Well, for starters, "Type B battleship" was not exactly a project — it was a concept, for a small (relatively) battleship capable of destroying any cruiser up to and including
Deutschlands, and later its intended tasks were expanded to also fighting other "small battleships", like German
Scharnhorsts and Japanese
Kongos.
To this concept, several actual designs were created, of which I have specs for two.
The first was
Project 25 by TsKBS-1 (ЦКБС-1, Central Design Bureau for Shipbuilding №1), designed in late 1936:
View attachment 759838
It displaced 30900 tons standard and 37800 full, and had 35 kts speed. Armament inclided of nine 305mm/55 guns (three triple turrets), twelve 130mm/50 single-purpose guns (six twin turrets), eight 100mm/56 dual-purpose guns (four twin turrets), and six quadruple 37mm anti-aircraft autocannons. Aviation armament included four seaplanes and two catapults. Armor consisted of 200mm main and 125mm upper belt, and three armored decks (from up to down: 25mm, 40mm and 90mm). Given Soviet design practice, the belt probably extended all the way to bow and stern (as it did in Project 23 aka
Sovetsky Soyuz-class), but that's just my speculation.
In May 1935 an improved version was designed, with main belt thickness increased to 250 mm and main armored deck to 125 mm, with 25mm upper deck apparently eliminated. Standard displacement increased to 35950 tons, and maximum speed fell to 33,5 kts. All other characteristics were unchanged, aside from some increase in engine power.
Later it was decided that Project 25 is too weak, so in December 1937 another, larger design was born —
Project 64 by TsKB-17 (ЦКБ-17, Central Design Bureau №17). Unfortunately, the closest thing to its historical blueprints we currently have is this Shipbucket-style drawing:
View attachment 759840
It displaced 48000 tons standard and about 53000 full, speed was 29 kts. Armament consisted of nine 356mm main guns (three triple turrets), twelve 152mm/57 secondary guns (six twin turrets), four twin 100mm/56 DP guns and eight quadruple 37mm AA autocannons. Armor was 385mm main belt and three armored decks: 40, 20 and 150 mm from up to down.
And then Soviet admirals looked at this thing and thought: "It's almost as large as «Type A» battleship, but inferior in armament and armor... so what's the point?" So, Project 64 was scrapped, as was "Type B battleship" in general. It was later revived as Project 69 (Kronshtadt-class) "heavy" cruisers, but, as one famous Russian actor says, "
that's a completely different story".
coollib.com
