''Hiddensee'' is a former East German Navy

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

, now part of the

Battleship Cove Battleship Cove is a nonprofit maritime museum and war memorial in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States. Featuring the world's largest collection of World War II naval vessels, it is home to the highly decorated battleship . It is located at ...

site at

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The City of Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States Census, making it the tenth-largest city in the state. Located along the eastern shore of Mount H ...

. Originally a

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, ...

vessel, the corvette was transferred first to the East German Navy, then to the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...

, and ended her career in the United States.

Ship history

The Tarantul I-class missile corvette was launched in 1984 at the Petrovsky Shipyard in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia. She was commissioned in 1985 by the East German ''

Volksmarine The ''Volksmarine'' (VM, ; en, People's Navy) was the naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The ''Volksmarine'' was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a coasta ...

'' as ''Rudolf Egelhofer'', but after the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

in 1990, she was transferred to the German Navy and renamed ''Hiddensee''. After decommissioning in April 1991, she was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. As

USNS United States Naval Ship (USNS) is the prefix designation given to non- commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy (USN). Definition United States Naval Ships are unarmed auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy ...

''Hiddensee'' (185NS9201), the ship was extensively evaluated at the

Naval Air Warfare Center Naval Air Warfare Centers are research organizations within Naval Air Systems Command. The centers are grouped within the following divisions: Aircraft division The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) conducts research, development, ...

Solomons, Maryland Solomons, also known as Solomons Island, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,368 at the 2010 census, up from 1,536 in 2000. Solomons is a popular weekend ...

, and used for naval exercises. Following naval budget cuts, the ship was removed from service in April 1996, and joined the

fleet on 14 June 1997.

References

External links

WilliamMaloney.com: ''Hiddensee''
Photos of the ''Hiddensee'', Battleship Cove Naval Museum, Fall River, MA {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiddensee Museum ships in Massachusetts Fall River, Massachusetts Museums in Bristol County, Massachusetts Military and war museums in Massachusetts Corvettes of the Volksmarine 1984 ships Corvettes of the German Navy Ships built in the Soviet Union Ships built in Saint Petersburg Tarantul-class corvettes