Tapir-class landing ship

The Soviet designation Project 1171 (Tapir-class) landing ship (NATO reporting name: Alligator) is a class of Soviet / Russian general purpose, beachable amphibious warfare ships (Soviet classification: large landing ship, Russian: БДК, большой десантный корабль).

Nikolai Fil'chenkov in Sevastopol
Class overview
Operators
Succeeded by Ivan Gren class
Built1964–1975
In commission1965–present
Planned15
Completed14
Cancelled1
Active3
Lost1
Retired10
General characteristics
TypeLanding Ship Tank
Displacement
  • 3,400 tons standard
  • 4,360–4,700 tons full load
Length112.8 metres (370 ft)–113.1 metres (371 ft) long
Beam15.3 metres (50 ft)–15.6 metres (51 ft) beam
Propulsion2 diesels, 2 shafts, 9,000 bhp (6,700 kW)
Speed16-18 knots (33 km/h)
Capacity1,000 tons
Troops300–425 troops and, 20 tanks or 40 AFVs or 1,000 tons
Crew55
ArmamentMissiles: 1 × 122 mm naval Grad bombardment rocket launcher in some, 3 × SA-N-5 SAM positions in some.[1] Guns: 1 dual 57 mm/70 cal DP, 2 dual 25 mm AA in some.[1]

History

In Soviet post-World War II analysis of amphibious operations, the recommendation was made that the Soviet Navy should start building dedicated amphibious ships. Among the first ships, launching in 1967, was the Polnocny class of medium landing ships, whose 900-ton vessels could transport six tanks and 180 troops.

Saratov in Sevastopol, 2007

A newer type of amphibious warship followed in the late 1950s, a true landing ship tank (LST) that was named Project 1171 and also called Tapir. Labelled "Large Landing Ship", its displacement was 4,360 tons full load and could transport up to 313 troops and 20 tanks. Additional vehicles could be stored on the upper deck. NATO gave these ships the code name "Alligator", and several subtypes were created.

The design of Project 1171 was initiated in 1959 by the Navy, while a similar dual-purpose Project 1173 was ordered by the civilian Ministry of Shipping. Eventually both designs were merged under the Project 1171 umbrella, and the resulting vessel was a compromise between military (speed, survivability) and civil (fuel economy) objectives. The design team produced four different configurations; the Navy selected the most powerful and fastest option, which was also the least fuel-efficient, while the civil Ministry of Shipping withdrew from the project completely. All production ships were made for the Navy and never operated on shipping lines.[2]

A total of 14 vessels were completed between 1964 and 1975; all were retired between 1992 and 1995.[2] As of September 2008, two vessels, currently named Orsk and Saratov, were in active service with the 197th Brigade of Landing Ships in the Russian Black Sea Fleet.[3] As of March 2014, Saratov and Nikolay Filchenkov were in service with the 197th Brigade of Landing Ships in the Black Sea Fleet, Nikolay Vilkov was in service with the 100th Brigade of Landing Ships in the Russian Pacific Fleet, and Orsk was inactive and undergoing refits.[4]

Saratov (BDK-65) was launched in July 1964, commissioned in 1966 as Voronezhsky Komsomolets. As a lead ship of a formation, it lacked the habitable troop compartments installed on other ships of the class. Saratov was stationed in Donuzlav (Black Sea Fleet) until the Union collapsed and then remained mothballed in Odessa until 1994. The ship was reported in active operations in 2000 and later.[5]

From 2013 on, Nikolai Fil'chenkov and Saratov were used to transport military equipment from Novorossiysk to Tartus in Syria, during an intervention in the Syrian civil war, along with Ropucha-class ships.[6]

Orsk (BDK-69) was launched and commissioned in 1968 as Nikolay Obekov. It served a total of 11 campaigns in the Indian and Atlantic oceans and the Mediterranean. Later, under the Russian flag, it carried troops and materials to Yugoslavia, Adjaria, and Abkhazia.[7] In 2018 the vessel was seen transporting Russian equipment to Syria.[8] In 2022 it appeared on 21 March in Russian TV reports unloading military equipment in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port Berdiansk,[9] which led to initial confusion when its sister ship Saratov was destroyed three days later at the same place.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the aftermath of the Battle of Berdiansk, Saratov was reported as destroyed by a Ukrainian attack on 24 March 2022 while in the harbour of Russian-occupied Ukrainian Port of Berdiansk.[10] Video showed a large fire, smoke, and explosions, with one explosion engulfing the bow of the ship.[11][12] The ship was originally reported as having been Orsk, but the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces later reported that Saratov had been destroyed, and two Ropucha-class ships, Caesar Kunikov and Novocherkassk damaged.[13] Russian side sources confirm missile attack on Berdiansk harbour (without clarification of missile type), which damaged two landing ships - Saratov and unnamed one, then Saratov was flooded by crew (at the depth of 5 metres) to prevent heavy fire on board.[14]

Ships of class
Name Type In service Status
BDK-65 Saratov 1171 18 August 1966 Sunk on 24 March 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
BDK-6 30 December 1966 Decommissioned on 19 March 1992, scrapped in 1995
BDK-13 30 September 1967 Decommissioned on 5 July 1994
BDK-62 29 December 1967 Decommissioned on 1 December 1997
BDK-66 Sergey Lazo 1171/II 27 September 1968 Decommissioned on 5 July 1994
BDK-69 Orsk 31 December 1968 In service
BDK-77 1171/III 30 September 1969 Decommissioned on 5 July 1994
Doneckiy Shakhter 31 December 1969 Decommissioned on 10 April 2002
BDK-100 Krasnaya Presnya 30 September 1970 Decommissioned on 30 June 1993, sold to commercial service, sunk in 1995
BDK-104 Ilya Azarov 10 June 1971 Acquired by Ukraine on 10 January 1996, in service as U762 Rivne[15]
Alexandr Tortcev 31 December 1971 Decommissioned on 5 July 1994
Petr Ilyichev 29 December 1972 Decommissioned on 30 June 1993
Nikolay Vilkov 1171/IV 30 July 1974 In service
Nikolay Filchenkov 30 December 1975 In service
Nikolay Golubkov - Never completed

See also

References
  1. Polmar, Norman (1991). Guide to the Soviet Navy (5th ed.). Naval Institute Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-87021-241-3.
  2. "1171 Tapir". Encyclopedia of Ships (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. "Alligator Class – Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator". Global Security.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  4. Yanko, Eugene (1997). "1171 Tapir/Alligator class large landing ships". Warfare.be. Archived from the original on 1 December 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  5. "Большой десантный корабль "Саратов"" [Large landing ship "Saratov"]. kchf.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  6. Kubiak, Krzysztof (2017). "Syryjski ekspres". Raport-WTO (in Polish). No. 4. p. 48. ISSN 1429-270X.
  7. "Большой десантный корабль "Орск"" [Large landing ship "Orsk"]. kchf.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. "-YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  9. "Assessing Russia's first major naval loss of the war in Ukraine | Navy Lookout". www.navylookout.com. 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  10. "Russian warship destroyed in occupied port of Berdyansk, says Ukraine". BBC News. 24 March 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  11. Mcilkenny, Stephen (24 March 2022). "Ukraine conflict: Large Russian ship, the Orsk, destroyed by Ukrainian military – reports". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  12. Smith, Hannah (24 March 2022). "Russian Navy Ship Destroyed After Propaganda Footage Gave Away Its Location". UNILAD. p. 1. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  13. "General Staff update: Not Orsk but Saratov landing ship destroyed at Berdiansk Port". UKRINFORM (Ukraine). 25 March 2022. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  14. Какое оружие Россия впервые применила на Украине // April 4, 2022
  15. "RIVNE tank landing ship (1971/1996)". www.navypedia.org. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.

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