 The August 1938 shipbuilding plan envisioned a total of 15 Project 23 @-@ class battleships , and this grandiose scheme was only slightly revised downward to 14 ships in the August 1939 plan . Eight of these were to be laid down before 1942 and the remaining six before 1947 . However , only four were actually laid down before the outbreak of World War II forced the Soviets to <unk> their ambitious plans . On 19 October 1940 an order was issued , signed by Stalin and <unk> , that no new battleships would be laid down in order to concentrate on smaller ships ' building ( and also , probably , because more resources were required for the Army ) , one ship is to be scrapped , and priority should be given to only one of the three remaining battleships . 
