina, Marine Nationale and Kriegsmarine)

[@AsbestosMuffins]

"The citidel was ordered to be immune to 16" shell fire from a given range" man you gotta appreciate the people who had to carry out these insane dictates

[@madrabbit9007]

You had to carry it out or you would end up drying to deflect 9mm with your skull or counting trees in Siberia.

[@amnucc]

Insert any one of a number of apporpriate Dilbert cartoons here.

[@1977Yakko]

The threat of the gulag is very motivating.

[@chriswhite3692]

In Soviet Russia, Citadel destroys you.

[@chriswhite3692]

@UNSCForwardontodawn Reminds me of Chernobyl tv series. The dude is the head of some science organization and is telling the female scientist how things are going to be. She says "You used to work in a shoe factory." "And now I'm head of a science institute."

[@redram5150]

The specs for this ship remind me of Principal Skinner’s mom on The Simpsons, when she demanded the bag boy at the supermarket put her entire purchase in one paper bag, but that it also must not be heavy

[@kyle857]

That is just western capitalist ideas infecting your mind. Off with you to Siberia to think about what you have said.

[@nektulosnewbie]

"You seriously expect me design something like that? It's impossible!!!" "..... why do you want to go to a gulag so badly, comrade?"

[@vermas4654]

When the naval department doesn't receive any Stalinium because it's needed for all the tanks so you can't build all the crazy ship designs

[@BHuang92]

Navy: Where's my Stalinium?! Army: Don't you mean *OUR Stalinium?* Navy: "sad battleship noise"

[@vermas4654]

@@BHuang92 and the navy only got their stalinium after the war

[@808bigisland]

The Rus already owned the Baltic Sea from 1942 and so did the Germans. No need to fight over it...every boat can be reached with a bomber or a stationed sub. Its a very small body of water. Coastal shipping and fishing went on throughout the war. Russia was fighting a landwar. The British blockaded both nations from the Atlantic and today no russian boat can leave unnoticed. A wharf located in a forward position is worthless. Russias naval development is effectively halted..as is US. Hypermach drones effectively ended carrier groups and every nuke sub will have to eventually surface and track submerged subs wakes from satellites.

[@vermas4654]

@@808bigisland congrats on missing the joke

[@worndown8280]

The Germans had the same problem with Hitlerium.

[@anninias4575]

Hey drach I’m a long time viewer and you’re are by far the best to listen to while I mindlessly go through chores just thanks for the content and would you care to do more videos on predreadnaughts?

[@hughboyd2904]

Wow. I could have written this.

[@Drachinifel]

Got a bunch of that period armoured cruisers coming up soon, but pre dreads will also be coming eventually 😀

[@anninias4575]

@@Drachinifel oh that’s super dope I loved the video “when hotels go to war” that era of ships was just so funky and weird love to hear more on em stoked to hear you got more in the works keep up the great work man 🍻

[@tommoseley9262]

Indeed I agree I would say Drach and Mark Felton are my go to content creators.

[@yarpy2221]

I'm a cnc machinist and I listen while working. Having a predreadnaught with non functional weapons as a swanky pleasure cruiser is a crowd fund project I could get behind.

[@MartyInLa]

I guarantee we will be seeing 20.9" gun Soviet battleships in World of Warships soon. No doubt with the 42 6" gun secondary gun battery Drachinel mentioned.

[@claypidgeon4807]

And it’ll still die in moments to the Mary Sue carrier fuckers.

[@lachlanv.b.7783]

As the kind of lunatic who would take secondary upgrades and captain perks on everything from IJN bbs to most cruisers (2ndry Gaff Spee was my fav), I would love a ship with 42 guns lol

[@blackyyy3292]

Sadly we only got the Ushakov, which is worse than Kremlin in quite a few ways

[@RonJohn63]

1:55 17.7" is 450mm. 3:25 20.9" is 530mm.

[@JB-ym4up]

Those sound like torpedo tube sizes.

[@ethangavrilmoreno8479]

Kremlin (Project 24) have 457mm (18.1 inch)

[@liliya_aseeva]

Wow, it's bigger than A150 japanese project!

[@prokhorevstafievich2096]

03:28 You actually don't cheat the treaty if you haven't signed it.

[@ghoffmann821]

"Somebody....probably the 19.7" guy..." We all have that one coworker.

[@billynomates920]

she's a fine-looking picture, ngl.

[@nebufabu]

I remember reading somewhere that although ships themselves never saw combat, their main guns _did._ Apparently, they had been tested near Leningrad in the 1941, and when the Germans invaded did some considerable damage.

[@tobichallanger]

Me just sitting here and shouting "YOU HEAR THAT WARGAMING" at a screen

[@brainletmong6302]

While I would like to make a joke about 'me' turning into 'us' due to communism, I need not jest for it would in fact be real. Just like the Soviet Union, where reality is often as bad as the jokes are.

[@paulhorrox6478]

Wargaming: * covers ears * lalalala we're not listening

[@igoryst3049]

And what do you want them to hear? That this ship is more real than anything German above tier 8?

[@b-17gflyingfortress6]

@@igoryst3049 He also ignores none of the ships in game has the problems they had in real life. Or would have. Nobody some reason cares Georgia going at 40 knot would rip her apart

[@davidpnewton]

@@b-17gflyingfortress6 well of it were to get ripped apart at 40 knots at least there wouldn't be a problem with having a big wake for the ship to mourn its demise.

[@AnimarchyHistory]

Yes Commissar. This man right here

[@ham_the_spam4423]

All these ambitious plans for battleships, battlecruisers, and aircraft carriers and in the end the only operational capital ships they had were the old Gangut sisters

[@musanix1212]

Well, that video was quite a change from Wargaming's statements about soviet battleships "If they had been built, they would actually have been the cream of the world's shipbuilding" 🤣

[@vvkth2500]

Hurr durr, Soviet BBs are good in a Russian arcade video game.. Stop it people, and enjoy your Thunderer..

[@primastanislaus9184]

OOF now I see why someone refuse to live in reality and think that Soyuz would be a good actual functioning ship despite the actual fact in real life.

[@AsbestosMuffins]

thing always was the soviets never really needed a big navy, their enemies were all reachable by a short drive through the country side.

[@hardcasekara6409]

@@AsbestosMuffins Japan, possibly US and UK: That's where your wrong kiddo.

[@ivanmonahhov2314]

Drach source - 1 book by an American. Also he does not want to against his audience. "What heavy insudtry was left in USSR" - righhhhtttttt USSR did not industrialize but wanted to go the growing rice like Pol Pot planned.

[@Segalmed]

The larger designs would probably have been in need of wheels or tracks given that the Baltic Sea is not the deepest at the best of times. On the other hand, this would have made it possible to use them in land warfare beyond gun range distance of the coast. "Mein Führer, die Offensive im Kursker Bogen ist zeitweilig ins Stocken geraten. Drei russische Schlachtschiffe in Kiellienie dampfen gerade durch unsere Nordflanke. Wir müssen ihre nächste Flußüberquerung abwarten, damit unsere Torpodobomber wirksam eingreifen können." [Mein Führer. Our offensive in the Kursk salient has been slowed temporarily. Three Russian battleships are currently steaming through our Northern flank. We'll have to wait for their next river crossing, so our torpedo bombers can successfully intervene.]

[@merafirewing6591]

Führer: Nani!?

[@species3167]

@@merafirewing6591 Quick! Call Japan and ask if they have any of those land-going torpedo boats left that we can borrow!

[@merafirewing6591]

@@species3167 XD, I'll put a hotline call to the Kamchatka about the torpedo boats.

[@thatdude3938]

If only USSR had ports in Black Sea or Far East...

[@Segalmed]

@@thatdude3938 But the ships were to be built in the Baltic, so they would have to get to the other locations first via that shallow sea. At least at that time there were no facilities in the far East to actually build battleships. The Tsarist empire had them in the Black Sea but I do not know what was left of those.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

"42 6-inch guns" Comrade, maybe lay off the vodka.

[@silverhost9782]

And I thought the Germans were out of touch with reality...

[@theimperiumofman102]

“Ivan, we’re gonna need a bigger iron curtain.”

[@benwilson6145]

Good for the 21 gun salute, two salutes in two minutes!

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

The designers were probably making allowances for pilfering.

[@Neithan02]

Compare that to us aa gun enthusiasm

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

So these are the "authentic historic documents" which explain World of Warships Soviet fleet.

[@jozseftoth9368]

They look authentic

[@johnfrancisterne1072]

The sekrit dokumints?

[@fhlostonparaphrase]

Got to cater to them customers in the former USSR...

[@thatdude3938]

@@fhlostonparaphrase It isn't so in other countries? In American games American stuff is the best. In Russian games, Russian/Soviet stuff is the best . In Japanese games, Japanese stuff is the best. Etc

[@startingbark0356]

@@thatdude3938 even tho russian bias is more like a meme in the russian games, the german and other country stuff can have their strongness too in those games

[@MultiZirkon]

"Rivets of inferious Quality Steel": It isn't the last time we have heard about them....

[@MARSRigel1]

Didnt the Kronstadt had something simillar going on in her construction?

[@worldtraveler930]

As did the Titanic!

[@Bird_Dog00]

Ah yes. "It is inevitable that we will recieve shipments of parts that will not be quite up to our standards. And we simply can't check all the parts. So compromises regarding quality controll will have be be accepted. Now with that said, where can we aford to let quality slip a bit?" "I know! The parts that hold all the other parts together!" "Brilliant. Make it so."

[@MultiZirkon]

@@Bird_Dog00 ...And the bolts in the most inaccessible places, as along the keel. ...No one will creep down there on all four!

[@davidbrennan660]

Wrecking is a crime within the Soviet Union

[@Clefairy4007]

Ahh, the Naval Legend herself!

[@michalgrochu]

Recently I've been stuck for ~5 hours in the late evening/night in a town in the middle of nowhere waiting for my train. Your Wednesday Rum Rations were real lifesavers - I listened bunch of them walking around the town and counting time to the train arrival!

[@Grrymjo]

I know that for you it is not the case, but it's such a relief to see beloved metric units instead of multiplying everything by 25.4 or dividing by 2.2

[@neilwilson5785]

I have a notepad doc open with the gun calibre conversions when watching Drach videos. It's really useful!

[@life_of_riley88]

Not everyone sees the metric system as "beloved". Carpenters, mechanics, technicians, welders, and anyone who uses common building materials and dimensioned metals in their daily work is. . . frustrated by the metric system.

[@woodchild2093]

@@life_of_riley88 maybe ones over 60 and in the USA but I'm in my late 40s grew up with metric as did all my tradie mates and for us it the norm and way easier.

[@BlackHawkBallistic]

@@woodchild2093 it just depends on where you grew up and what you learned

[@life_of_riley88]

@@woodchild2093 Yes! If you are not in the US, I completely agree. Over here, it's a bit of a mess. . .I'm a mechanical engineer, but started my career as a cabinetmaker, so I am deeply familiar with both, and their conversion, but in the states, engineering is almost completely metric, and the trades are still imperial. It's weird.

[@Philistine47]

The weirdest thing I've read about these ships was some... *creative thinker* ... claiming that ~30 years later their unfinished hulls were eventually completed as the _Kirov_-class nuclear-powered missile cruisers.

[@mybadluckcharm]

Well, that's entirely possible, but in the rather roundabout way of cutting up the hulls, melting the steel scrap into new steel, and using that steel to build said ships. But that's all pretty theoretical. For all we know, all those hulls could have been turned into Ladas.

[@Philistine47]

@@mybadluckcharm The interval is long enough that the steel could have gone through a couple of generations of Ladas before returning to the shipyard.

[@ethangavrilmoreno8479]

Its probably just re-using steel

[@momsspaghetti9970]

@@Philistine47 They could have used that to have the worlds largest stockpile of non irradiated steel. Radioactivity measuring equipment will have a good stockpile imo.

[@b-17gflyingfortress6]

Thank you so much for doing this. I find unfinished and blueprint ships interesting in their own way. Are you planning to do Project 24 BB one day?

[@merafirewing6591]

There's barely any information about Project 24 Battleship.

[@b-17gflyingfortress6]

@@merafirewing6591 Mclaughlin's book about Soviet battleship does mention some interesting details. Drach can use those details to make a 10-15 min video I would say. And perhaps making a comparison with Montana class to make it longer

[@merafirewing6591]

@@b-17gflyingfortress6 It depends on if it's reliable, you know Russians are known for giving false information in regards to ship design, the Typhoon class for example we only know the estimated depth but we'll never know how deep the submarine can truly reach to. If you provide a link to the book?

[@chrisb7198]

@@merafirewing6591 oh it'll go all the way down to the bottom. lol

[@Miller2537]

Ah yes. this infamous "Naval Legend."

[@loneneotank.5687]

That's unfortunate, by the time this ship was built, stalinium was largely becoming difficult to make, due to scarcity of the material, later they would find more mines but, at this time they couldn't afford to build a ship made entirely of stalinium, however, they did use a limited amount of kalashnikovium alloys.

[@bigblue6917]

A battleship designed for a war which was over before they were built. And decision making which would make the late 19th century early 20th century French look quite decisive.

[@y0Milan]

You say that as thought the Japanese didnt build the Yamatos and the Americans didnt build the Iowas and SoDaks.....

[@yosawin3018]

Well, at least after that they made better desicion and mainly focused on coastal defense.

[@ronaldthompson4989]

@@y0Milan which were completed in time for the war, and with the exception of the constantly sheltered Yamatos, provided sterling service

[@bkjeong4302]

@@ronaldthompson4989 Actually the Iowas DIDN’T. They were active a lot, and lasted much longer than any other battleship class, but in all that time they never came close to justifying their costs: AA could have been handled by subcapital units (and by the carrier fighter screens), and shore bombardment could also have been handled by subcapital units (and by the Standards if you really needed to use battleships). Most of their postwar career was spent in mothballs precisely because of how not useful they were. The South Dakotas weren’t much better, with the lead ship being a consistent overclaimer, especially in regards to AA. Honestly I would argue only Washington ever really justified her existence among American fast battleships.

[@bkjeong4302]

@@y0Milan Just because those ships sucked doesn’t mean the Sovetsky Soyuz was any better. And at least the Yamatos and Iowas were more reasonably designed, even if that didn’t make them more useful.

[@RocketGurney]

I was reading the wikipedia article for Sovietsky Soyuz during a lunch break in machining class. I started laughing uncontrollably because it's like reading a comedy bit written by Douglas Adams. The teacher had to come out to make sure I was alright.

[@kilotun8316]

Ah, yes, Russian bias and how it actually turned out IRL. Thanks Drach, great video!

[@stuartcork1249]

I thought the battleship Stalin in the John Watson novel "The Iron Man" was just the whimsy of the author, but compared to some of these ideas it was almost sane in its design. 75,000 tons almost half of which was armour- up to two feet thick and a triple bottom, with quarter of a million horsepower producing 35 knots from a form of impeller. Finally 9 x 22 inch guns.

[@cinjonsmythe6318]

T11 Soviet BB in WOWS coming right up :)

[@toddwebb7521]

Now for the most painfully inefficient question for an Engineer, this vs H39

[@Neithan02]

Habakuk

[@user-rg4sn9by7w]

H-39. Because Soviets had no experience prior to that in building battleships. Germans had. And H-41 to H-44 blueprints are written with cocaine on blue meth paper.

[@bkjeong4302]

I actually think that this thing might beat H39, because at the end of the day, the H39 was Bismarck writ large-a glass cannon with good mobility but garbage armour layout. Both ships are inefficient, but Sovetsky Soyuz isn’t QUITE as inefficient. Of course this assumes that neither ship gets sunk by aircraft on the way to the battle.

[@witchkinglp]

damn I've been waiting for this for a good long while!

[@TrueRainsie]

At 04:08 - the proper way to pronounce that would be "soyuz" (emphasis on "yu"). "Ukraina" is spelled like "ook-rah-ee-nah" (emphasis on "ee"), "Belorussia" is pretty much spot on. "Rossiya" should also have emphasis on the second syllable.

[@RayyMusik]

And then there‘s the evolution of the infamous name Pugliese. Earlier: Puguilaysee. Now, better: Pugliayse. Correct: Pul-ye-se (stress on the 2nd syllable, the G is mute).

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

The USSR ran out of stalinium to finish them.

[@RGC-gn2nm]

Gotta give them credit for not quitting

[@b-17gflyingfortress6]

Lion and Soyuz battleships did shared similar fates

[@bkjeong4302]

Quitting was the better idea here.

[@b-17gflyingfortress6]

@@bkjeong4302 Sadly yes. It's Ironic that Germany literally killed the H-39, Lion, and Soyuz by causing ww2 during their construction. (And French was planning to start building Alsace)

[@bkjeong4302]

@@b-17gflyingfortress6 I mean, if they got built, that’s just more battleships entering service after battleships were obsolete. We already had 29 such obsolete-upon-launch ships in WWII, we don’t need any more.

[@Admin-gm3lc]

Hello, it would be nice to see your video about russian brig Mercury which single-handedly won over Turkish battleship and frigate

[@SmilingIbis]

I'm constantly amazed that any government bureaucracy can actually complete any warship ever.

[@mikearmstrong8483]

If it weren't for having built "more tanks than god" (to quote our favourite transgender historian), I would have doubts that the Soviet bureaucracy could have completed anything at all!

[@gregorywright4918]

@@mikearmstrong8483 Existential survival crisis does tend to focus the mind and cut out ideological impediments...

[@mikearmstrong8483]

@@gregorywright4918 Oh, so you mean when the s*** hits the fan, people get s*** done.

[@jesseestrada8914]

Wow I got recommended this 9 sec ones after posting. I love your content and yt knows it. Lol

[@LaserSeQ]

She's a Naval Legend according to wargaming, it's a mystery vOv

[@vvkth2500]

do you know what a Legend means?

[@chaosacsend9653]

@@vvkth2500 do you know what the naval legend series is

[@vvkth2500]

@@chaosacsend9653 yes. she's a naval legend for the Russians because it was their only real attempt at building a capital ship in WW2. it's an interesting trivia and it makes sense that they make a video about the project.

[@chaosacsend9653]

@@vvkth2500 so your saying a ship that never made it off the slip ways is up their with the likes of warspite, enterprise, bismarck, or Iowa. In terms of accomplishments that's the aim of the series, and this ship does not deserve to be called a navel legend. It's not about trying its about what it actually did in combat. If they wanted to make a video about it put it in the dry dock series where other non made ships are.

[@vvkth2500]

@@chaosacsend9653 dude. it's a Russian game developer. they want to make these short films about projects, ships and achievements for their own market first. videos are also in Russian. what the hell are we talking about here.

[@northernzeus768]

Good morning Drach… from the states. Always excited to see a new upload from you.

[@indplt1595]

Were the Soviets bound by treaty to 35,000-ton capital ships? The USSR wasn't even invited to the Washington Naval Conference in 1921, as the UK did not recognize the Soviet government until February 1924 and the Americans held recognition until November 1933. The latter diplomatic row probably explains why the USSR wasn't party to the London Naval Conference in 1930 either. An Anglo-Soviet treaty was reached in 1937, but the minutes from Parliament make it clear that the USSR had A LOT of wiggle room. Dispositions in the Soviet Far East were excluded from reporting as Japan had refused to participate. Considering that Soviet espionage was light years ahead of the other Allies, the escalating tonnage of the Soviet ships might also have been in response to the size of the Bismarck-class and Yamato-class battleships, both if which were under construction at the time.

[@josephthomas8318]

This sounds like less of a legitimate battleship design and more like one of Stalins wet dreams that the naval design board was to afraid to argue with him about

[@startingbark0356]

Tbh it was probably being completed if ww2 didnt happen or just happened later

[@tanall5959]

That would make for an interesting 'what if'. If crazy Uncle Adolph had actually done as he told HIS naval planners he would do, and waited ten years to invade, the USSR might of had the full class finished, and modernized, going up against the Plan Z fleet.

[@francoistombe]

Would have been sunk by aircraft. As per PoW & Repulse.

[@startingbark0356]

@@francoistombe the germans have no great airforce for naval attacks

[@francoistombe]

@@startingbark0356 These BBs would have been operating in the Black Sea or the Baltic. Not far from land. They would be easy targets for land based 2 engine bombers like PoW and Repulse or bombed at the dock as with Pearl Harbour. The Nazis could have developed an aerial torpedo delivery system faster than Stalin could complete these BBs. In the Baltic and Barents there is also the U-boat option. These would be trophy ships for Stalin's ego. The Brits gave the Russians an old battleship for Murmansk and Archangel operations. (In case Scharnhorst or Tirpitz made a visit.) When the Russians gave it back after the war it was all rusted up, the guns had never been kept in operating order.

[@Warmaker01]

Imperial Russia was able to build Battleships like anyone else, but the Russian Civil War's chaos and devastation IMO did immense damage to that capability. Probably some of the expertise in designing and building such large scale ships with heavy armor and armament killed off during the war or fled the country altogether. It was about 30 years difference between the time Russia built a Battleship and started work on a new one. The difficulties they had shouldn't be surprising. The Soviets started work on this class of BBs right around the same time in the late 1930s as the US started their North Carolina-class and the UK the King George V-class. The US & UK Battleships were done while the Sovetsky Soyuz wasn't even halfway done. Toss in the German invasion and it was game over for the Sovetsky Soyuz-class.

[@GrumpyGrobbyGamer]

As always, very informative and interesting! I had no idea these ships even started life, so this was really nice.

[@TheNinjaDC]

The early designs made the Tillmans look reasonable. 🤣

[@ronaldthompson4989]

Ah yes, the Tillmans. What happens when politicians tell navy they are only paying for 1 more building program so make it count. Sticker shock ftw

[@user-is1lo9dx2i]

At worse,Tillman would "only" stab BuShip engineer with hey forks,bad,but not "You have to tell Stalin he is not absolutely right and physic exists" bad.

[@bkjeong4302]

No, the Tillman’s were so ridiculous they make this thing look reasonable.

[@agesflow6815]

Drachinifel, Thank you.

[@thesherlock7552]

Comrade get our sekrit dokuments

[@VieneLea]

This is the most interesting story of the warships that never were I've ever heard of. Though admittedly they did take part in a battle.

[@kbairwolf]

Great video, recently found this channel. Yup been binge watching for 2 days now.

[@hewhoneverdies001]

I read somewhere (don't know whether it is true or not) that once the design of these ships was finalized they were shown to Stalin. Stalin was very impressed and he supposedly said: ''Perfect, I want twelve of those!'' - I can just imagine how everyone's faces turned white as he spoke those words. Hats off the the brave soul that convinced him that four would be a slightly more realistic goal.

[@JohnThomas-gy6lq]

Coffee and warships!

[@bradyelich2745]

Ur not Canadian. Weed and beer. C'mon.

[@josephthomas8318]

Yep! I'm also drinking my coffee and watching warships

[@thecatwithatophat4069]

A 75,000 ton ship with 12 × 17 inch guns in three quad turrets... uh, Drach, please don't tell War Gaming

[@cinjonsmythe6318]

17.7 inch guns, methinks but yeah coming to a WOWS server near you

[@SonOfAB_tch2ndClass]

This guide was put off as much I thought it would be incomplete like the Sovetsky Soyuz was herself!

[@graveyard1979]

It'd work just fine with a shrine to the Generalissimus-Emperor of Sovietkind on board. On a more serious note, no Wargaming.Net game was aimed at accuracy as the freemium business model is about selling new shinies. It just isn't Jutland or Distant Guns.

[@ly68]

Naval legend

[@TheRogueWolf]

So apparently Stalin in '38 was me as a 15-year-old drawing spaceships in my school notepad. "And I'll put some guns here, and here, and here, and I'll put flames on it so it goes faster!"

[@bificommander]

Flames are red, so that should work.

[@arsk5127]

No, apparently Stalin, in 38 was running 1/6 of the continent, and had things to do. This is why ships were designed by construction bureaus.

[@ottovonbismarck2443]

They should have built these. As modern research has revealed, Russian BBs are immune to any sort of incoming shells while they sink any opponent with only one salvo.

[@chriswilson5750]

Look up Tsushima

[@cartmann94]

Soviet inefficiency in action. They could have built 10 Kamchatkas instead.

[@samuel5916]

And if they let the German’s capture them, it would have shortened the war by several years…

[@rictusmetallicus]

Yesterday i googled for drawings of this very ship. I'm making additional counters for Avalon Hill's Bismarck game ffom 1979.

[@greenseaships]

"Today on Drachinifel's Five-minute guides: The ship that never even was."

[@herpderp9774]

I would love to see a couple more video's about semi modern, post WW2 ships as designs tended more towards guided missile frigates, destroyers and cruisers such as the falklands -> 80's era vessels.

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Five Trotkites tried to sabotage this Video by disliking it ⛏️

[@vvkth2500]

Pretty cool to hear about Soviet projects on your channel. This would've been an interesting ship had it been built. Could it project some superiority in the Black Sea, with it's escort during WW2? Idk, but it's interesting to think of the possibility. Keep up the great work Drach :) Have you been planning to cover the Tallinn Disaster?

[@primastanislaus9184]

I doubt it would be an intresting ship, probably would just be a ship with lack of maintenance problem and not actually working machinery and technology since we all know Soviet are so bad with ships. Not to mention the "statistics" probably very far off than how it would actually be if she ever gets completed.

[@vvkth2500]

@@primastanislaus9184 It would be a first "modern" Soviet battleship, and i for one, am interested what flaws would it have and how would her performance compare statistically with other capital ships. You are quite the hater, man. Miss me with that crap. Soviets didn't have good conditions to build such ships, we all know that. It took them some time to get their projects up and running. But they had a lot of very competent engineers, as proven by their ships in the 50's, 60's, 70's.. Kirov battlecruiser and Typhoon are sort of cult boats nowadays. They are newer, but the way you laid out what you wanted to say, makes me think you outright deny the ingeniousness of Russian and Soviet engineering. It has humble beginnings, and i am interested in those projects?

[@commanderwolf1182]

@@vvkth2500 ​ I don't necessarily think being realistic about the facts at hand is being the same as a hater. While it would've been interesting to see how the ship would've preformed had it been completed, I think it wouldn't be super far off to call it more of a "Status symbol" ship than anything really useful. (I'd like to think of it like a "We ARE able to make a ship this large and make it work" kind of deal. Regardless of the complications that come with it) The later built Soviet ships were pretty good and their engineers were also rather competent, they really became that way through trail and error. And I think the Soyuz would've added on to that fact as a lesson on what to do and what not to.

[@vvkth2500]

@@commanderwolf1182 Absolutely, that's why i don't like people who reply just because they got bopped by a Soyuz in World of Warships. I am genuinely interested in the topic. We can discuss everything politely, and disagree politely, like you are doing now. It's important to be impartial and not dismissive. Too many people are rather dismissive about Russian engineering. I agree with you btw on all accounts.

[@Poctyk]

> Could it project some superiority in the Black Sea, Soviet navy already had all the superiority in Black Sea.

[@Kellen6795]

I get the feeling we'll be seeing that 70000 ton monster in wows soon enough

[@garyhill2740]

Really enjoy the videos you produce. I know many historians are loathe to devote much time to "paper ships". But when it comes to designs that were completed and actually began construction, I often find them of great interest. I often wonder, if any of the large big gun ships had been completed, if they would have survived into the Cold War era like the Iowa's did? Although never built, the Soviet Project 66 "large cruisers" designed to counter the U.S. Des Moines class are fascinating to me. They actually reached the point of complete detailed plans being finalized. I would love to see a video on those ships.

[@GeneralKenobiSIYE]

Drach, you've come a LONG way since I first subscribed and you had only about 10k subscribers. Was so glad when you got rid of the robot voice.

[@klausschroiff4405]

Makes me wonder whether Hitler was drooling with the idea of mounting a couple of "Schwerer Gustav" (31"/80cm) on a battleship. Ok, the firing rate would have been shit (14 rounds/day) but if the 7t shell hit something only ashes would have remained. Finding the range would have been an issue though. ;-)

[@CanalTremocos]

even worse than the fire rate, Schwerer Gustav's barrel wore out before being fired 50 times.

[@pyronuke4768]

According to some pre war documents there were apparently supposed to be fourteen(!) of these monsters built: four for the Black Sea fleet, three for the Baltic fleet, two for the North Sea fleet, and six for the Pacific fleet. And they were all supposed to be completed and commissioned within eight years. Talk about optimism; despite a head start even the US only managed ten (technically twelve if you count Illinois and Kentucky)

[@gregorywright4918]

North Sea fleet? Where would that be based? Or did you mean Barents Sea?

[@pyronuke4768]

@@gregorywright4918 It's the fleet that's based in the Artic Sea, the one that's frozen over for like eight months a year. They mostly operate submarines and icebreakers.

[@stamasd8500]

And the world missed its chance to see a battleship with 20.9"/530mm guns.

[@SeveralWeezelsInaTrenchcoat]

Notification fleet has left the harbor

[@BCB-9000]

Man I love Drachinifel.

[@wordsmithgmxch]

Drach, you forgot to mention how many folks were sent to the GULAG (or just shot outright) during the course of this project.

[@thatdude3938]

And starved

[@gregorywright4918]

For the design, or for failing to accomplish the design?

[@wordsmithgmxch]

@@gregorywright4918 Both, obviously.

[@jnharker]

A bit hard to work out I think. Quite likely in the millions.

[@thatdude3938]

@@wordsmithgmxch executed then sent to GULAG

[@GearGuardianGaming]

Seems i have the task of forwarding this video link to wargaming also. Thanks drach

[@mpetersen6]

Seeing as it was a Russian design how much tonnage was allocated to binoculars?

[@Charliecomet82]

Soviets complete all Sovetsky Soyuz types-American politicians: "We must not allow a battleship gap!"

[@carlambroson8872]

Please review the USS Sable and/or the USS Wolverine.

[@user-rg4sn9by7w]

Not one Russian naval historian with any amount of sanity considers those ships as something good. For example, Miroslav Morozov has several books that describe naval actions in the Black Sea and project 26 and 26bis cruisers were not stellar in those engagements. It must be said that USSR was struggling to build project 7 destroyers and cruisers. Battleships and battlecruisers were a lost cause, though they did provide USSR with experience in building large warships.

[@primastanislaus9184]

It seems actual Russians are more realistic than some ppl saying that these Soviet large capital ships would be "interesting". Do you have the name of the source, translated to English would be preferable but Russian is also fine. Might be interesting read comparing on ship evaluation by respective nation since I already have some notes for British, American and Japanese ship evaluation.

[@user-rg4sn9by7w]

@@primastanislaus9184 I doubt that you can find it in English, but the book is named "Black Sea Fleet in the Great Patriotic War. Brief course of combat actions", author is Miroslav Morozov. Websites Labirint and eksmo may have them on sale. That's where he was describing a cruiser action.

[@josephthomas8318]

What? 20.9 inch main guns? *WG furiously scribbling in a notepad*

[@mwhyte1979]

US Navy: there's a spot that we might be able to put another gun! Soviet Navy: "with horrible accent" Here comrades hold my vodka.

[@vitkriklan2633]

This project is the ultimate example of how USSR (dis)worked. They planed 15 battleships over 50 000 tons each, yet they couldn't even produce rivets of adequate quality. 👌

[@apokalipsx25]

In Soviet Russia you can shoot slower if your comrade asking for this. ( video proof on youtube ) This means if comrade asking you to build a heavy battleship that should be light weight, you take iron and make it not heavy !

[@asfinland]

I am waiting for the Northern Overture rerun

[@johnathansealey9460]

nice video i wonder if you can do a video on the WW2 HMS Trinidad a Crown Colony class light cruiser

[@iansadler4309]

Yes. I'd like Drach's take on the torpedo malfunction.

[@wdubbelo]

at the end its just alright we got something lets try to make it usefull but then the german arive like a ja nice boot *would be a shame if something were to happen to it* and then proceed with doing exactly that

[@greycatturtle7132]

👍a interesting class

[@Losingsince]

Sounds and looks similar to an Iowa, but wider and slower. Look at the conning tower on the proposed drawing

[@bkjeong4302]

It’s basically a less efficient Yamato-similar top speed, bigger, and with less firepower.

[@ronmaximilian6953]

The secondary, tertiary, quartinary, and quinteniary armament of the ships, which would have covered the entire citadel and much of the deck maybe the most American thing the Soviets ever attempted. But on the whole, the expressions "hold my vodka" and "don't explain reality to Comrade Stalin, blame someone else." come to mind. This class is to battleships as the T-35 was to tanks. That's not a compliment

[@nitsu2947]

"You want to deepen our camaraderie ?? Very good, let us start by making a firm handshake part of our regular routine"

[@Rschaltegger]

Ah...WG`s wet dream for the super battleship line of the Soviet tech tree.

[@ToomasKiisk]

42 x 152 mm guns, dear God why?

[@ronaldthompson4989]

Because gotta outgun entire U.K. cruiser force with 1 ship?

[@stevepirie8130]

😂

[@warwickrigby6894]

Where were these ships (almost) built ? Can you confirm that the later Soviet fleet was built in Nikolayev, in the Ukraine ? Naval shipyards of the world would be an interesting subject.

[@gregorywright4918]

Yes, please!

[@jnharker]

According to Wikipedia Sovetsky Soyuz was estimated to be 9.8% completed when the USSR was invaded, Sovetskaya Ukraina 17.98%. At the end of WWII Sovetskaya Rossiya was 0.97 % complete.

[@maicrowsoft8867]

This was the ship that "scared" the Germans to devise plans for the H-class battleships that were supposed to succeed the Bismarck class.

[@alexandermarinin7036]

I'm from the town where Sovetskaya Ukraina was layed down. I have no evidence, but I suspect that one of her turrets base was used as a basis for moving part of unique rotating Varvarovsky bridge in 1957

[@stevepirie8130]

The Soviets were certainly far behind in naval construction and ship design but they sure made up for it. Look at how many classes of submarines and the sheer volume of them built in just a couple of decades. Stalin knew he couldn’t match the Western navies in 1945 hence why they built up from scratch. Getting Italian and German ships and submarines as war reparations helped their designers leap years ahead. During the war Soviet Russia had been given assistance by American and British entrepreneurs in building and running factories and naval shipyards.

[@issacfoster1113]

I remeber reading a meme or so about Sovetsky Soyuz sunked by a single shell form Holstein

[@davidbrennan660]

How many Research Bureaus were liquidated for Counterrevolutionary behaviour and wrecking.... and no recoilless rifles in the making of this video.

[@williamstall4420]

As always a great vid, entertaining and informative.... But... I always feel a little let down when I click on a Drachinifel video and find that it is LESS than four hours long!!! I have to find Drach's collaboration on the Japanese Zero to fill the void...

[@observationsfromthebunker9639]

Soyuz's crazy stats in Azur Lane now justified by the IRL pie in the sky design requirements. That's the fun of AL, all the designs work as intended, without IRL issues.

[@KV_zacc]

It's a game. AND a waifu game. What IRL issues would you expect? AND many players like Soyuz in AL, so we don't mind.

[@issacfoster1113]

Both of her sisters are mediocre at best .

[@DGFishRfine1]

How am I just finding out that this monstrosity nearly existed

[@taccovert4]

And then it was made in Wows, and with the input of stalinium this ship defeats all before it.....