The T43 (Projet 254) were a class of open-ocean

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s built for the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

from 1948 to 1957. It was exported to

client state A client state in the context of international relations is a State (polity), state that is economically, politically, and militarily subordinated to a more powerful controlling state. Alternative terms for a ''client state'' are satellite state, ...

s; the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

produced additional ships. Some hulls were converted to other uses by various users. Examples remained in service in 2015.

Design

The hull is made of

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

. Early ships were long with a straight-up bridge structure. Later ships were long with a double-level bridge structure and added 25 mm guns.

Operators

; / Albania received 3 from the Soviet Union in 1960. One retired in 2011, and the second had retired by 2015. ; / Algeria received two from the Soviet Union in 1968. One was cannibalized for parts by 1989. The last was retired by 2009. ; Bangladesh ordered a new ship from China in 1993, based on the Chinese T43 variant, which entered service in 1996. The Tamir-II sonar was replaced by a C-Tech sonar in 1998. It was used mainly as a patrol ship. An order for three more ships was not fulfilled. ; / Bulgaria received three short-hulled ships from the Soviet Union in 1953. By 1989, one was cannibalized for parts and another was used as a

spy ship A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship. Sp ...

. All were retired by 2009. ; The People's Republic of China received about four short-hulled ships from the Soviet Union in the 1950s. China constructed over 60 of a variant called Type 6610 or Type 010, most of which were of the long-hull type. Production began in 1956 and continued to at least the early 1990s. Some were converted for other roles, including patrol, surveying, submarine rescue, and civilian research. ; Federation of Arab Republics (1972-1984) / Egypt received seven ships from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. By 2015, three were in service with the remainder disposed of. ; Indonesia received six ships from the Soviet Union, four in 1962 and two in 1964. None were in service by 1989. ; / Iraq received two ships from the Soviet Union in 1969. None were in service by 2009. ;* / Poland built 12 ships from 1957 to 1962, including four short hulls. Of the short hulls, one was converted into a spy ship, one was retired in 1987, and another was retired in 1988. None were in service by 2009. ; The Soviet Union built over 200 hulls, including those converted to other uses included diving ships, tenders, and

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

patrol ships. They were being phased out in 1989 when only 35 remained in service.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy Mine warfare vessel classes Minesweepers of the Soviet Navy Minesweepers of the Albanian Naval Force Minesweepers of the Algerian National Navy Minesweepers of the Bulgarian Navy Minesweepers of the People's Liberation Army Navy Minesweepers of the Cuban Navy Minesweepers of the Egyptian Navy Minesweepers of the Indonesian Navy Minesweepers of the Iraqi Navy Minesweepers of the Polish Navy