The ship was constructed at the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad, Soviet Union and was launched on 5 July 1950.

The lead ship of the last class of gun cruisers of the Soviet Navy, Sverdlov spent most of her career making ceremonial port visits to allied and non-allied nations.

They were built in the 1950s and were based on Soviet, German, and Italian designs and concepts developed prior to the Second World War.

They were modified to improve their sea keeping capabilities, allowing them to run at high speed in the rough waters of the North Atlantic.

The basic hull was more modern and had better armor protection than the vast majority of the post Second World War gun cruiser designs built and deployed by peer nations.

The Soviets originally planned to build 40 ships in the class, which would be supported by the Stalingrad-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers.

[1] Sverdlov-class cruisers main armament included twelve 152 mm (6 in)/57 cal B-38 guns mounted in four triple Mk5-bis turrets.

From 24 December 1960 to 14 July 1961 and 12 February to 29 April 1966, the ship underwent a major overhaul in Leningrad after being decommissioned from the Navy, mothballed and laid up.

On 16 to 22 April 1974, the cruiser visited Algeria and from 21 to 26 June 1974, the ship stopped at Cherbourg, France.