Design model of the heavy cruiser type “Stalingrad”

The initiator of the construction of Project 8₂ cruisers, also known as heavy cruisers type “Stalingrad”, was personally Josef Stalin. The Soviet leader dreamed of creating a large ocean-going fleet that would be an equal rival to the fleets of the capitalist powers. Three ships of Project 8₂ were laid down in Leningrad, Nikolaev and Molotovsk (now Severodvinsk) but not one was completed, because country’s leadership changed priorities after Stalin’s death. The Generalissimo’s dream was realized later in the 1960-1970-s when the ocean-going nuclear missile fleet of the USSR became one of the most powerful in the world//1948