Having decided on the specifications of the large 40-knot (74 km/h; 46 mph) Leningrad-class destroyer leaders, the Soviet Navy sought Italian assistance in designing smaller and cheaper destroyers.
They licensed the plans for the Folgore class and, in modifying it for their purposes, overloaded a design that was already somewhat marginally stable.

The Gnevnys had an overall length of 112.8 meters (370 ft 1 in), a beam of 10.2 meters (33 ft 6 in), and a draft of 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in) at deep load.
The ships were significantly overweight, almost 200 metric tons (197 long tons) heavier than designed, displacing 1,612 metric tons (1,587 long tons) at standard load and 2,039 metric tons (2,007 long tons) at deep load.
Their crew numbered 197 officers and sailors in peacetime and 236 in wartime.

The ships were powered by two geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed 3.18-meter (10 ft 5 in) propeller using steam provided by three water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of 26.5 kg/cm² (2,599 kPa; 377 psi) and a temperature of 350 °C (662 °F).
The turbines, rated at 48,000 shp (36,000 kW), were intended to give the ships a speed of 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph).
The designers had been conservative in rating the turbines and many, but not all, of the ships handily exceeded their designed speed during their sea trials.
Others fell considerably short of it; Boyky reached 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) during her trials in 1943.
Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between 1,670 to 3,145 nautical miles (3,093 to 5,825 km; 1,922 to 3,619 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Having decided on the specifications of the large 40-knot (74 km/h; 46 mph) Leningrad-class destroyer leaders, the Soviet Navy sought Italian assistance in designing smaller and cheaper destroyers. They licensed the plans for the Folgore class and, in modifying it for their purposes, overloaded a design that was already somewhat marginally stable.
The Gnevnys had an overall length of 112.8 meters (370 ft 1 in), a beam of 10.2 meters (33 ft 6 in), and a draft of 4.8 meters (15 ft 9 in) at deep load. The ships were significantly overweight, almost 200 metric tons (197 long tons) heavier than designed, displacing 1,612 metric tons (1,587 long tons) at standard load and 2,039 metric tons (2,007 long tons) at deep load. Their crew numbered 197 officers and sailors in peacetime and 236 in wartime.
The ships were powered by two geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed 3.18-meter (10 ft 5 in) propeller using steam provided by three water-tube boilers that operated at a pressure of 26.5 kg/cm² (2,599 kPa; 377 psi) and a temperature of 350 °C (662 °F). The turbines, rated at 48,000 shp (36,000 kW), were intended to give the ships a speed of 37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph). The designers had been conservative in rating the turbines and many, but not all, of the ships handily exceeded their designed speed during their sea trials. Others fell considerably short of it; Boyky reached 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) during her trials in 1943. Variations in fuel oil capacity meant that the range of the Gnevnys varied between 1,670 to 3,145 nautical miles (3,093 to 5,825 km; 1,922 to 3,619 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Gnevny-class destroyer