Qualla: Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny

Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny: Introduction

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The ship's components were fabricated in one country, assembled in another, served a third, and now sit as a museum in a fourth. Reshitelny began life as hull number 324 at a shipyard on the Black Sea, was disassembled and transported by rail across the breadth of Siberia, reassembled at Komsomolsk-on-Amur on the Pacific, sold to China a decade later, and today rests in the coastal city of Rushan, Shandong. Few warships have traveled so far without ever firing a shot in anger.

Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny: Italian Lines, Soviet Steel

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the 1930s, the Soviet Navy wanted cheaper, smaller destroyers to complement its expensive flotilla leaders. Unable to design them domestically, the navy turned to Italy and licensed the plans for an existing Italian destroyer class. Soviet engineers then modified the design fo...

Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny: Assembly Required: A Trans-Siberian Warship

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Major components for Reshitelny were laid down at Shipyard No. 198 in Nikolayev (now Mykolaiv, Ukraine) on August 23, 1936. But the Pacific Fleet needed ships, so the parts were loaded onto railcars and sent east across the entire Soviet Union to Shipyard No. 199 at Komsomolsk-on...

Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny: Armed to the Teeth

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Gnevny-class ships carried serious firepower for their size. Four 130-millimeter B-13 guns were arranged in superfiring pairs fore and aft. Anti-aircraft defense relied on two 76.2-millimeter guns, two 45-millimeter guns, and a pair of 12.7-millimeter DShK machine guns. Six t...

Soviet Destroyer Reshitelny: From Red Fleet to Red China

Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Reshitelny spent her Soviet career with the Pacific Fleet without seeing major combat. In 1955, as part of a broader transfer of military equipment from the Soviet Union to the People's Republic of China, she was sold to the People's Liberation Army Navy and renamed Changchun. Sh...