Tashkent (Russian: Ташкент) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer leaders (officially known as Project 20), built in Italy for the Soviet Navy just before World War II.

After repairs were completed in November, Tashkent ferried reinforcements and supplies, evacuated wounded and refugees, and bombarded Axis positions during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1941–1942.

Unsatisfied with the structural weaknesses and construction problems with Leningrad-class destroyer leader,[2] the Soviets decided that they needed foreign design assistance around 1934–1935.

They requested designs for a high-speed destroyer leader from three Italian shipbuilders and accepted the submission by Odero-Terni-Orlando (OTO) in September 1935 as part of the Second Five-Year Plan.

[6] The main armament of the Tashkent class was intended to consist of six 130-millimeter (5.1 in) B-13 guns in three twin-gun B-2LM turrets, one superfiring pair forward of the superstructure and the other mount aft of it.

A twin-gun 39-K mount for 76.2-millimeter (3 in) 34-K AA guns was installed on the stern while she was under repair on 31 August; it had been originally intended for the destroyer Ognevoy which was still under construction.

Although she was escorted by the destroyer Smyshleny as a precaution, Tashkent was able to sail back to Sevastopol under her own power where she was dry docked for repairs that lasted until 1 November.

[12] That day she sailed to Poti, Georgia, one of the new bases for the Black Sea Fleet as approaching German forces had made Sevastopol too dangerous to use.

Kontr-admiral (Rear Admiral) Lev Vladimirsky hoisted his flag aboard Tashkent on 25 November as commander of a convoy of ships bound for the Soviet Far East that consisted of three oil tankers and an icebreaker.

[13] On 1 January 1942, the ship helped to transport elements of the 386th Rifle Division to Sevastopol and she remained there for the next few days, firing 176 main-gun shells in support of the defenders.

On 4 February Tashkent began focusing solely on bombarding Axis defenses; firing over three hundred 130 mm shells before resuming her transport duties on 29 April with the delivery of more replacements to Sevastpol.

[14] After having loaded 2,100 wounded and part of the Siege of Sevastopol Panorama, Tashkent departed for Novorossiysk, but was attacked by numerous bombers on 27 June that failed to hit the ship directly.

When they assessed her wreck in 1943 they found that the boiler and turbine compartments had been destroyed by the bombs, her hull plating, decks, superstructure, and five transverse bulkheads were damaged and her keel was broken.