Pyotr Velikiy

In 1907, the Naval General Staff developed the Naval Warfare Development Program of 1909–1919. The tender for the best draft design of "an armored cruiser for the Baltic Sea" was organized for Russian and foreign shipyards in 1911. The solution proposed by Blohm & Voss stood out for its layout—the main battery guns were installed in superfiring turrets. The ship, with eight 356 mm guns housed in four turrets and twenty-four 130 mm secondary guns, was reminiscent of German battlecruisers of that time; however, in terms of her armor, she was similar to the Gangut-class battleships.