Stalin appointed the energetic 36-year-old Nikolai Kuznetsov to lead the navy in 1939 after his rapid rise through command, advisory work in Spain, and leadership of the Pacific Fleet. Experienced Imperial-era officers who had survived the purges supplied continuity in staff work and shipbuilding as the new team revised operational tasks and technical requirements. Japanese expansion in China and border fighting in the Far East elevated the Pacific Fleet above the Baltic in Soviet threat planning. The resulting 1947 program assigned twelve Project 68 cruisers to a projected force of battleships, battlecruisers, destroyers, and patrol ships intended to confront the Imperial Japanese Navy.
Chapter · 29:34-36:54
Kuznetsov's navy plans Project 68 against Japan
A young Nikolai Kuznetsov and surviving Imperial-era specialists revise Soviet plans around the Japanese threat, assigning twelve Project 68 cruisers to the future Pacific Fleet.