The Grisha class, Soviet designation Project 1124 ''Al'batros'', are a series of

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 ...

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 ...

s built by the

Soviet Union 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 nationa ...

between 1970 and 1990 and later by Russia and Ukraine. These ships have a limited range and are largely used only in coastal waters. They have been equipped with a variety of ASW weapons and an

SA-N-4 The 9K33 ''Osa'' (, literally "wasp"; NATO reporting name SA-8 ''Gecko'') is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system developed in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and fielded in 1972. Its export version na ...

'Gecko'

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

launcher. All were fitted with retractable fin stabilizers. The designation "corvette" for these ships was a conditional adaptation as the Soviet classification was a small anti-submarine ship (russian: Малый противолодочный корабль, Malyy protivolodochnyy korabl, Small anti-submarine ship) (MPK). In the Russian Navy, the Grishas are expected to be partially replaced by the ''Steregushchiy''-class corvette.

Variants

* Grisha I (1124.1) – 12 ships built between 1970 and 1974 and decommissioned by 1999 * The Grisha II class (1124P) were built for the KGB

border guard A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In d ...

and marked with ''P'' for ''pogranichnyi'' meaning "on the border". This class was built only in Zelenodolsk and Vladivostok. These ships had a second 57 mm gun mounting replacing the SA-N-4 missile system forward. 17 ships were built in the 1970s. Two were transferred to the

Ukrainian Navy The Military Naval Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Військо́во-морські́ си́ли Збро́йних сил Украї́ни, ВМС ЗСУ) is the maritime forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Ar ...

and some may remain in service with the Russian Maritime Border Guard. * The Grisha III class (1124 2nd batch) were built in the late 1970s to early 1980s. These ships incorporated several small scale modifications, including a 30 mm gun and new electronics. Thirty four units were built. Two ships were in service with the Lithuanian Navy until 2009. * A single Grisha IV class (1124K) ship was built in Zelenodolsk. This ship was a test ship for the SA-N-9 missile system and later was decommissioned. * The Grisha V class (1124 M, 1124.4) ships were built between 1985 and 1994. This incorporated further modifications with the twin 57 mm guns being replaced by a single 76 mm gun. Thirty ships were built. ** The Grisha V class (1124MU) ships were Ukrainian ships built after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

among which is that entered service in 2006 with the

. ** Currently on the RF ships are being modernized "Tornado 2" combat complex for antisubmarine "Zapad" type missiles firing. ** As of 2021, some twenty Grishas (mostly Grisha IIIs) remain active in the Russian Navy.

Ships

Gallery

File:Corvette Grisha V.jpg, Grisha V-class corvette File:Project_1124M_Suzdalets_2009_G1.jpg, Grisha V-class corvette MPK-118 ''Suzdalets''. File:Zemaitis-1993-1.jpg, Grisha III-class corvette ''Žemaitis'' (Lithuanian Navy, 2003) File:Lithuanian frigate LNS Aukstaitis (F 12).jpg, Grisha III-class corvette ''Aukštaitis'' (Lithuanian Navy, 2003) File:Ternopil U209 ship, 2013, 04.jpg, Grisha V (Ukrainian Navy, 2013)

References

* Also published as * * {{Ukrainian ships Corvette classes Corvettes of the Lithuanian Naval Force Corvettes of the Russian Navy Corvettes of the Soviet Navy Corvettes of the Ukrainian Navy Cold War corvettes of the Soviet Union

Variants

Ships

Gallery

See also

References