Krasny Kavkaz
Contents
Description
The Svetlana-class, Krasny Kavkaz, 1944 is a rank III Soviet light cruiser with a battle rating of 4.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.79 "Project X" when the Soviet fleet was implemented into the game.
The Krasny Kavkaz's unusual configuration reflects her complicated history. Originally named Admiral Lazarev, she was originally designed as an improved Svetlana-class cruiser for the Imperial Russian Navy and armed similarly with 130 mm guns. After the October Revolution, she was renamed Hetman Petro Doroshenko before being completed by the Soviets under her final name. Unable to fit the intended four twin 180 mm gun turrets into her small hull, the Soviets settled for four single 180 mm gun turrets.
General info
Survivability and armour
Originally designed as a light cruiser, Krasny Kavkaz has relatively thin armour, capable of keeping out destroyer guns but not much more. The lower 75 mm main belt extends along the length of the entire ship at the waterline. The upper belt is only 25 mm thick, as is the protection of the main gun turrets and their barbettes.
The main armoured deck consists of only 20 mm of anti-fragmentation armour. There is a second upper 25 mm anti-fragmentation deck armour plate over the machinery space, as well as some 20 mm armour protecting the base of the funnels. Finally, another 20 mm anti-fragmentation plate divides the machinery space lengthwise, which helps prevent both sides of the machinery space from being disabled at the same time.
The bridge is fairly well-protected by 125 mm of vertical armour and 75 mm on the roof and floor. The secondary 100 mm guns and anti-aircraft machine guns have 8 mm anti-fragmentation protection but are not fully enclosed.
The main gun magazines are located at the waterline directly underneath the turrets. Combined with the thin deck protection and unimpressive lower belt thickness, these are vulnerable to penetrations by cruiser main guns.
Krasny Kavkaz has a large crew complement of 878, which makes her relatively resilient to crew attrition.
Mobility
Krasny Kavkaz has relatively mediocre mobility for a cruiser. Her acceleration and turning are fairly sluggish, but her top speed is about average.
| Mobility Characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
| Forward | Reverse | ||
| AB | |||
| Upgraded | 63 | 29 | |
| RB/SB | |||
| Upgraded | 54 | 25 | |
Modifications and economy
| Seakeeping | Unsinkability | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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As with the other bluewater ships, researching Tool Set and Fire Protection System should be your first priority to help the ship survive much longer. After that, researching the 180 mm SAP shell is recommended as this shell has a very high damage potential compared to the APCBC shell. Then you can choose to either go for mobility or survivability upgrades depending on your preference. The time-fused shells should be your last modification as the ship already has a great suite of anti-air cover.
Armament
Primary armament
Krasny Kavkaz's main armament consists of four 180 mm B-1-K guns in four single turrets. They have a maximum rate-of-fire of 4 rounds/minute, which is faster than the heavier 203 mm/8-inch guns found on most contemporary heavy cruisers but slower than almost all light cruisers. While quite powerful thanks to their high muzzle velocity and potent shells, the relatively slow reload and small number of guns mean that the results of each broadside are heavily affected by the guns' dispersion, especially at longer ranges. They also mean that her damage output using only the main guns is quite underwhelming.
The 180 mm guns have four available shell types: OF-32 (HE), PB-32 (SAP), B-32 (AP), and ZS-32R (HE-TF). Furthermore, the SAP contains 7 kg TNT, its penetration is also more than enough against most contemporary cruisers the Krasny Kavkaz will face. The AP shell has considerably more penetration, but only a 2.49 kg TNT equivalent filler. The HE-TF shell has slightly less filler than the basic HE shell. Given the low rate-of-fire, using the main guns in the anti-aircraft role is questionable at best.
| Penetration statistics | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
| 1,000 m | 2,500 m | 5,000 m | 7,500 m | 10,000 m | 15,000 m | ||
| 180 mm OF-32 | HE | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 | 60 |
| 180 mm B-32 | APCBC | 424 | 386 | 331 | 285 | 246 | 191 |
| 180 mm PB-32 | SAPBC | 206 | 188 | 161 | 138 | 120 | 93 |
| 180 mm ZS-32 | HE-TF | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 | 58 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (s) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (kg) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| 180 mm OF-32 | HE | 920 | 97.5 | 0 | 0.1 | 7.9 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
| 180 mm B-32 | APCBC | 920 | 97.5 | 0.01 | 9 | 2.49 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| 180 mm PB-32 | SAPBC | 920 | 97.5 | 0.01 | 9 | 7 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| 180 mm ZS-32 | HE-TF | 920 | 97.5 | 0 | 0.1 | 7.52 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Secondary armament
The secondary armament consists of six twin 100 mm "Minizini" gun turrets, three on each side of the ship, two single 76 mm 34-K guns, one on each side of the ship at the stern, and two single 45 mm 21-K guns either side of the aft fire director tower. The 100 mm "Minizini" guns have only two choices of shell: HE and HE-TF (AAC). The HE-TF shell has slightly more TNT equivalent (2.06 kg) than the basic HE shell (1.91 kg). They have a maximum rate-of-fire of 12 rounds/minute. Given the low damage output of the main guns, these guns can be very useful in supplementing the main guns, especially against destroyers. They are also the primary long-range anti-aircraft armament.
The 76 mm 34-K and 45 mm 21-K guns have maximum rates-of-fire of 27 and 30 rounds/minute respectively, and do not get any choice of shell. They are therefore relatively limited in use, though can be useful against patrol boats that get too close.
Anti-aircraft armament
The Krasny Kavkaz has a rather diverse mix of anti-aircraft armament, consisting of ten 37 mm 70-K automatic guns, two quadruple .50-inch Vickers heavy machine guns, and two 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine guns. Of these, the 37 mm guns are the most effective against aircraft, as the heavy machine guns are only really effective at close range. Collectively, they can also be quite dangerous against coastal boats that dare to approach too closely, however.
Additional armament
The Krasny Kavkaz has four triple torpedo tubes, two on each side of the ship. These fire the 45-36NU torpedo. Despite its small diameter (450 mm), it carries a much larger warhead than typical at 284 kg. It has a base range of only 3 km and a base speed of 76 km/h. With the torpedo mode installed, the range is extended to 6 km at the cost of the speed being reduced to only 59 km/h.
Usage in battles
Krasny Kavkaz plays like no other cruiser in the game. Due to the low number of main gun barrels, the main gun battery is quite unreliable and inconsistent because of the inherent dispersion of the guns. Her numerous fast-firing secondary guns are very helpful in improving her damage output. It is highly recommended to enable the "Main and auxiliary caliber shooting with one button" option in the Controls menu for the Krasny Kavkaz, thus eliminating the need to switch between the main and secondary guns while the main guns are reloading. Due to the very different ballistics of the main and secondary guns, it can be very difficult to hit moving targets consistently with both batteries at long range, although this can be negated by closing the distance.
The Krasny Kavkaz has relatively good anti-aircraft armament, although it requires manually aiming the guns in order to be most effective, especially the 37 mm guns.
Her armour protection is relatively decent against destroyer fire, but is not sufficient against even light cruiser AP shells due to the thin deck and belt armour. Her main gun magazines are fairly large and situated close to the waterline, and are therefore vulnerable to even moderately plunging fire. The main gun turrets are only thinly protected, and multiple unenclosed secondary guns can be disabled with even a single HE shell due to their placement. She has a very large crew complement relative to her contemporaries, but due to the poor protection she suffers a lot of crew attrition.
The torpedoes are too short-ranged and the ship is too cumbersome for them to be a viable offensive weapon. However, they can be used as a last ditch defence, though it is always important to keep in mind that torpedo tubes can detonate when hit if they are not empty, which causes a considerable amount of damage to the ship.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Above average main gun muzzle velocity.
- Main gun HE and SAP shells have more explosive filler than those of larger 203 mm guns.
- Large secondary gun battery.
- Large anti-aircraft battery.
- Heavily armoured bridge.
- Above average crew complement.
Cons:
- Below average main gun damage output due to small broadside and long reload.
- Below average manoeuvrability.
- Below average torpedo range and speed.
- Vulnerable main gun magazine placement.
- Vulnerable to crew attrition from HE shells disabling unenclosed secondary and anti-aircraft guns.
- Secondary guns do not have AP or SAP ammunition.
History
The Krasny Kavkaz or as it was initially named, the Admiral Lazarev, was a ship of the Svetlana-class light cruisers, laid down in 1913 for the Imperial Russian Navy at the Russud dockyard. The ship's construction went according to plan through the duration of The Great War(WW1) until the outbreak of the October Revolution in Russia in late 1917 caused construction to cease, with the ship being just above halfway completed.
After capturing the mostly intact ship, the Soviets decided to complete its construction and renamed it to Krasny Kavkaz in late 1926. The ship was completed to a modernized design, changing its initial layout and armaments significantly, in order to meet modern requirements. After more than two decades, the Krasny Kavkaz was finally commissioned into service with the Navy in January 1932 as the most advanced Soviet cruiser of the time.
The ship's career was already off to a bad start however, as only months after leaving the drydock, she suffered severe damages to the bow after colliding with another light cruiser. After her bow was extensively rebuilt, she made several visits to ports in Greece, Turkey and Italy in 1933. Prior to the German invasion of the USSR, she underwent one more retrofit, which greatly increased her anti-aircraft armament.
The service life of the Krasny Kavkaz during WW2 was defined by her involvements in numerous Black Sea operations, most notably around the coastal cities of Odessa, Sevastopol, Novorossiysk and the Kerch peninsula. However, she also took part in various other missions, including convoy escorts, troop transport, fire support and many more. After Stalin forbade the use of large naval vessels without his personal consent in 1943, Krasny Kavkaz saw no further action, marking the end of her wartime service.
After WW2, Krasny Kavkaz was converted to a training ship in 1947 and was later used as a target ship in 1952, before being sunk by an anti-ship cruise missile.
- From Devblog
Media
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See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
| Shipyard named after 61 Communards (Судостроительный завод имени 61 коммунара) | |
|---|---|
| Destroyers | |
| Project 7U | Soobrazitelny |
| Project 30 | Ognevoy |
| Project 30-bis | Bezuprechny |
| Project 56 | Blagorodnyy · Bravy |
| Light Cruisers | |
| Svetlana-class | Krasny Kavkaz* |
| Battleships | |
| Imperatritsa Mariya-class | Imperatritsa Mariya* |
| *Previously Russud Shipyard | |
| USSR light cruisers | |
|---|---|
| Imperial Russia | |
| Svetlana-class | Krasny Krym* · Krasny Kavkaz* |
| * Laid down by Imperial Russian Navy; Finished and renamed by the USSR | |
| Project | Soviet Union |
| Pr.26 | Kirov · Voroshilov · Maxim Gorky |
| Pr.68 | Chapayev · Zheleznyakov |
| Pr.68-bis | Sverdlov · Mikhail Kutuzov |
| Pr.68-bis-ZiF | Shcherbakov |
| Lend-Lease | USA |
| Omaha-class | Murmansk |
| Trophies | Italy |
| Condottieri-class | Kerch |
