The Nanuchka class, Soviet designation Project 1234 ''Ovod'', are series of

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 sloo ...

s (small missile ships in Soviet classification) 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 ...

and export customers between 1969 and 1991.

Variants

These ships were designed around the P-120 Malakhit ("Siren") anti ship missile. Export versions used the

P-15 Termit The P-15 ''Termit'' (; ) is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was ''Styx'' or SS-N-2. China acquired the design in 1958 and created at ...

("Styx") missile. In 2019 the missiles on ''Smerch'' were replaced with sixteen Uran/SS-N-25 'Switchblade'. Unlike smaller missile boats, both carry

SA-N-4 The 9K33 ''Osa'' (; English: "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 nam ...

("Gecko") SAMs for self-defence. The original Nanuchka I carried a twin 57mm AK-257 main gun, replaced by a 76mm AK-176 in the Nanuchka III and an updated AK-176MA was added to ''Smerch'' during the refit. The Nanuchka III also has a rotary 30mm

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic ...

point-defence gun to bolster its protection against missile attack. Currently Project 12341 ships are receiving BAGIRA Fire Control System turning them into multirole vessels.

Operational history

Reportedly the ''Mirazh'', a Nanuchka III corvette, sank a Georgian vessel during an attempted attack on Russian ships off Abkhazia on 10 August 2008.

Operators

*Nanuchka I (Project 1234) - 17 boats - retired in the 1990s, except ''Musson'' which was sunk in error by an SSM during an exercise in 1987 (39 fatalities). *Nanuchka III (Project 12341) - 16 boats - 6-8 in service with the

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 ...

as of 2022 (4 Baltic, 1-3 Pacific, 1 Northern). *Nanuchka IV (Project 12347) - 1 boat ''Nakat'' - retired in 2012. Trial vessel for P-800 Oniks ASHM. *Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 3 ships delivered in 1980-81, still in service. *Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 3 ships known as the ''Durg'' class, last ship decommissioned in 2004. *Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 4 ships delivered in 1982-85. ''Al Zaquit'' was sunk and ''Ain Al Gazala'' was damaged (later scrapped) by US forces on March 25, 1986. ''Ain Zaara'' was in repairs in Misrata and was destroyed in a NATO airstrike on May 19, 2011. The last ship, ''Tariq Ibn Ziyad'' was destroyed during a fight between Libyan government army and radical Islamist forces in Benghazi harbour November 3, 2014.

Libyan People's Army The National Liberation Army (), officially the National Liberation Armed Forces of the Free Libyan Republic, formerly known as the Free Libyan Army, was a Libyan military organisation affiliated with the National Transitional Council, which was ...

*Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 1 ship ''Tariq Ibn Ziyad'' was captured in 2011 from the

Libyan Navy The Libyan Navy () is the naval warfare branch of the Libyan Armed Forces. Established in November 1962, Libyan Navy was headed by Admiral Mansour Bader, Chief of Staff of the Libyan Naval Force. Before the First Libyan Civil War, it was a fairl ...

. The ship was returned to Libyan Navy after the civil war. Subsequently destroyed in 2014.

Ships

Project 1234 (Nanuchka I)

Project 1234E (Nanuchka II)

Project 12341 (Nanuchka III)

Project 12347 (Nanuchka IV)

References

Other sources

* Also published as * * * *

Gallery

Image:Soviet-Nanuchka-1983.jpg, Export Nanuchka II-class corvette moored in

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 ...

(i.e.,

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

). Photo was taken in July 1983 Image:Mirazh2007.jpg File:Burning Libyan Corvette.jpg, Libyan Nanuchka II burns after being hit 25 March 1986 Image:Nanuchka-I DN-SC-88-09637.jpg, A port beam view of a Soviet Nanuchka I. {{Soviet and Russian ships after 1945 Corvette classes Cold War corvettes of the Soviet Union Corvettes of the Soviet Navy Corvettes of the Russian Navy Corvettes of the Algerian National Navy Corvettes of the Indian Navy Corvettes of the Libyan Navy