The ''Khobi'' class (Project 437N) is a class of

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

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 ...

between 1953 and 1958.

Construction

Ships of the ''Khobi'' class were built at the Zhdanov

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. They were small tankers, similar in size to US Navy gasoline tankers (AOG). The Project 437N could refuel one ship at a time over the bow. A total of 20 vessels were built for the Soviet Navy. Two vessels were later transferred to Albania in 1958-59 as Patos and Semani (ex-Linda?) and one vessel was transferred to Indonesia.

Ships in class

There were 20 vessels in the class.

Cheremshan black market activity

During 1995-1996, while operating as a

wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...

sludge Sludge (possibly , or some dialect related to slush) is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. It can be produced as a settled sus ...

lighter with the

Northern Fleet The Northern Fleet (, ''Severnyy flot'') is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Arctic. According to the Russian ministry of defence: "The Northern Fleet dates its history back to a squadron created in 1733 to protect the terri ...

, the ''Cheremshan'' stole 1,197.5 tons of fuel from other

Russian Navy The Russian Navy is the Navy, naval arm of the Russian Armed Forces. It has existed in various forms since 1696. Its present iteration was formed in January 1992 when it succeeded the Navy of the Commonwealth of Independent States (which had i ...

vessels.''Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'' (Wertheim)

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Project 437N small seagoing tanker
(English) Cold War naval ships of the Soviet Union Oilers Auxiliary replenishment ship classes Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy