Exposure to German Wagner boilers encouraged the ambition to develop Soviet high-pressure machinery. The stated operating pressure was 1,000 psi, with a target speed of 42 knots on a ship of roughly 1,700 tons. Leningrad's approximately 2,400-ton standard displacement provides the comparison. Actual speed is given as 35 knots. The design also used welding to save weight and a unit machinery layout intended to limit the machinery lost to one torpedo hit. These were useful ideas, but they accompanied a large technological leap for an industry rebuilding its experience.
Chapter · 23:39-25:35
Opytny and the ambition of a 1,000 psi destroyer
Project 45 sought 42 knots from a roughly 1,700-ton destroyer using experimental 1,000 psi boilers.