Svetlana-class cruiser

The Svetlana-class cruiser was the first and only class of light cruisers built for the Imperial Russian Navy. Eight were laid down as part of the 1912–16 shipbuilding program. They were intended to act as scouts for Gangut and Imperatritsa Maria-class dreadnoughts and to lead destroyer flotillas.

Construction was interrupted by World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War. Three ships were completed by the Soviet Union as cruisers, two were converted to oil tankers, and the remaining three were scrapped.

Original program
Svetlana, the first true light cruiser of the Imperial Russian Navy, was largely based on pre-war cruiser designs. Six of 15 guns were placed in casemates. Despite good experience with 152-mm Canet guns, navy standard since 1892, Svetlana employed smaller and inferior 130 mm/55 B7 Pattern 1913 guns.

The concept was formulated in 1912 by Alexei Krylov. Hull was designed by Colonel Sasinovsky and refined by John Brown and Company shipyards in Clydebank who ran a series of scale model tests. Superstructure was initially designed to resemble both Gangut-class battleships and Derzky-class destroyers; tripod masts with raised rangefinders were added in 1920s. Specifications were continuously changed throughout World War I, adding two flying boats, roll dampers etc.