On January 26th, 1952, a Project 41 destroyer named Andrey Aleksandrovich Zhdanov embarked on sea trials from the Leningrad Shipyard. It was the first of more than a hundred planned ships that were intended for operation in distant maritime zones.

But this impressive major ship series did not see the light of day, and not because the ship proved to be bad. In fact, it was the opposite! The Neustrashimy was so “stuffed” with multiple innovations that it proved to be too complex for the shipbuilding enterprises of the time, as well as for its operators, the navy. For this reason, the ship was converted into a platform for testing various naval innovations and modernisations. In 1960, one of these innovations practically doubled the number of 45 mm automatic anti-aircraft guns.