Project 1400

Project 1400

Ukrainian Project 1400M patrol boat, 2004

Ship data Ship type Patrol boat Shipyard * Shipyard 532, Leningrad "More" - Feodosiya Construction period 1969 to 1990 Units built about 300 period of service Since 1969

Ship dimensions and crew length 23.8 m ( Lüa ) width 5 m Draft Max. 1.9 m displacement Standard: 35.9 t maximum: 39.7 t   crew 9

Machine system machine 2 × M401A diesel Machine performance 2 × 1,100 PS (809 kW) Top speed 29 kn (54 km / h) propeller 2

Armament various machine guns , see details in the "Variants" section

Project 1400 , code-named Zhuk-Class by NATO , is a series of small patrol and border protection boats that were developed in the Soviet Union during the Cold War , built in large numbers and exported to numerous countries. The alias of the project was "Grif" ( Russian "Гриф" = Greif).

development

In 1967 the ship class was developed at the “Almas shipyard” in Leningrad as a solution for numerous tasks, which in addition to classic patrol and border protection tasks also included the translation of pilots , search and rescue tasks .

The sea endurance was designed to be low with only five days of deployment without supply, and the crew of only nine seamen was correspondingly small.

technology

hull

The hull of the first versions consisted of aluminum plates that were riveted to the frames . In the later series, however, the segments were prefabricated and welded.

There are three large compartments and a small bow room in the hull. Starting from aft:

• In the stern: the steering gear, the two engines with steering position, a bulkhead separates the engine room from the next compartment. A watertight hatch allows access.
• Midships: two small cabins, each with a bunk and a staircase for superstructure. A bulkhead without an access hatch separates this compartment from the bow compartment.
• In the bow: a small mess and additional berths as well as a separate staircase that connects the mess with the structure on deck.

A closed steering position with the controls for the ship's command was placed on the hull, above is the open observation deck with an alternative steering position for good weather, two small searchlights and a simple ring sight, with which the gun fire can be steered in armed variants of the class.

drive

The drive system consists of two M401A marine diesel engines that are installed as inboard engines . Each one drives a propeller via a shaft . The two propellers can accelerate the boats to speeds of up to 30 knots.

The exhaust gases from the engines are pushed out of the ship on the ship's sides just above the waterline .

Sensors

The boats are equipped with radar for air and surface searches. The sensor of the type "Lotsija" (NATO: "Spin Trough") is attached to the mast and works in the X-band . The transmitter of the friend-enemy identification system "Khrom" is installed on the top of the mast .

variants

A Soviet Project 1400M boat and one that apparently belongs to the Project 1400A in Batumi in 1987

Cuban Project 1400ME boat with two UTES-M towers in 1984

Georgian Project 1400 boat with ZSU-23-2 cannon on the left edge of the picture. On the right is a project 1400 boat with a UTES-M tower on the forecastle.

Four armed and one unarmed version of Project 1400 have been developed:

Project 1400

This project was designed as a border patrol boat for border troops of the KGB . The armament was a double 2-M7 mount with two 14 mm L / 93 automatic cannons mounted on top of each other on the forecastle. The weapon has a protective shield on the front, but is otherwise not armored. The crew operating the weapon must be outdoors. A collimator lens allows targets that are fast up to 200 meters per second to fight. Targets with speeds of up to 300 meters per second can be set up with a conventional ring sight.

Some boats were instead equipped with the 2-M1 turret, in which two older 12.7 mm L / 79 DSchK machine guns were mounted parallel to the axis. The construction was enclosed by a protective shield, but open at the top.

A searchlight was installed on the stern behind the driver's cab .

Project 1400A

This version had no armament and accordingly the crew size was smaller with only seven sailors.

Project 1400E

In this version, the armament has been doubled based on Project 1400. It carries a double mount 2-M7 with two 14 mm L / 93 automatic cannons mounted on top of each other on the forecastle and on the stern. Some boats were instead equipped with two 2-M1 turrets with 12.7 mm DSchK machine guns.

Project 1400M

On the back is a closed UTES-M-gun turret was here with two axially mounted 12.7 mm NSW -Maschinengewehren installed. The tower has ROM-6 optics that can track targets at speeds of up to 300 meters per second. There is another searchlight at the stern.

The diesel engines have been replaced by the improved M401BT variant. Due to the weight of the machinery, the water displacement increased to 36.5 t standard and 40.0 t maximum. The speed increased by one to 30 knots. For the segment design, used here for the first time in Project 1400, the plans and dimensions changed slightly and the boats were around two meters shorter than the previous versions at 21.7 meters.

In this version, too, some ships carried one of the two older armament variants.

1400ME project

A UTES-M turret was erected here on both the forecastle and the stern.

Further modifications

The Georgian Navy equipped at least two of their Project 1400 boats with two ZSU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns .

Boats of the 1400 project

About 300 boats of Project 1400 were built, including about 100 for export. The majority was built at the Black Sea shipyard “More” in Feodosiya , the rest in Leningrad . The boats were exported to the following countries, among others:

• Algeria , a boat
• Angola , a boat
• Equatorial Guinea , three boats
• Ethiopia , four boats
• Benin , a boat
• Bulgaria , fourteen boats
• Guinea , seven boats
• Iraq , five boats
• Cambodia , two boats
• Cameroon , three boats
• Cape Verde , three boats
• Congo, three boats
• Cuba , 40 boats
• Mauritius , two boats
• Mozambique , three boats
• Nicaragua , eight boats from Cuba
• Seychelles , two boats
• Somalia , a boat
• Syria , eight boats
• People's Democratic Republic of Yemen , four boats
• Vietnam , fourteen boats

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, numerous boats from Project 1400 and its variants fell to the newly formed states and partial republics. In this way, 32 boats became the property of Ukraine . The Grif , which Estonia preserved as a museum ship, was also a Soviet boat .

Calls

Project 1400 and its versions were, as evidenced by the combination of short-range weapons and lack of armor protection, never designed for confrontations with enemy ships or aircraft that were themselves heavily armed. The documented successful combat missions are limited to surprise attacks on land and ship targets that were unable to defend themselves.

Other missions mostly ended disastrously:

Gulf Wars

At the beginning of the Second Gulf War , which lasted from 1990 to 1991, Iraq had five Zhuk-class boats that had been delivered to it by the Soviet Union between 1974 and 1975.

A-6 Intruder bombers sank one boat each on January 23rd and 24th, 1991. One on the 23rd, near a tanker that was supplying the Iraqi ships. The second on 24.

When remnants of the Iraqi navy set out to flee to Iranian ports at the end of January and beginning of February 1991 , they were caught by British Lynx helicopters, with a third Zhuk boat sunk by Sea Skua missiles and another damaged.

In the first days of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, what remained of the Iraqi Navy, including the two remaining Zhuk-class units, were destroyed from the air.

Abkhaz-Georgian War

On 7 July 1993 before attacked Poti two from Sukhumi coming Zhuk patrol boats under the command of the Abkhazian separatists, accompanied by a few motor boats that Georgian on "Gantiadi". The former Soviet fleet cutter, improvised armed by the Georgians with two ZSU-23-2 twin machine cannons and two machine guns, was able to repel the attack and sink one of the Zhuks and two of the motor boats.

Evidence and references

Remarks

1. ↑ “Spin Trough” is described as an I / J band radar in publications of the Janes Information Group, for example in Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-2005 by Stephen Saunders, 2004, ISBN 978-0710626233 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Norman Friedman: The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems , p. 278
2. ↑ ^{a b} UTES-M at vadimvswar.narod.ru, viewed on February 2, 2012 ( memento of the original from October 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Norman Friedman: The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems. P. 469.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Considerations on the Georgian Navy on redbannernorthernfleet.blogspot.com, viewed on January 31, 2012
5. ↑ Chronological listing, Second Gulf War, on history.navy.mil, viewed on January 25, 2012
6. ^ The Lessons of Modern War - Volume IV - The Gulf War. (Chapter 10), Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 15, 1994, p. 883, viewed February 2, 2012 (PDF; 283 kB)
7. ↑ Lynx deployment history on the-grey-lynx.com. Viewed on January 29, 2012 ( memento of the original from September 13, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ^ Spencer C. Tucker: The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts. ABC Clio, 2010, ISBN 978-1851099474 , p. 597.
9. ^ Marine News, Volume 57, World Ship Society, p. 469.

literature

• Юрий В. Апальков: Корабли ВМФ СССР. Том II. Ударные корабли. Часть II. Малые ракетные корабли и катера. (For example: Yuri W. Apalkow: Ships of the Soviet Navy. - Part II “Submarine Ships”, Section 2 “Small Missile Ships and Boats”. ) Galea Print, 2004, ISBN 5-8172-0087-2 ( Russian).

Technical systems:

• Norman Friedman: The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems. US Naval Institute Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1557502629 (English).

Web links

Commons : Project 1400 class  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Project 1400 at atrinaflot.narod.ru ( Memento from March 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)
• Project 1400, ship list at russian-ships.info (Russian)
• Project 1400, plan drawings and photos on hot.ee (Russian)