Part of my Terragrandia cross-world AU. Heavily inspired by the Soviet Project 40 destroyer design.
Preliminary entry; should add some additional variants within the extension.
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The new communist government that ruled the nation of Galdioslavia (a Russia/East Slav-esque nation in this universe)—that started as a renegade state backed by the terrestrial Soviets in the country's region of Vechnavoda, culminating in a two-year civil war that finally toppled the ruling Republican government in 1949—began the reconstruction of its armed forces, particularly the disposal of the most obsolete and uneconomical assets in inventory and introduction of new ones. Among the first fruits of the program for the Galdioslav People's Navy was the Type 50-1 destroyer, which was basically a realization (and refinement) of a Republican-era project for a 3,000-ton "large destroyer" that was more ocean-worthy and utilized heavier armament compared to its predecessors, highlighting the desire of reinvigorating the Republican Galdioslav Navy's diminished global projection at the time (which in turn was picked up by the succeeding Galdioslav People's Navy for their own ambitions). This generation of destroyers would become the backbone of the People's Navy's destroyer force for the 1950s and early 1960s.
The first vessel,
Razrushitel ("Destroyer," in the literal sense), was laid down on June 1950, launched on December that year, and put to service on August 1951, on schedule.
Type 50-1 class destroyer
Length: 127.15 m (417.16 ft)
Beam: 12.5 m (41.01 ft)
Draft: 4.3 m (14.11 ft) standard
Displacement: 2,950 t standard
Propulsion: 2× 32,500 hp (24,235 kW) steam turbines (4 boilers, 2 shafts)
Top speed: 34.5 kts (63.89 km/h; 39.70 mph)
Range: 3,500 nmi (6,482 km; 4,028 mi) at 15 kts (27.78 km/h; 17.26 mph)
Complement: 302
Armament:
· 3×2 122 mm (4.8 in)/49 UA-122-48B guns
· 3×2 52 mm (2 in)/73 UA-52-49 guns
· 2×5 533 mm (21 in) UT-P533-47 torpedo tubes
· 2× RBPL-50 anti-submarine rocket launchers
· 2× BMB-1 depth charge projectors
· 2× racks for BB-1 depth charges
Key sensors:
· SRV-12V "Crimp Edge" air-search radar
· Gyuys-1M "Cross Bird" air-search radar
· SRN-6 "Shell Piece" surface-search radar
· SUV-8 "Top Box" fire control director for UA-122-48B
· SUV-11A "Stone Keep" fire control director for UA-52-49
· SEP-4 "Tea Tube" ECM
· SEO-2B "Root Tops" IFF aerial set
· SGA-7 hull-mounted sonar
Boats:
· 2× 7 m (23 ft) motor boats
· 1× 5.5 m (18 ft) boat
The class used the Galdioslavs' principal dual-purpose naval gun, the 122 mm/49 Ob.40 gun, in three UA-122-48B twin mounts, directed by the SUV-8 director (equipped with an SRU-3V radar, augmented by the SRU-6 height-finding radar); secondary armament utilized the potent Ob.48 52 mm (actual bore caliber 51.8 mm) automatic gun (feared by Galdioslav People's Army pilots when it was introduced late in the civil war in early 1949) in three UA-52-49 twin mounts, controlled by SUV-11A fire control systems; small-caliber automatic AA guns were foregone. Torpedoes utilized were the Republican 533 mm systems in quintuple mounts. Two 12-round RBPL-50 160 mm rocket launchers provided ahead-thrown anti-submarine weapons capability.
On the foremast sat the SRN-6 surface-search and Soviet-built Gyuys-1M secondary air-search radar sets, plus SEO-2B IFF antenna sets on its yardarms; an SEP-4 ECM pod and an SRV-12V air-search radar were carried in the mainmast.
Later builds added the Soviet 110-PM 25 mm automatic gun in two 2M-3 twin mounts, and BMB-2 mortar-type depth charge projectors replacing the "K-gun"-type BMB-1 projectors. Introduction of more Soviet systems became more apparent in the final builds with the advent of Soviet-made 533 mm torpedoes and launch tubes, and electronic gear.
48 vessels were ordered initially in 1950, later increased to 60 in 1953, until production was halted in 1955 with the launching of the 46th ship, to make way for more capable destroyer classes (which would become the Type 56-3) in light of advancements in military technology in Terragrandia (mainly from terrestrial technology), although 5 more vessels were produced for export to 3 of Galdioslavia's allies in their planet between 1952 and 1956.
This is
Razrushitel in 1965, after undergoing reconstruction and modernization a year prior (alongside 15 of her sister units) to improve her anti-submarine and anti-air warfare capabilites under the Type 50-1A project code. Two RBU-2500 anti-submarine rocket launchers were fitted in place of the fore RBPL-50 and UA-52-49 stations. The new SGA-11B hull-mounted sonar, as well as the expanded ASW role of the ship, necessitated a larger command-and-control facility, installed where the fore torpedo station used to be. The remaining torpedo station was replaced with a Soviet-made one. The 52 mm secondary guns gave way to Soviet 57 mm/75 guns, in four single ZiF-71 and one quad Zif-75 mounts (the latter replacing one of the after 122 mm main gun) directed by a single Fut-B "Hawk Screech" fire control system. Her main guns' fire controls were brought up to the standard of her late-production sisters, namely the installation of the newer SRU-7 ranging radar on the SUV-8 main gun director and SRU-9 local ranging radomes in place of the local fire control posts of two of the main gun turrets.
On her foremast
Razrushitel carried a Neptun surface-search and Don navigation radar sets, while on the rebuilt mainmast a Fut-N "Slim Net" air-search radar and an SEP-8 "Half Loaf" ECM antenna were installed; a pair of Nikhrom "Square Head" trainable IFF antenna sets were equipped on both masts. The relatively bulky SER-3 "Oak Stump" ESM pod was installed on an elevated platform in place of the SUV-11 directors.
Eight of the Type 50-1As (as with a handful of other vessels in the main class) underwent latter-life refits under the Type 50-1A2 designation, primarily involving the installation of the 4K33 Osa-M (SA-N-4 "Gecko") SAM system replacing the ZiF-75 mounting. Five ships, such as
Razrushitel, exemplified such refit—the lower-deck portholes were sealed up, their fore 57mm mounts were landed in favor of Fut-B FCSs, and the SER-3 ESM, which suffered reliability issues throughout its operational use, was replaced with SER-4 "Stub Pair" paired ESM sets; the SEP-8 was upgraded to the SEP-8A model as well. The SRU-7 radar on the after main gun was also removed for some reason, presumably due to spares shortages.
Razrushitel would spend the rest of her career in this configuration, where she would be retired in May 1980 and cut up for scrap in 1982–83.
Changelog:
·1951 v001: Masts revised and air-search radar positions swapped
·1951 v002: Pennant number revised and underwater hull color palette resolved
·Added 1965 and 1974 versions