Soobrazitelny-class destroyer

Class overview
The Soviet destroyer Smyshlyonyy
Operators:	Soviet Navy
Preceded by:	Gnevny class
Succeeded by:	Ognevoy class
Built:	1936–1942
In service:	1940–1963
Completed:	18
Lost:	9
Retired:	9
General characteristics
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,727 tonnes (1,700 long tons; 1,904 short tons) (standard) 2,279 tonnes (2,243 long tons; 2,512 short tons) (full load)
Length:	112.5 m (369 ft 1 in)
Beam:	10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
Draught:	3.98 m (13 ft 1 in)
Propulsion:	2-shaft GTZA-24 geared steam turbines 4 watertube boilers 60,000 shp (44,740 kW) (trials)
Speed:	40.28 knots (74.60 km/h; 46.35 mph) (trials)
Endurance:	1,490 nmi (2,760 km) at 19 knots (35 km/h)
Complement:	207 (271 wartime)
Sensors and processing systems:	Arktur hydrophone
Armament:	4 × 1 – 130 mm (5.1 in) B-13 guns 2 × 1 – 76.2 mm (3.00 in) 34-K AA guns 3 × 1 – 45 mm (1.8 in) 21-K AA guns 4 × 1 – 12.7 mm (0.50 in) DK or DShK machine guns 3 × 2 – 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes 58–96 mines 30 depth charges

The Soobrazitel'nyi class were destroyers built for the Soviet Navy in the early 1940s. The Soviet designation was Type 7U or Uluchshennyi (improved). The ships fought in World War II. They were modified versions of the Gnevny class. The design was finalised in 1936 after initial disappointments with the Type 7 ships. The main changes were unit machinery (four boilers instead of three), a strengthened hull and reduced fuel capacity. The anti-aircraft guns were resited to improve firing arcs.

Yakubov and Worth state that the change to unit machinery was due to an incident when HMS Hunter was stopped due to machinery damage by a mine during neutrality patrols in the Spanish Civil War. The incident reported at a meeting where Joseph Stalin was present and he ordered that the ships be redesigned with unit machinery in order to enable a ship to move in case one of the two boiler or engine rooms were incapacitated. This change in design saved Slavniy following mine damage in 1941 but led to a considerable delay in the Soviet destroyer programme and the cancellation of six Type 7 ships.

Fitting the extra machinery in the same hull presented significant challenges, leading to an increase in weight, cramped accommodation and reduction in fuel capacity. These changes led Soviet sailors to call the Type 7U, 7 Ukhudshennyi (ухудшенный, made worse).

Later in the war electronic equipment such as radar and sonar were supplied by the Allies for these ships.

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