The episode covers the 180 mm-gunned Project 26 cruisers, the first new cruiser class built by the Soviet Union. Their shared Kirov name can cause confusion with the much later Project 1144 nuclear-powered cruisers. Those nuclear ships are briefly linked to the United States recommissioning the Iowa-class battleships before being reserved for a companion video. Project numbers, gun calibre, and chronology separate the two generations of Soviet surface combatant. That distinction keeps the rest of the design history focused on the correct ships.
Chapter · 0:05-2:08
The Project 26 Kirovs and their nuclear namesakes
The opening distinguishes the 180 mm Project 26 cruisers of 1936 from the later Project 1144 nuclear-powered Kirovs and links the latter to Iowa-class recommissioning.