The Riga class was the

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

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. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

s 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 ...

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.

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 Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

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, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

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 nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

(7 ships) and

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

(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 General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

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

Export operators

Bulgarian Navy The Bulgarian Navy () is the navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; name ...

: 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, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

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 ( , ) 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 for "Finnish Navy ship", but ...

: 2 ships ( ''Uusimaa'' and ''Hämeenmaa'') acquired 1964, decommissioned 1979 and 1985 (source Conway's) ;: East German Navy : 4 ships (''Ernst Thälmann'', ''Karl Marx'', ''Karl Liebknecht'', ''Friedrich Engels'') ;:

Indonesian Navy The Indonesian Navy (, TNI-AL) is the Navy, naval branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. It was founded on 10 September 1945 and has a role to patrol Indonesia's lengthy coastline, to enforce and patrol the territorial waters and Exclus ...

: 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 Ship classes of the Volksmarine

Design

Ships

Export operators

See also

Notes

References