Nanuchka-class corvette

Type of Soviet naval vessel (1969–1991)

The Nanuchka class, Soviet designation Project 1234 Ovod, are series of corvettes (small missile ships in Soviet classification) built for the Soviet Navy and export customers between 1969 and 1991.

Variants

Nanuchka III class corvette Smerch after refit in 2019

These ships were designed around the P-120 Malakhit ("Siren") anti ship missile. Export versions used the P-15 Termit ("Styx") missile. In 2019 the missiles on Smerch were replaced with sixteen Uran/SS-N-25 'Switchblade'. Unlike smaller missile boats, both carry SA-N-4 ("Gecko") SAMs for self-defence. The original Nanuchka I carried a twin 57mm AK-257 main gun, replaced by a 76mm AK-176 in the Nanuchka III and an updated AK-176MA was added to Smerch during the refit. The Nanuchka III also has a rotary 30mm AK-630 point-defence gun to bolster its protection against missile attack. Currently Project 12341 ships are receiving BAGIRA Fire Control System turning them into multirole vessels.^[2]

Operational history

Reportedly the Mirazh, a Nanuchka III corvette, sank a Georgian vessel during an attempted attack on Russian ships off Abkhazia on 10 August 2008.^{[citation needed]}

Operators

 Russian Navy

• Nanuchka I (Project 1234) - 17 boats - retired in the 1990s, except Musson which was sunk in error by an SSM during an exercise in 1987 (39 fatalities).^[3]
• Nanuchka III (Project 12341) - 16 boats - 6-8 in service with the Russian Navy as of 2022 (4 Baltic, 1-3 Pacific, 1 Northern).
• Nanuchka IV (Project 12347) - 1 boat Nakat - retired in 2012. Trial vessel for P-800 Oniks ASHM.

 Algerian National Navy

• Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 3 ships delivered in 1980-81, still in service.

 Indian Navy

• Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 3 ships known as the Durg class, last ship decommissioned in 2004.

 Libyan Navy

• Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 4 ships delivered in 1982-85. Al Zaquit was sunk and Ain Al Gazala was damaged (later scrapped) by US forces on March 25, 1986. Ain Zaara was in repairs in Misrata and was destroyed in a NATO airstrike on May 19, 2011. The last ship, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was destroyed during a fight between Libyan government army and radical Islamist forces in Benghazi harbour November 3, 2014.^[4]

Libyan People's Army

• Nanuchka II (Project 1234E) - 1 ship Tariq Ibn Ziyad was captured in 2011 from the Libyan Navy. The ship was returned to Libyan Navy after the civil war. Subsequently destroyed in 2014.

Ships

Project 1234 (Nanuchka I)

Project 1234E (Nanuchka II)

Project 12341 (Nanuchka III)

Project 12347 (Nanuchka IV)

See also

• List of ships of the Soviet Navy
• List of ships of Russia by project number

References

1. Couhat, Jean (1981). Combat Fleets of the World 1982/1983: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament. Paris: Editions Maritimes et d'Outre-Mer. p. 2. ISBN 0-87021-125-0. LCCN 78-50192.
2. "Russian Navy Nanuchka-class Corvettes Receive New BAGIRA MR-123-02/3 Fire Control System". Navyrecognition.com. 17 October 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
3. "Pacific Fleet Pays Honors to Corvette Musson Wrecked 25 Years Ago". Rusnavy.com. 17 April 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
4. "The End of the Libyan MRK". 6 November 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
5. "Конец ливийского МРК" [The end of the Libyan MRK]. Bmpd.livejournal.com (in Russian). 6 November 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
6. "Small Missile Ships - Project 1234". RussianShips.info.
7. "Small Missile Ships - Project 1234".
8. "JMSDF Lists Russian Warships in Nearby Waters – SeaWaves Magazine". Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
9. "Small Missile Ships - Project 1234".
10. "Small Missile Ships - Project 1234".

Other sources

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. London: Conway Maritime. ISBN 0-85177-605-1. OCLC 34284130. Also published as Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen; Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7. OCLC 34267261.
• Berezhnoy, S.S.; Бережной, С.С. (2001). Malye protivolodochnye i malye raketnye korabli VMF SSSR i Rossii (Малые противолодочные и малые ракетные корабли ВМФ СССР и России). Morskaya Kollektsya no. 2/2001 (in Russian). Moscow: Zhurnal Modelist-konstruktor. ISBN 9780851776057. OCLC 48149340.
• "Project 1234 Nanuchka class Guided Missile Corvette". Federation of American Scientists. 7 September 2000. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
• "Guided Missile Corvette Shtil'". Flot.sevastopol.info. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
• "Guided Missile Corvette Mirazh". Flotsevastopol.info. Retrieved 16 January 2008.

Gallery

• 
  Export Nanuchka II-class corvette moored in Leningrad (i.e., Saint Petersburg). Photo was taken in July 1983
• 
• 
  Libyan Nanuchka II burns after being hit 25 March 1986
• 
  A port beam view of a Soviet Nanuchka I.