October-class missile boat
The October class is a series of six missile boats constructed for the Egyptian Navy in the mid-1970s as a replacement for the aging s. The design of the vessels is based on the Komar class and the six ships were constructed at Alexandria, Egypt and completed by Vosper Thornycroft at Portsmouth, United Kingdom. They entered service in the late 1970s. Two were removed from service and four are still active.
Design and description
The October class is based on the Soviet s, which had been acquired by the Egyptian Navy in 1962. The October class have wooden hulls and have a standard displacement of and at full load. Their small size leads to very cramped conditions for the crew, with access to the engine room through a removable operations room. The missile boats are long with a beam of and a draught of. The vessels are propelled by four CRM 12 D/SS diesel engines turning four shafts, rated at. This gives them a maximum speed of and a range of at. The missile boats have a complement of 20.Missile boats in the class are armed with two OTO Melara Otomat surface-to-surface missiles and four Type 32 30 mm/75 guns in two twin mounts for anti-aircraft defence. The October class are fitted with Marconi S 810 surface search radar and Marconi/ST 802 fire control radar. They also mount a Racal Cutlass radar warning system and two Protean fixed decoy launchers.