Riga class frigate

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Riga class frigate
Riga class frigate
Class overview
Name: Riga
Completed: 68
General characteristics
Type: frigate
Displacement: 1,160 tons (standard)
1,416 tons (full load)
Length: 91 m
Beam: 10.2 m
Draught: 3.16 m
Propulsion: 2× shaft steam turbines, 2× boilers; 21,000 hp
Speed: 28 knots
Range: 1,950 nm at 14 knots
Complement: 175
Armament: 3× 100 mm guns (3×1)
4× 37 mm guns (2×2)
4× 25 mm guns (2×2)
MBU 600 anti-submarine rocket launchers (replaced by two RBU 2500)
2 or 3× 533 mm torpedo tubes (1×2 or 1×3)

The Riga class was the Nato reporting name for class of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was Storozhevoi Korabl (escort ship) Project 50. The Riga class were analogous to World war II era destroyer escorts. These ships were a smaller and simpler version of the Kola class frigate. According to Conway's this simpler group of ships were ordered by Stalin himself who was concerned about the cost of large ships. The class introduced high pressure steam turbines and new radars into Soviet service. A total of 68 ships were built by Nikolayev yards (20 ships), Komsomolsk na Amure (7 ships) and Kaliningrad (the lead yard 41 ships). Most ships were decommissioned by 1980, however some were sold to China. The programme was cut short by Khruschev in 1956 as the ships were becoming obsolete.

[edit] Operators

Flag of Bulgaria Bulgaria
Bulgarian Navy - 3 ships
Flag of the People's Republic of China People's Republic of China
Five ships were built in kits for the People's Liberation Army Navy to be licence assembled in China as the Jinan class (Type 053) frigate. The Chinese later built their own versions with a different gun arrangements as Jiangnan class (Type 065) frigate
Flag of the German Democratic Republic East Germany
East German Navy - 4 ships
Flag of Finland Finland
Finnish Navy - 2 ships (decommissioned)
Flag of Indonesia Indonesia
Indonesian Navy - 8 ships
Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union

[edit] References

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