NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Project 42

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Сокол [Sokol]		100	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	17.8.1949	11.9.1950	4.12.1952	training hulk 8.1971
Беркут [Berkut]		101	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	25.4.1950	2.4.1951	10.5.1952	training hulk 8.1965
Кондор [Kondor]		102	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	28.6.1950	27.5.1951	10.5.1952	stricken 1.1970
Гриф [Grif], 9.1965- Советский Азербайджан [Sovetskiy Azerbaydzhan]		103	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	18.9.1950	3.9.1951	25.10.1952	Border Guard till 12.1953, accommodation hulk 12.1977
Кречет [Krechet], 7.1970- Советский Дагестан [Sovetskiy Dagestan]		104	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	15.12.1950	27.11.1951	18.12.1952	Border Guard till 12.1953, stricken 6.1977
Орлан [Orlan], 12.1966- Советский Туркменистан [Sovetskiy Turkmenistan]		105	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	30.4.1951	9.5.1952	17.3.1953	stricken 11.1976
Лев [Lev]		106	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	30.4.1951	24.5.1952	17.3.1953	training hulk 8.1971
Тигр [Tigr]		107	820 Yd, Kaliningrad	1.7.1952	29.9.1952	25.4.1953	stricken 9.1974

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	1339
Displacement normal, t	1679
Length, m	96.1
Breadth, m	11.0
Draught, m	3.96
No of shafts	2
Machinery	2 sets geared steam turbines, 2 KV-42 boilers
Power, h. p.	27820
Max speed, kts	29.6
Fuel, t	oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	2810(13.7)
Armament	4 x 1 - 100/56 B-34USM, 2 x 2 - 37/70 V-11M, 1 x 3 - 533 TT, 2 x 16 RBU-2500 Smerch ASWRL, 4 DCT, 2 DCR
Electronic equipment	Rif, Giuys-1MN, Visla radars, Tamir-5N sonar, Bizan'-4 ECM suite
Complement	211

Standard scale images

Graphics

Project history

This was the SKR counterpart to Project 41. Although a preliminary TTZ for a new SKR (Project 7) was set by the main naval staff on 21 August 1943, by 1945 effort was being concentrated on a redesign of the existing Project 29. In 1945, Stalin argued that the Project 29 was the largest acceptable SKR, and that 900t would be a better limit on size. Although work on blueprints for the modified Project 29 was authorized on 30 January 1946, the ship was never built, and draft requirements for a new SKR were approved on 29 July 1946. The main roles were convoy escort, patrol work, the support of amphibious operations, and minelaying. Maximum displacement was set at 1800t, and required speed was 26-27kts; armament would comprise two twin 130mm mounts (SM-2, as in destroyers), two quad 45mm mounts, 12-25mm, a triple torpedo tube, four DC throwers, two DC tracks, and a Hedgehog (M-10).

For the first time since 1917, two design bureaus (TsKB-32 and TsKB-53) competed. Each produced versions with diesel and steam powerplants. The smallest, the TsKB-32 diesel design (two 6700bhp engines on each of two shafts) came out to 1860t, with an endurance of 5000nm at 15kts. The largest, the TsKB-53 steam design (13000shp on each shaft), came out to 1925t.

As in other Soviet designs of this period, the draft requirements proved over-ambitious, and at the next stage (TTZ) a displacement limit of 1300t was imposed, to be achieved by cutting armament (to four single 100mm guns, two twin 37 mm, the triple tubes, a pair of Mousetraps with 24 rockets each, and 2 depth charge tracks with 22 depth charges) endurance (from 5000nm to 2000nm), and stores capacity (from 20 to 10 days). As completed, the ships had four depth charge throwers in addition to the Mousetraps and depth charge tracks.

TsKB-32 won the competition with a steam design, and the final TTZ was approved on 21 June 1947. The sketch design for this Protect 42 escort was completed at the end of August 1947, but opinions on the ship's role were unsettled. Only late in 1947 did the naval staff agree to separate the SKR role from a planned minesweeping role. As built, Project 42 introduced prefabrication to Soviet practice (the hull was built in seven welded sections), and it had a dual-purpose main armament. This design also introduced DC current (which had not been used in Projects 29 and 30). Seakeeping was superior to that of both Project 29 and, on paper, to that of the planned successor, Project 50. Project 42 had twin rudders: tactical diameter at full speed was 4.7 lengths.

No formal record of the decision to discontinue production after eight ships has survived, but it seems likely that, as in the case of Project 41, the ships' size was considered unacceptable. The decision may have been made by Stalin himself.

Modernizations

None.

Naval service

No significant events.