The Soviet Project 183R class, more commonly known as the Komar class, its

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

reporting name, meaning "

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

", is a class of

missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...

s, the first of its kind, built in the 1950s and 1960s. Notably, they were the first to sink another ship with

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...

s in 1967.

Design

The Project 183 motor torpedo boat (MTB) was designed just after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. These boats were armed with two

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s and were used extensively by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

coastal forces in the 1950s. The torpedo boat had a wooden semi-planing hull and was fitted with

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

. Over 622 MTBs were built. A

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War I ...

variant fitted with

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

and

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

s was also built as was a radio-controlled target boat. In 1956, the

P-15 Termit The P-15 ''Termit'' (russian: П-15 "Термит"; en, termite) is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was ''Styx'' or SS-N-2. China ...

missile became available (

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform man ...

: SS-N-2 "Styx"). The Project 183 proved to be a natural choice for mounting the new missiles, giving the small, fast boats great firepower for their size. The new combination was designated Project 183R (R apparently for ''raketny'' - rocket), the first missile boat in service anywhere in the world. The missiles could be fired in

sea state In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and Swell (ocean), swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the ...

4. A total of 112 Komars were built between 1956 and 1965 and served in the Soviet Navy, along with several allied navies, until the 1980s, when they were replaced by newer, more capable

fast attack craft A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defens ...

Export ships

* - 6 boats 1967 * - 8 boats (1961) plus about 40 built under licence. The Chinese also built a steel-hulled derivative as the Type 024 class missile boat * - 18 boats * - 7 boats (1962–67), retired in the early 1990s; The

Egyptian Navy The Egyptian Navy ( ar, القوات البحرية المصرية, El-Quwwāt el-Bahareya el-Miṣriyya, Egyptian Navy Forces), also known as the Egyptian Naval Force, is the maritime branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is the largest navy ...

built 6 derivative boats equipped with western weapons and electronics in the early 1980s as the * - 12 boats (1961–65) * - 3 boats (1972) * - 6 boats donated between 1969 and 1974, all retired between 1998 and 2002. * - 10 boats * - 9 boats * - 4 boats

Combat use

* 1967 October 21 - Egyptian Navy Komar-class missile boats sank Israeli

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

in the first combat use of

anti-ship missiles. This was the first time a ship had sunk another ship using guided missiles. * 7 October 1973 - Two Syrian Navy Komar-class missile boats along with an Osa I-class missile boat, a K-123 torpedo boat and a T43-class minesweeper fought unsuccessfully against four

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

s and one in the Battle of Latakia. Other Syrian missile boats fired missiles from within the harbor that mistakenly or due to malfunction hit civilian craft in the harbour.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* ** Also published as

External links

Complete Ship List of all Komar class missile boats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Komar Class Missile Boat Missile boat classes Missile boats of the Soviet Navy Missile boats of the Algerian National Navy Missile boats of the Cuban Navy Missile boats of the Egyptian Navy Missile boats of the Indonesian Navy Missile boats of the Iraqi Navy Missile boats of the Korean People's Navy Missile boats of the People's Liberation Army Navy Missile boats of the Syrian Navy Missile boats of the Vietnam People's Navy