The Riga class was the

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform man ...

for class of

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

s built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was ''Storozhevoi Korabl'' (escort ship) ''Project 50 Gornostay'' ('' Ermine stoat''). The Riga class was analogous to World War II era

destroyer escorts Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

Design

These ships were a smaller and simpler version of the . According to Conway's, this simpler group of ships were ordered by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

who was concerned about the cost of large ships. The class introduced high pressure steam turbines and new radars into Soviet service. The bridge, gun turrets, and magazines were covered in -thick armour. The main armament comprised three single dual-purpose guns with remote power control and a single ''Yakor'' type fire control director. The machinery comprised two TV-9 steam turbines with two boilers and had initial problems with reliability. The Project 50 Riga class was a rather simplistic and straight forward design. With their basic capabilities, moderate size and ease of operation, they made perfect export vessels for smaller navies where such ships could easily fill the multi-purpose role, taking the place of large

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 and actual

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s. There was a modernisation programme designated Project 50 A in the late 1950s early 1960s. This included fitting anti-submarine rocket launchers (RBU-2500) new radar and adding permanent ballast for improved stability.

Ships

A total of 68 ships were built by Nikolayev yards (20 ships),

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐɐˈmurʲə) is a city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur River in the Russian Far East. It is located ...

(7 ships) and

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...

(the lead yard 41 ships). Most ships were decommissioned by 1980, however some were sold to China. The programme was cut short by

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

in 1956 as the ships were becoming obsolete and the last ship was completed in 1959.

Export operators

Bulgarian Navy The Bulgarian Navy ( bg, Военноморски сили на Република България, Voennomorski sili na Republika Balgariya, lit=Naval Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria) is the navy of the Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of ...

: 3 ships (''Druzki'', ''Smeli'' and ''Bodri'') operated 1957-1990, decommissioned 1990 ;: 4 ships were built in kits for 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 ...

to be licence assembled in China as Chengdu class (Type 6601/01) frigate. After that, PRC built 5 ships with a different gun arrangements as Jiangnan class (Type 065) frigate, reverse-engineered copies from type 6601. ;:

Finnish Navy The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short f ...

: 2 ships ( ''Uusimaa'' and ''Hämeenmaa'') acquired 1964, decommissioned 1979 and 1985 (source Conway's) ;:

East German Navy 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 coastal d ...

: 4 ships (''Ernst Thälmann'', ''Karl Marx'', ''Karl Liebknecht'', ''Friedrich Engels'') ;:

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut, , Indonesian National Military-Naval Force, TNI-AL) is the naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol ...

: 8 ships (''Jos Sudarso'', ''Slamet Rijadi'', ''Ngurah Rai'', ''Monginsidi'', ''Lambung Mangkurat'', ''Hang Tuah'', ''Kakiali'', ''Nuku'') transferred 1962-1964, decommissioned 1971-1986 (Source Conway's)

Notes

References

* Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
page from FAS

Marinekameradschaft KSS e.V. - Riga Class

*

{{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Frigate classes

Design

Ships

Export operators

See also

Notes

References