Riga class

Project 50

Project 50 frigate in 1983

Ship data Ship type frigate Shipyard * Kaliningrad Mykolaiv Amur Construction period 1953 to 1958 Units built 68 period of service 1954 to 1990s

Ship dimensions and crew length 90.90 m ( Lüa ) width 10.20 m Draft Max. 2.90 m displacement empty: 1,050 t Use: 1,337 t   crew 168

Machine system machine 2 × steam pressure turbine Machine performance 2 × 10,010 PS (7,362 kW) Top speed 29 kn (54 km / h) propeller 2

Armament 3 × 1 100mm L / 56 B-34 2 × 2 37-mm-L / 67-W-11 flak 1 × 6 RBU-200 anti -submarine missile launcher 1 × 2 torpedo tubes ∅ 533 mm

Project 50 , with the code name Gornostai (Russian: Горностай = Hermelin), was a class of destroyer escorts that was built in the Soviet Union for the Soviet Navy . The ships of the project were later reclassified as frigates . The NATO called Project 50 as Riga class .

Development and construction

The contract for the planning of a multi-purpose warship for the Soviet Union was given in 1950. The future ship class was named Project 50 . The planning was to be completed by 1952, which was not achieved until 1953. By 1958, 68 ships had been built in three Soviet shipyards. Some were delivered to allied states, four of them to the People's Navy .

Hull and drive

The ships had a welded metal hull in longitudinal and transverse frame construction, in which crucial sections such as the bridge, the ammunition bunker and the gun turrets were additionally reinforced with a splinterguard made of 7 to 8 mm steel. Steam pressure turbines of the type TW-9 with a total of 21,000 hp could accelerate the ship to up to 29 knots with two screws at 386 revolutions per minute. Later, however, the maximum speed was set at 25 knots in order to prevent machine problems, as the blades were repeatedly torn off when the turbines were being tested. The vibrations responsible for this , which occurred at high power levels, could not be eliminated by the turbine manufacturer.

Armament and use

SKR-61 Gornostay , 1970s

The main armament of the class consisted of 100 mm L / 56 guns B-34, which were manually reloaded and reached a rate of fire of 15 rounds per minute with a maximum range of about 22 km. For the first time in this class it was possible to aim and fire all guns manually or remotely via the control center. The use of the main artillery was possible up to a sea ​​state of strength 6.

For air defense, two double-barreled water-cooled W-11M guns of caliber 37 mm L / 67 were installed in open gun stands. Each gun had an operating crew of three soldiers and was a theoretical cadence of up to 360 shot per minute reach. Air targets up to a distance of 4000 meters could be fought with appropriate ammunition .

The torpedoes were mounted in a rotating launcher on the upper deck. Initially unguided 53-39-PM torpedoes were used, which were later replaced by homing weapons. An RBU-200 or BMB-1 anti-submarine missile launcher was also installed.

Sensors

The ships had a Pegas type sonar to search for submarines , a Nakat-M navigation radar and fire control radar.

Modifications

Just a few years after commissioning, the weapons for submarine hunt were modernized, the MBU-200 was replaced by two RBU-2500 anti-submarine missile launchers and the torpedo and depth charge systems were also upgraded. Especially those of the People's Republic of China delivered and the local license production of the Riga class were greatly modified, so that when the Jianghu-I , the torpedo tubes and parts of the air defense armament removed and replaced with container for heavy class, a 100-mm gun turret anti-ship missiles were replaced .

Units in the People's Navy

KSS Karl Marx of the People's Navy , 1974

From 1959 to approx. 1969, four former Soviet units of the Riga class served in the naval forces of the GDR and the People's Navy of the GDR : Ernst Thälmann , ex Олень ( reindeer ), Karl Marx , ex Тур ( aurochs ), Karl Liebknecht , ex Соболь ( Zobel ) and Friedrich Engels , ex Енот ( raccoon ).

Current Status

There are no longer any frigates of this type in service. The last ship of this class under the German flag was the Ernst Thalmann of the People's Navy , which was decommissioned 1977th

The Navy of the People's Republic of China continues to operate some frigates of the Jianghu-class, derived from the Riga-class, as training ships. The Myanmar Navy will receive two ships in 2012, the former Anshun (FFG 554) and Jishou (FFG 557). They have hull numbers F21 and F23 in Burma.

Evidence and references

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] B-34 at navyweapons.com
2. ↑ [2] W-11 at flot.sevastopol.info, Russian
3. ^ Norman Friedman: The Naval Institute guide to world naval weapon systems. 2006, ISBN 1-55750-262-5 .

literature

• С.С. Бережной: Сторожевые корабли ВМФ СССР и России 1945-2000. (For example: SS Bereschnoi: Guard ships of the Navy of the USSR and Russia. ) Moscow 2000 (Russian).

Web links

Commons : Riga class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Riga class at atrinaflot ( Memento from October 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)
• Project 50 at globalsecurity.org (English)
• History of project 50 at mks-kss.de