Ropucha-class landing ship
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Stocznia Północna shipyard at Gdańsk, Poland |
| Operators | list error: <br /> list (help) Russian Navy  Ukrainian Navy |
| Preceded by | Polnocny class landing ship |
| Subclasses | list error: <br /> list (help) Project 775(Ropucha I), Project 775M(Ropucha II) |
| In commission | 1975 |
| Completed | 28 |
| Active | list error: <br /> list (help) Project 775: 6 Project 775M: 3 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type | Landing Ship Tank |
| Displacement | list error: <br /> list (help) 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 | list error: <br /> list (help) 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 were 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.