Did Russia build any warships during WW2? If so, which?

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 19 Jan 2003 07:29 PST

Dear graham_c,

What is your time frame for WWII? I suppose, 1 September 39 (German
invasion of Poland) - 2 September 1945 (Japanese surrender). Or do you
only mean the time span the Soviet Union was actively involved in the
war, from 22 June 1941 to 2 September 1945?
Also, what warships exactly are you interested in? Only major units,
like battleships and cruisers? Or also minor units, like torpedo boats
and destroyers? Only surface vessels or also submarines?
Furthermore, I would humbly recomment rising the amount offered a bit,
since such a question requires extensive research.

Best regards,
Scriptor

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Clarification of Question by graham_c-ga on 20 Jan 2003 03:15 PST

Thanks for the effort. To be honest, I'm asking the question of behalf
of somebody else in order to settle an argument, so it's hard to know
exactly the parameters of the question! I'd guess they are interested
only in major units and submarines, and the period of Russian
involvement only should be sufficient.

I hope you don't mind my cutting in here. I do warship modeling, so I
just couldn't resist a warship question.

Russia was building some ships during World War 2, but the most
important ships never saw action at all. The most notable warship
Russia had begun building during World War 2 was the 60,000-ton
Sovietski Soyuz class battleship (see the names below). This was to be
equal to the Iowa class battleships in terms of firepower, but had
more armor. The German invasion interrupted their construction, and
after the war, the USSR was to continue building them, but they were
cancelled. Imagine what the Cold War would have been like if the
Russians didn't scrap the Soyuz.

Worthy of note are the plans for two 40,000-ton battlecruisers, the
Stalingrad and Moskva. Their construction was actually started after
the war, but Moskva was broken up in 1954, and Stalingrad became a
target ship at the same time.

The Russians were left to fight with the recently rebuilt Marat class
battleship (former Petropavlovsk class of 1914). Other ships of this
class were the Gangut (Oktyabrskaya Revolutsia), Sevastapol
(Parizhskaya Kummuna) and Poltava (Mikhail Frunze) England lent the
battleship Royal Sovereign to the USSR, which was renamed the
Arkangelsk, in 1944. It was returned in 1949 and immediately scrapped.

I compiled a list, arranged by class, of some significant ships Russia
was building in World War 2.

Name				Date laid down - commissioning

Battleships:			
Sovietski Soyuz			July 15, 1938 - scrapped
Sovietskaia Ukraina 		Oct 31 1939 - scrapped
Sovietskaia Rossia 		July 22 1940 – scrapped 
Sovietskaia Belorussia 		Dec 21 1939 - scrapped

Battlecruisers:
Kronshtadt 			July 15 1939 - scrapped
Sevastopol 			Nov 5 1939 – scrapped 

Cruisers:
Kuibishev			Aug 31 1939 – April 20, 1950
Kaganovich 			Aug 26 1938 – Dec 9 1944
Kalinin 			Jun 12 1938 – Dec 31 1942
Frunze 				Aug 29 1938 – Dec 19 1950
Molotov 			Jan 14 1937 – June 14 1941
Voroshilov 			Oct 15 1935 – June 20 1940 
Chkalov 			Aug 31 1939 – Nov 1 1950
Maksim Gorky 			Dec 20 1936 – Oct 25 1940
Zheleniakov 			Oct 31 1939 – Apr 19 1950
Chapayev 			Oct 8 1939  - May 16 1950

Destroyers:
Since there are many, may I direct you to warships1.com cited below.

As for Russian submarines during World war 2, I saw references to subs
in action. I could not locate any resources on the Internet about
Russian submarine construction in World War 2. Most likely the subs
the Russians used in WW2 were built before the war.

Internet sources:
Russian Ships Building in 1939
http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/139017/8330/a0.htm

Russian Ships building in 1945
http://navalhistory.flixco.info/H/139021/8330/a0.htm

Warships1.com - Russian warship page
http://www.warships1.com/Russia.htm

Real History and the Cowardice of German Historians – Russian
submarine S13 sank the Wilhelm Gustloff
http://www.fpp.co.uk/History/General/Gustloff/Grass060202.html

Another reference on the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster
http://www.click2disasters.com/gustloff/wilhelm_gustloff_ch1.htm

Maritime Disasters of the Second World War 
http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/maritime.html
- Russian Submarine SHCH-213 sinks the SS Struma

Printed source: 
The World’s Great Battleships: From the Middle Ages to the Present by
Robert Jackson, Amber Books Ltd (2000).

Google Search Strategy:
russian ships world war building
russian submarine world war two/2

I also looked up warships1.com, which I am familiar with.

Hope this gives you the information you need to settle your argument.
;)

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Clarification of Answer by techtor-ga on 21 Jan 2003 00:21 PST

I have been lazy to put in some details on the destroyers. Most
Russian destroyers in World War 2 were under construction before the
war. They were completed as the war raged and they later saw action.
Classes of these include the Minsk, Grevny and Storezhevoy. The
Leningrad class is a pre-war design, two of which were sunk in the
war.

The Osmotritelny/Vnushnitelny Class was built during World War Two,
but did not see action. They were completed after the war.

Tashkent (only one of this was built) was built for the USSR by Italy.
It was sunk on July 2,1942 by Ju88s (I/KG76) in Novorossiysk.

Source:
Warships1.com - Russian destroyers
http://www.warships1.com/Russian_destroyers.htm

Great, thanks! Sounds like a pretty comprehensive answer to me - I'll
pass it on to the arguees and see if that settles it!

Thank you very much and may the argument be settled in your favor, graham_c! :)