Project 122bis ( NATO codename Kronshtadt class)

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 ...

s were a Soviet design which were exported throughout the

communist bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

in the 1950s. The first ship, BO-270, was built at Zelenodolsk in 1945-1947 and a total of 227 were built for Soviet Navy (175) and border guard until 1955. As well as this, twenty Project 357 (''Libau'' class) despatch vessels were built on the same hull, but were lightly armed.

Service history

The ships served in 1950s–1960s on all Soviet fleets and flotillas in the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Arctic Ocean and Pacific Ocean as part of Soviet coastal

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

defences. Ships were also given to the

Soviet Border Guards The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and were used actively as border patrol ships. Most of the Soviet sub-chasers were decommissioned between 1958 and 1970, although some were in service until the 1990s as training stations. Thirteen of the decommissioned and disarmed ships were delivered to the DOSAAF Voluntary Society for use as

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

Ships

* Built in 1946 (launching year): ** ''BO-270''Letters ''BO'' (Russian "БО") signify "большой охотник", literally "large ubmarinechaser". Since 27.12.1956 all Navy's ships accepted initial letters ''MPK'', Russian "МПК", "малый противолодочный корабль" — small anti-submarine ship. The numbers were remained. Border Guards's ones possessed their own number system and initial letters ''PSKR'', Russian "ПСКР", "пограничный сторожевой корабль", literally "border patrol ship". (laid up 30.06.1945, launched 27.04.1946, commissioned 27.09.1947 on Caspian Flotilla) ** ''BO-171''...''BO-173'' * 1947: ** ''BO-181''...''BO-187'' * 1948: ** ''BO-187''...''BO-195'' * 1949: ** ''BO-196''...''BO-201'' ** ''BO-247''...''BO-255'' ** ''BO-271''...''BO-276'' * 1950: ** ''BO-277''...''BO-300'' ** ''BO-334''...''BO-338'' * 1951: ** ''BO-339''...''BO-354'' ** ''BO-356''...''BO-379'' * 1952: ** ''BO-371''...''BO-402'' * 1953: ** ''BO-403''...''BO-437'' * 1954: ** ''BO-438''...''BO-440'' ** ''BO-446''...''BO-453'' ** ''PSKR-444''...''PSKR-451'', ''PSKR-436'', ''PSKR-437'' ** ''BO-454''...''BO-469'' * 1955: ** ''BO-470''...''BO-480'' ** ''BO-155'' ** ''PSKR-424'', ''PSKR-418'', ''PSKR-407'' ** ''BO-157'' ** ''PSKR-408'', ''PSKR-419'', ''PSKR-425'', ''PSKR-426'' ** ''BO-159''...''BO-163''

Export and transferring

* Albania: ** ''MPK-345'' (1951), ''MPK-346'' (1951) in 1958 (both returned in 1960), ** ''MPK-388'' (1952), ''MPK-389'' (1952) in 1958, ** ''MPK-394'' (1952), ''MPK-450'' (1954) in 1960. * Bulgaria: ** ''94'' (ex-''MPK-160'') (1955) and ''95'' (ex-''MPK-162'') (1955) in 1957. * China: **''BO-379'' (1952), ''BO-380'' (1952), ''BO-393'' (1952), ''BO-395'' (1952), ''BO-396'' (1952), ''BO-397'' (1952) in 1955. ** In addition, 6 hulls were built at Zelenodolsk in 1954, transferred in parts by railway to

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

(2) and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

(4) and commissioned into the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chines ...

, and were designated as the Type 6604 submarine chaser. China had made minor changes during the construction of these boats, the only significant difference between Type 6604 and the original Project 122bis being in the

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

, which was modified to better fit Chinese usage. The original electric stove was replaced by an oil stove, so Chinese foods such as stir fry can be cooked more efficiently; the bread storage cabinet was modified to store rice instead. In addition, some empty areas were fenced up to store canned food. ** Furthermore, 14 built in China with the assistance of Soviet specialists, with 12 completed at the end of 1956 and 2 in 1957. The first Chinese built unit entered service in 1957 and was designated as the Type 04 submarine chaser. During the deployment of Type 6604 in the South China Sea, it was discovered that the original design for arctic and subarctic use was woefully inadequate for tropical and subtropical regions, with temperatures onboard reaching 40+ degrees Celsius. The Type 04 design was modified to address this problem by adding insulation layers and a sprinkler system on the ammo storage boxes to prevent overheat, and canvas shades which can be removed in less than five minutes when needed. In addition nine more fans were added for better ventilation inside. * Cuba: ** ''MPK-462'' (1954), ''MPK-464'' (1954), ''MPK-465'' (1954), ''MPK-479'' (1955), ''MPK-155'' (1955), ''MPK-159'' (1955) in 1962. * Indonesia: ** ''MPK-424'' (1953), ''MPK-426'' (1953), ''MPK-427'' (1953), ''MPK-429'' (1953) in 1958, ** ''MPK-292'' (1950), ''MPK-293'' (1950), ''MPK-294'' (1950), ''MPK-300'' (1950), ''MPK-334'' (1950), ''MPK-382'' (1952) in 1963. These six ships were reconstructed specially for Indonesian Navy by project "06" — with rearming by RBU-1200 rocket launchers and accommodating to tropical service conditions. * Poland: ** ''Czujny'' (ex-''BO-411'') (1953), ''Nieugięty'' (ex-''BO-412'') (1953), ''Zawzięty'' (ex-''BO-417'') (1953), ''Zwrotny'' (ex-''BO-418'') in 1955, ** ''Zwinny'' (ex-''MPK-291'') (1950), ''Zręczny'' (ex-''MPK-296'') (1950), ''Wytrwały'' (ex-''MPK-344'') (1951), ''Groźny'' (ex-''MPK-347'') (1951) in 1957. * Romania: ** ''V1'' (ex-''BO-157'') (1955), ''V2'' (ex-''BO-161'') (1955) and ''V3'' (ex-''BO-466'') (1954) in 1956.

Chinese service history

Two boats of this class, #271 & #274 participated in the Sino-South Vietnamese

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...

in the

Paracel Islands The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands () and the Hoang Sa Archipelago ( vi, Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, lit=Yellow Sand Archipelago), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral ...

on January 19, 1974, with #274 being heavily damaged; however, #274 was able to make it back to the Chinese base at Yongxing Island for emergency repair after the battle, and returned to Hainan Islands the next day. Despite their obsolescence, these boats remained active well into the mid-1990s. Although the ships are no longer capable of venturing into open ocean, these units remain on the

’s list of its reserve fleet, actively used as weaponry training boats for

naval militia A naval militia is a reserve military organization administered under the authority of a state government in the United States. It is often composed of reservists of the Navy Reserve, Marine Corps Reserve, and Coast Guard Reserve, retirees ...

in various military maritime districts in China. Additionally, vessels of this class in Chinese service are used to take Chinese children enrolled in military / naval summer camps and junior military / naval academies for short cruises for patriotic education and public relations missions. Due to the age of these units, however, they are increasingly being used in secondary missions in recent years and according to domestic Chinese media sources, even in this limited capacity, the cruises only consist of short tours within the harbors.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Качур П. И. Большие охотники за подводными лодками проекта 122а/122бис // ''Морская коллекция'', 2004, специальный выпуск No. 1. Project 122a/122bis Large Submarine Chasers. in ''Naval Collection'', 2004, SV 1. * Титушкин С. И. Большие морские охотники проекта 122. Санкт-Петербург, 2001. arge Seagoing Chasers of Project 122 * Also published as

External links

Complete Ship List of all Kronshtadt class submarine chasers
{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Corvette classes Submarine chasers of the Soviet Navy Submarine chasers of the People's Liberation Army Navy China–Soviet Union relations