At the end of the 40s, the Special Design Bureau (OKB-5) of the NKVD, headed by P. G. Goinkis, began work on the creation of large torpedo boats. They were supposed to replace pre-war planing boats, which were not very successful.
The development process took into account the experience of using American-made boats of the Elko, Vosper and Higgins types obtained under Lend-Lease, which had high combat and operational characteristics.
In the manufacture of the hull of the projected boat, wood was used, and in order to increase the seaworthiness, the hull was made harmless and with sharp cheekbones. Bulletproof armor was installed on the bridge and wheelhouse. The total displacement was 66.5 tons.
The total capacity of the power plant is 4,800 hp. This provided a top speed of 43-44 knots. The autonomous navigation range reached 600 miles with a cruising speed of 33 knots, and an economical speed of 14 knots provided a range of 1000 miles.
As the main armament of the boat, two 533-mm single-tube deck torpedo tubes were used, which were located side by side at an angle of 3 degrees to the center plane.
To protect against enemy aircraft, two twin 25-mm anti-aircraft guns of automatic fire were used. In addition, the boat could take on board up to six KB-3 sea mines, eight - AMD-500 or 18 - AMD-5. Instead of torpedoes, it was possible to take up to eight BB-1 depth charges.
The radio equipment included the Zarnitsa radar, the Fakel-M identification station, as well as two radio stations. The equipment was DA-7 smoke equipment, 4 smoke bombs MDSh. The navigational equipment used the devices "Girya", "Reis-55", "KGMK-4" and the autopilot "Zubatka".
After the completion of state tests and corrections of deficiencies, from 1952 to 1960, a large batch of torpedo boats pr.183 "Bolshevik" was produced - more than 420 units. Throughout their entire service life, they were used in all fleets, rewarding with excellent recommendations.
On the basis of this project, improved models and boats for other purposes were also created.
The boat of project 183-T was used to test an additional 4000 hp gas turbine afterburner power unit, which increased the speed to 50 knots. In 1955-1957, at the production facilities of Leningrad, 25 boats were built according to a revised project.
The border troops received 52 boats in the modification of the "small hunter" without torpedo armament. There was also a headquarters version of Project 183-Sh.
One of the serial samples of the boat on Project 183-A received an outer skin made of arktilite - an analogue of bakelized plywood, into which a metal wire is pressed.
Also, sixty radio-controlled surface target boats, pr.183-Ts, were built. They were used as targets during firing practice during combat training.
But the most famous was the world's first serial missile boat with guided anti-ship missiles, project 183R "Komar".
The boat project was approved in August 1957. The hull, main systems and power plant of the prototype boat were preserved in the same form. The changes affected the boat's armament: it received two missile hangars with launchers for P-15 missiles instead of torpedo tubes, a new radar for detecting surface targets and missile control equipment.
The use of a hangar-type launcher was a consequence of the fact that this type of anti-ship cruise missile did not fold the wings. The launchers had a constant elevation of 11.5 degrees and their own weight was 1100 kilograms. The missiles could be launched at speeds up to 30 knots during waves of up to 4 points. Also, on the boat, only one 25-mm 2M-3M installation, the bow, was preserved.
Now the boat has a new "main caliber" - two P-15 cruise anti-ship missiles.
This anti-ship missile was created in the "Raduga" design bureau headed by the chief designer A. Ya. Bereznyak. The complex with the P-15 rocket was put into service in 1960.
The P-15 rocket used a sustainer liquid-propellant jet engine, which was created under the leadership of A. M. Isaev. The engine used TG-02 fuel and AK-20K oxidizer and operated in two modes: acceleration and “maintaining” speed.
An autonomous guidance system was installed on the P-15 rocket, which included an AM-15A autopilot, a radar homing head and a barometric altimeter, which was later replaced with a radio altimeter, which made it possible to sight the course in altitude.
The high-explosive-cumulative warhead of the rocket weighed 480 kilograms. The rocket reached a subsonic flight speed of 320 m / s, and the maximum firing range of the first modifications reached forty kilometers at an altitude of 100-200 meters above the water surface.
It is worth noting that missile boats and anti-ship missiles were neglected by foreign specialists. This type of weapon was produced only on the territory of the USSR.
The missile system was officially adopted in 1960, but already at the end of 1958, without test results, the construction of Project 183R missile boats was launched at two factories. The production went on for almost nine years. At the end of 1965, 112 boats were built according to the 183R project. In addition to the domestic Navy, these boats were in service with the Allied countries: Algeria and Egypt received 6 each, 9 were transferred to Indonesia, 18 went to Cuba, 10 to North Korea, 20 to China, where they were later produced under license. Most of the countries have already removed them from service, but in Algeria they continue to be used as patrol officers, and the DPRK uses them for their intended purpose.
It was the export boats that first entered the battle.
On October 21, 1967, the Israeli destroyer "Eilat" conducted reconnaissance of the Egyptian defense electronic means, moving in zigzags and crossing the border of the territorial waters of Egypt.
It eventually went very deep, so the Egyptian navy decided to attack the intruder. At five o'clock in the evening local time, the Egyptian missile boats of the project 183R, standing at the pier in Port Said, raised a combat alert. The boat's radar spotted the destroyer at a distance of about 23 kilometers. Two boats departed from the pier, which laid down on a combat course. At 17 hours 19 minutes the first missile was fired, and five seconds later - the second.
The destroyer was able to detect missile launches on smoky trails and flashes, but intense anti-aircraft fire and movement at full speed in zigzags did not save the ship. Already sixty seconds after the launch, the first missile hit the engine room of the ship, and a few seconds later it was joined by the second. The ship began to sink due to critical damage, it was not possible to save it.
Five minutes later, the second boat launched the rockets. The third missile hit the sinking destroyer, the fourth hit the sailors and the wreckage of the ship. As a result, 47 out of 199 crew members died, and 81 people were injured.
After the attack, the boats at full speed laid down on the course of retreat. The first boat managed to safely reach the base, and the second cut through the bottom, jumping out onto the coastal stones due to a team error.
This incident became a worldwide sensation. The Western media noted that a new era had begun in naval warfare.
Missile boats continued to participate in hostilities, attacking coastal and naval targets.
In May 1970, the Egyptian military reported that they had succeeded in sinking another "Israeli warship" - the trawler "Orit", which was fishing in Al-Bardawil Bay.
It is worth mentioning that the Israeli Navy was able to fully recoup the losses. The Arabs lost several boats due to tactical illiteracy and poor technical condition.
Subsequently, the P-15 anti-ship missiles of various modifications were successfully used in other conflicts. For example, in 1971, with their help, a Pakistani destroyer was sunk during the Indo-Pakistani war, as well as several civilian ships and a minesweeper.
The successful use of Soviet weapons in combat greatly influenced naval theorists around the planet. The feverish development and construction of anti-ship missiles and their carriers began.
