The ''Orkan'' class or ''projekt 660'' ( NATO code: Sassnitz class) is series of three

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 defensive ...

of the Polish Navy, in service since 1992.

History

The original project was prepared by the German Democratic Republic for its navy and was named ''Project 660'', it also received the NATO reporting name "Sassnitz". After the Unification of Germany the unfinished

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

s were bought by the Polish Navy from VEB Peenewerft shipyard in Wolgast and successfully completed by Northern Shipyard in

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. In 2006, Ministry of Defence ordered 36 RBS-15 Mk 3 anti-ship missiles to equip the ships. Since 2007, they carried RBS-15 Mk 2 missiles as interim armament. RBS-15 Mk 3 missiles were first deployed in 2014. Since 2015 ''Orkan'' and ''Piorun'' underwent a 19-month, mid-life refit.

List of ships

The lead ship of the class is named ''Orkan'' ( pl, Hurricane), while other two ships are ''Piorun'' ( pl, Thunderbolt) and ''Grom'' ( pl, Thunderclap). and were famous Polish destroyers of the Second World War. ''Orkan'' was to have been the first destroyer constructed in Poland, but her construction was interrupted by the start of the World War II.

Gallery

File:ORP Orkan NTW 11 93.jpg, ''Orkan'' before modernisation File:ORP Piorun.JPG, ''Piorun'' File:OPR Grom.jpg, ''Grom'' in 2008 armed with 8 RBS-15 Mk2 File:ORP Grom (korweta).JPG, ''Grom'' in 2011, armed with 4 RBS-15 Mk2

References

*{{cite web, title=''okręty rakietowe projektu 660, typu Orkan (NATO: Sassnitz).'', url=http://www.mw.mil.pl/index.php?akcja=orkan, publisher=Polish Navy, accessdate=3 August 2011, language=Polish, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925084643/http://www.mw.mil.pl/index.php?akcja=orkan, archive-date=25 September 2017, url-status=dead Orkan-class corvettes of the Polish Navy Missile boats of East Germany Ships built in Wolgast Ship classes of the Volksmarine