''Hiddensee'' was a Tarantul-class

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 ...

. Originally a Soviet naval warship, the corvette was transferred first to the East German navy, then to the new unified

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

, and ended her career in the United States as a non-commissioned naval ship. After decommissioning, she was later part of the

Battleship Cove Battleship Cove is a nonprofit maritime museum and war memorial in Fall River, Massachusetts, United States. Featuring the world's largest collection of World War II-era naval vessels, it is home to the highly-decorated battleship . It is locate ...

site at

Fall River, Massachusetts Fall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. Fall River's population was 94,000 at the 2020 United States census, making it the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, tenth-largest city in the state, and the second- ...

as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

, before being scrapped in 2023.

Ship history

The Tarantul I-class missile corvette was launched in 1984 at the Petrovsky Shipyard of

Almaz Shipbuilding Company The Almaz Shipbuilding Company () is a Russian manufacturing enterprise, specializing in military and commercial ship design, along with its development and production. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, the factory has 165,000 square metres locat ...

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 ...

, Russian SFSR. She was commissioned in 1985 by the East German ''

Volksmarine The (VM, ; ) was the Navy, naval force of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1956 to 1990. The was one of the service branches of the National People's Army and primarily performed a Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence ...

'' as '' Rudolf Egelhofer'', but after the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

in 1990, she was transferred to the German Navy and renamed ''Hiddensee''. Hiddensee in Battleship Cove

After decommissioning in April 1991, she was transferred to the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. As USNS ''Hiddensee'' (185NS9201), the ship was extensively evaluated at the

Naval Air Warfare Center Naval Air Warfare Center is a research organization within Naval Air Systems Command to test and evaluate air warfare for the United States Navy. The center combines the following divisions: Aircraft division The Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft ...

Solomons, Maryland Solomons, also known as Solomons Island, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. The population was 2,368 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 1,536 in 2000. S ...

, and used for naval exercises. Following naval budget cuts, the ship was removed from service in April 1996, and joined the

fleet on 14 June 1997. Battleship Cove could not look after her due to lack of funding. Her hull deteriorated until the decision was made to remove her from the collection. She was quietly towed off to be scrapped in

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

in early October 2023. The decision to scrap the ship came as a result of significant deterioration in the ship's hull, which would have necessitated a costly

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

ing to repair. Chris Nardi, the chief operating officer for Battleship Cove, also noted that "The Hiddensee, as designed by the Russian shipyard ... they were designed to be definitely disposable in terms of the way they were constructed", which also militated against trying to repair the vessel. In addition, two other vessels owned by the group, the submarine and the destroyer were already undergoing repairs at the time the decision was made.

References

External links

*
WilliamMaloney.com: ''Hiddensee''
Photos of the ''Hiddensee'', Battleship Cove Naval Museum, Fall River, MA {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiddensee Museum ships in Massachusetts Fall River, Massachusetts Museums in Bristol County, Massachusetts Military and war museums in Massachusetts Corvettes of the Volksmarine 1984 ships Corvettes of the German Navy Ships built in the Soviet Union Ships built in Saint Petersburg Tarantul-class corvettes 2023 disestablishments in Massachusetts