The Project 664 (

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 manne ...

''Wisla'') class were Polish torpedo boats, designed in Poland in the 1970s. They were one of the few vessels of this size, powered by a

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...

, and could achieve a great speed.

Development

In the late 1950s the Polish Navy decided to develop fast torpedo boats of own design, to supplement Soviet-origin project 183 (P-6) class torpedo boats. It was decided to use a gas turbine for propulsion and arm them with four torpedo tubes. Due to lack of previous experience in designing such craft, development was very long. In order to test the technology, a single experimental project 663D torpedo boat was built, ORP ''Błyskawiczny''. Her building started in 1961 and she entered service in 1965. Trials revealed some faults, and further development work was carried out. The result were the boats of the final project 664. They shared a similar silhouette, hull shape and a propulsion fit of 4 diesel and a TM-1 gas turbine engine in a

CODAG Combined diesel and gas (CODAG) is a type of propulsion system for ships that need a maximum speed that is considerably faster than their cruise speed, particularly warships like modern frigates or corvettes. Pioneered by Germany with the , a CO ...

arrangement. The gas turbine itself was an adaptation of a licence-built

Klimov VK-1 The Klimov VK-1 was the first Soviet jet engine to see significant production. It was developed by and first produced by the GAZ 116 works. Derived from the Rolls-Royce Nene, the engine was also built under licence in China as the Wopen WP-5. ...

aircraft jet engine. The gas turbine being used at speeds above 12 knots. From 1968, eight boats were built in Stocznia Północna (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 ...

. They were given numbers from KTD-452 to KTD-459 (an abbreviation of ''kuter torpedowy duży'' - "torpedo boat, large") and names.

Service

The boats entered service in the Polish Navy in 1971–1972, and were assigned to the 3rd Navy Flotilla (along with ORP ''Błyskawiczny''). The design was overall not successful. First of all, the hulls, made of

hydronalium Hydronalium is a family of aluminium-magnesium alloys. It is an alloy predominantly of aluminium, with between 1%-12% of magnesium as the primary alloying ingredient. It also includes a secondary addition of manganese, usually between 0.4%-1%. Th ...

(

aluminium alloy An aluminium alloy (or aluminum alloy; see spelling differences) is an alloy in which aluminium (Al) is the predominant metal. The typical alloying elements are copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, tin, nickel and zinc. There are two principal ...

), had limited durability, especially when sailing at high speed on a rough sea, resulting in cracks. Propulsion was also not optimal, the gas turbine was not fuel efficient limiting range, and there were problems with the gearing of paired engines. The boats were very compact, and were not comfortable for the crews, being cramped, noisy and prone to vibration. Their advantage of very high top speed, was however limited by sea conditions. Due to service problems and wear, project 664 class boats were relatively quickly phased out in the 1980s, after only 9 to 14 years of service. Orp odwazny 6

The only one preserved was ORP ''Odważny'' - in 1990 it was given to the

White Eagle Museum The White Eagle Museum ( pl, Muzeum im. Orła Białego) is a Polish military museum located in the town of Skarżysko-Kamienna in the central Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, opened in 1969. Museum The museum has a large collection of Russian, Polish ...

Skarżysko-Kamienna Skarżysko-Kamienna is a city in northern Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in south-central Poland by Kamienna river, to the north of Świętokrzyskie Mountains; one of the voivodship's major cities. Prior to 1928, it bore the name of ''Kamienna''; i ...

. Its original twin 30 mm

AK-230 The AK-230 is a Soviet fully automatic naval twin 30 mm gun. Its primary function is anti-aircraft. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar. AK-230 is widely used, mounted on big warships as well as small craft. ...

gun is however replaced with twin 25 mm 2M-3M gun.

List of boats

{{Commons category, ORP Odważny (ship, 1973)

References

* Teodor Makowski, Robert Rochowicz: ''Polskie kutry torpedowe - jednostki seryjne'' in: Morze, Statki i Okręty nr 2/2006 (Polish language) Torpedo boat classes Torpedo boats of the Polish Navy Torpedo boats of the Cold War