The PO-class consists of three small multi-role transport ships. They were built for the

Yugoslav Navy The Yugoslav Navy ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска ратна морнарица, Jugoslavenska ratna mornarica, Yugoslav War Navy), was the navy of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1992. It was essentially a coastal defense force with the miss ...

by indigenous design made by Brodoprojekt Rijeka in the early 1980s at the BSO shipyard,

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

, known as the Lubin class by

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 No ...

. They had a primary function of replenishing warships of the Yugoslav Navy with weapons, and as such were designated PO, short for ( sr, Pomoćni oružar) (Ammunition Auxiliary)Prézelin and Baker 1990, p. 941. The first of class, ''Lubin'' (PO-91), remains in service, now in the

Montenegrin Navy The Montenegrin Navy ( Montenegrin: ''Mornarica Vojske Crne Gore'') is the naval branch of the military of Montenegro. The Montenegrin Navy was established in 2006 following the secession of Montenegro from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegr ...

Characteristics

The ships has long, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a mean draught of .

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

was standard and full load. Two B&W-Alpha

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s with a total rating of drive two shafts, giving a speed of . The ship had a range of at . The ship was fitted with a

bow visor A bow visor is a feature of some ships, in particular ferries and roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers ...

and bow ramp to aid loading and unloading of vehicles, with two slewing cranes on the upper deck. The main cargo deck could accommodate up to six small tanks like PT-76, while 150 fully armed troops could be carried in addition to the ship's crew of 43. Because of its

RO-RO Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usin ...

design it was possible to use ships from this class in their secondary role as

Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship, Tank (LST), or tank landing ship, is the naval designation for ships first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto shore with ...

. Ships where originally armed with defensive weapons. Ships that were sold were disarmed before delivery to new owners.

Similar class ships

Kumbhir-class tank landing ship ''Kumbhir''-class landing ships are medium amphibious warfare vessels of the Indian Navy.Ropucha-class landing ship The Ropucha class (Polish for ''Toad''), Soviet designation Project 775, is a class of landing ships (large landing ship in Soviet classification) built in Poland for the Soviet Navy. The ships were built in Poland in the Stocznia Północn ...

Alligator-class landing ship The Soviet designation Project 1171 (Tapir-class) landing ship ( NATO reporting name: Alligator) is a class of Soviet / Russian general purpose, beachable amphibious warfare ships (Soviet classification: large landing ship, russian: БДК, бо� ...

Polnocny-class landing ship The Polnocny (or Polnochny)-class ships are amphibious warfare vessels. They were designed in Poland, in cooperation with the Soviet Navy and were built in Poland between 1967 and 2002. They now serve in several different navies, and some ha ...

References

{{Reflist Ships of the Yugoslav Navy