K-8-class minesweeper
Soviet Minesweeper Class
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The K-8 class was a minesweeper first manufactured by Poland for the Soviet Navy in 1954.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | K-8 class minesweeping boat |
| Operators | |
| In service | 1954-present |
| Completed | 40 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Coastal Minesweeping Boat |
| Tonnage | 26 tons |
| Length | 16.9 m (55 ft) |
| Beam | 1.2 m (4 ft) |
| Height | 3.2 m (10 ft) |
| Installed power | 3x diesel engines delivering 700 horsepower |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 6 |
| Armament | 2x M38 DShK 12.7mm Machine Guns on Bow |
Operational history
Those minesweepers replaced a variety of minesweepers that had been used during World War II. This gave the navy an inexpensive ship to clear mines from its harbors in case of a war with NATO and the West. A wooden hull negated the effects of magnetic mines, and the vessels towed minesweeping gear behind them. However, vessels had no equipment for actually handling mines aboard ship.
A total of forty vessels were completed. The TR-40 minesweeper slowly replaced the K-8s in Soviet service, but the vessels were transferred to foreign navies such as Poland, Cuba and Vietnam. Designated Project 361T, a handful of K-8 boats were converted to mine warfare drones but saw limited service. The survivors were put into reserve until being struck from the record in the early 1980s.
References
Bibliography
- Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
- "STMMain". russianwarrior.com. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- "World Navies Today: Russian Littoral Warfare Ships". Archived from the original on 2000-08-15. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
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