World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseLike most of her sisters, light cruiser Maxim Gorkiy was named after a famous Russian politician. She was assigned to the Baltic Fleet in late 1940 and performed training duties until the German invasion of the Soviet Union. Upon the German invasion, she immediate departed to escort minelayers in the eastern Baltic, but hit a German minefield on 23 Jun 1941 and was forced to enter the drydock at Kronshtadt, Russia for repairs; both Maxim Gorkiy and destroyer Gnevny lost their bows from the explosions, with the latter lost. Between 3 and 21 Jul 1941, she had a new bow installed, and on 12 Aug she conducted new machinery trials. As the German troops neared Leningrad, she supported the defensive garrison by providing naval gunfire. On 4 Apr 1942, she was targeted by more than 70 bombs; two of them were near misses, and none hit. On 24 Apr, she was once again attacked, this time by 150 bombs and 50 artillery shells; near misses killed three and wounded five. On 25 and 27 Apr, near misses heavily damaged radios, rangefinders, boiler number 3, and a turbine. She was refitted during the winter of 1942-1943, receiving additional armor for her upper deck. In the spring and summer of 1943, she resumed her role as a naval gun platform. In Jan 1944, she supported the efforts to break the siege of Leningrad, firing 701 rounds from her primary guns during the combat. In Jun 1944, she supported Russian troops during the Vyborg-Petrozavodsk Offensive against the Finnish defenses of the Mannerheim Line. She remained in Leningrad until the end of the war. On 25 Feb 1946, she arrived at Liepaya, Latvia. In Dec 1950, she performed trials with the first Soviet shipboard helicopter Ka-10. In the summer of 1953, she was inactivated for a major refit, but by 1955 Russian naval leaders thought that she could not be modernized sufficiently. Modernization work was halted in 1955, and she was sold for scrap in 1959.

Photographs

Maxim Gorkiy Operational Timeline