Soviet destroyer Sovershenny (1940)

Sovershenny (Совершенный) was one of 18 s (officially known as Project 7U) built for the Soviet Navy during the late 1930s. Although she began construction as a Project 7, Sovershenny was completed in 1941 to the modified Project 7U design. The ship struck a mine while running her acceptance trials in September. While under repair in November, she was hit by two bombs that virtually wrecked her; the Soviets subsequently disarmed her. Repairs resumed in early 1942 until Sovershenny was sunk by another bomb in June. Her wreck was scrapped in late 1945.

Design and description
Originally built as a Gnevny-class ship, Sovershenny and her sister ships were completed to the modified Project 7U design after Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, ordered that the latter be built with their boilers arranged en echelon, instead of linked as in the Gnevnys, so that a ship could still move with one or two boilers disabled.

Like the Gnevnys, the Project 7U destroyers had an overall length of 112.5 m and a beam of 10.2 m, but they had a reduced draft of 3.98 m at deep load. The ships were slightly overweight, displacing 1727 MT at standard load and 2279 MT at deep load. The crew complement of the Storozhevoy class numbered 207 in peacetime, but this increased to 271 in wartime, as more personnel were needed to operate additional equipment. Each ship had a pair of geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller, rated to produce 54000 shp using steam from four water-tube boilers, which the designers expected would exceed the 37 kn speed of the Project 7s because there was additional steam available. Some fell short of it, although specific figures for most individual ships have not survived. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Project 7Us varied from 1380 to 2700 nmi at 19 kn.

The Project 7U-class ships mounted four 130 mm B-13 guns in two pairs of superfiring single mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by a pair of 76.2 mm 34-K AA guns in single mounts and three 45 mm 21-K AA guns, as well as four 12.7 mm DK or DShK machine guns. They carried six 533 mm torpedo tubes in two rotating triple mounts amidships. The ships could also carry a maximum of 58 to 96 mines and 30 depth charges. They were fitted with a set of Mars hydrophones for anti-submarine work, although these were useless at speeds over 3 kn.

Construction and career
Sovershenny was laid down at Shipyard No. 200 (named after 61 Communards) in Nikolayev as yard number 1073 on 15 October 1936 as a Gnevny-class destroyer with the name Besstrashny. She was relaid down as a Project 7U destroyer in 1938 at Shipyard No. 201 (Sergo Ordzhonikidze) in Sevastopol as yard number 245, and launched on 25 February 1939. The ship was renamed Sovershenny on 25 September 1940 and was 90% complete when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 (Operation Barbarossa). While conducting her sea trials off Chersonesus on 30 September, she accidentally entered a Soviet minefield. The ship struck a mine that blew a 30 sqm hole in her hull, which flooded both forward boiler rooms and the forward engine room. Sovershenny was towed back to Sevastopol to be drydocked for repairs the following day.

During an attack by German aircraft on 12 November, the destroyer was struck by two bombs, possibly dropped by Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka"s of the Second Group of Dive-bomber Wing 77 (II./StG 77). The bombs broke Sovershenny's back and started extensive fires aboard her. They also damaged the drydock so that it flooded and the water gave the ship a 25° list. Two days later, she was struck by a pair of 150 mm artillery shells. Sovershenny was disarmed over the next month and her guns were used to form a coastal artillery battery. The drydock was repaired on 20 February 1942 and repairs resumed, but she was sunk by a bomb on 8 June. Her wreck was refloated and scrapped on 28 October 1945.