Ropucha class landing ship

Ropucha I, note twin 57 mm guns fore and aft. Ropucha II has one single-barrel 76 mm gun forward, 2 AK-630 CIWS aft.
Class overview
Builders:	Stocznia Północna shipyard at Gdańsk, Poland
Operators:	Russian Navy Ukrainian Navy
Preceded by:	Polnocny class landing ship
Subclasses:	Project 775(Ropucha I), Project 775M(Ropucha II)
In commission:	1975
Completed:	28
Active:	Project 775: 6 Project 775M: 3
General characteristics
Type:	Landing Ship Tank
Displacement:	2,200 tons standard 4,080 tons full load
Length:	112,5 m
Beam:	15 m
Draft:	3.7 m
Propulsion:	2 diesel engines; 2 propellers, 19,200 hp
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h)
Range:	6,100 nm at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Capacity:	10 main battle tanks and 200 troops or 12 BTR and 340 troops or 3 main battle tanks, 3 2S9 «Nona-S», 5 MT-LB, 4 army trucks and 313 troops or 500 tons of cargo
Complement:	87-98
Armament:	2* 2*57 mm AK-725 guns (Ropucha I) 1* 76 mm AK-176 (Ropucha II) 2* 30*122 mm rocket launcher A-215 Grad-M Strela 2(SA-N-5) surface-to-air missile system(4 launchers) 2* 30 mm AK-630 air defence gun(2 six-barreled gatling mounts)

The Ropucha (toad), or Project 775 class landing ships are classified in the Russian Navy as "large landing craft" (Bol'shoy Desatnyy Korabl). They were built in Poland in the Stocznia Północna shipyards, in Gdansk. They are designed for beach landings and can carry a 450 ton cargo. The ships have both bow and stern doors for loading and unloading vehicles, and the 630 m² of vehicle deck stretches the length of the hull. Up to 25 armored personnel carriers can be embarked.

While being designed for roll-on roll-off operations the ships can also be loaded using dockside cranes. For this purpose there is a long sliding hatch cover above the bow section for access to the vehicle deck. There are no facilities for helicopters.

The 28 ships of this type where commissioned from 1975 to 1991. The last three ships where of the improved variant Project 775M, also called Ropucha II. These have improved defensive armament and accommodation for an increased number of troops.

They were built for the Soviet Navy during the Cold War, but the current Russian Navy has little need for a long-range amphibious capability and most of them are kept in reserve or are retired. However, during the 2008 South Ossetia war ships of this type where used for landing troops at the Georgian port of Poti.

One ship of this class, the U402 Kostiantyn Olshansky, is in service with the Ukrainian Navy, and another was transferred to South Yemen in 1979 and remains in service with the Yemen Navy. The latter vessel is the only unit of this class in service outside the former USSR.

References

• Project 775 Ropucha class Tank Landing ship - http://www.globalsecurity.org - Retrieved 2007-04-02
• The Naval Institute guide to the Soviet Navy, by Norman Polmar, United States Naval Institute, Edition 5 - 1991, p. 217-218. Available through Google books.

External links

• http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/russia/littoral.htm
• http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/mideast/yemen.htm
• http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2011/03/30/russian-large-landing-crafts/
• (English) All Ropucha class landing ships - Complete Ship List