Design
Ordered under the First Five-Year Plan the three Project 1 destroyer leaders were intended to lead flotillas of destroyers in combat. Rather than copy the British concept of a slightly enlarged version of the standard destroyer like HMS Codrington was for the A class destroyers, the Soviets chose to copy the French contre-torpilleurs like the Vauquelin-class, a series of very large and very fast destroyers that weren't intended to cooperate with other, slower destroyers. When the Leningrads were being designed the only destroyers in service for them to lead were old, ex-Tsarist ones that were only capable of 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h), but they were designed for 40 knots (46 mph; 74 km/h). These ships were the largest yet built from the keel up by Soviet shipbuilders and were plagued with delays and design issues as the Soviets were overambitious for their level of experience, having only previously built the Uragan-class guard ships, only one-third the size of the Leningrads.
The three Project 38 ships were ordered under the Second Five-Year Plan and were slightly larger than their Project 1 half-sisters, but otherwise identical.
Read more about this topic: Leningrad Class Destroyer
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