Trawlers with a Surprise

Saw pictures of this floating around out there and decided to bring it up. For as long as thier has been trawlers, Navies have pressed them into service. In both World Wars, some of the best and most effective erstaz ASW boats were fishing boats that the navy would throw some depth charges and old ‘good enough’ popguns on deck.

Norwegian fishing schooner taken up by the German Navy in 1940 for use as a patrol boat. Note the machine gun on the front of the bow. These craft have often been used during war.

However these the boats below were purpose built by the Soviet Navy to look like Naval trawlers (they are painted haze gray and have pennant numbers in most cases) but are sometimes very un-trawler like under the surface.

Between 1960-1988 the Soviet Union built some 37 project 1824/1823 NATO code name “Muna” class modified trawlers.

More than 20 were simply used as seagoing armement transports in the thousands of craggy rocky inlets along the Baltic (due to thier 10-foot draft), one was completes as a Seagoing reefer transports, a few were small signals intelligence ships, four were completed for the KGB as border patrol ships, some did survey work, and this one, coded OS-57  offically ‘supported torpedo research’. It leads to wonder why a trawler would have a set of two underwater torpedo tubes along with an active sonar. It would appear that as mant as four of these torpedo carriers were produced. With two different sized tubes, one on each side.

My grandma, what big teeth you have under your bow….

Displacement (tons):
Standard:     441-455
Full load:     686-912 depending on type
Dimensions (m):
Length:     51,45m (178 feet)
Beam:     8,42m (27 feet)
Draft:     3,22m (10.52 feet)
Speed (kts):     11,5
Range:     4950 nm (9,3 kts), 2240 nm (11,4 kts) (Project 1824B – 8600 nm (9 kts), 6000

nm (11 kts))
Autonomy (days):     15 (Project 1824B – 16)
Propulsion:     1×600 h.p., diesel 6LH-30.50-3 (Project 1824B – 1×800 h.p., diesel), 2

diesel-generators x50 kW
Armament:
1×2 25 mm 2M-3M – Reya cannons
1×1 650 mm torpedo tube – (torpedo trials ships only)
1×1 533 mm torpedo tube – (torpedo trials ships only)
2×4 launchers MTU-4 SAM – Project 1824B

A pair of tubes and an active forward looking sonar, just what every fisherman needs.

Electronics:     Navigation radar “Don”
Capacity (tons):     180
Crew:     22 (Project 1824B – 30, Project 18236 – 23)