Zhenya-class minesweeper


Project 1252 'Izumrud' were a group of three minesweepers built for the Soviet Navy in the late 1960s. The ships were a glass-reinforced plastic -hulled version of the preceding wooden-hulled. They were intended to be a prototype of an advanced design, instead the Soviet Navy returned to wooden-hulled minesweeper construction with the following. Of the three minesweepers, one was lost in an explosion in 1989 and the fate of the other two is unknown.

Description and design

The minesweepers of Project 1252 'Izumrud' were a GRP-hulled trial version based on the preceding wooden-hulled. They had a standard displacement of and fully loaded. They measured long with a beam of and a draught of. The vessels were powered by two diesel engines each turning a propeller shaft creating. The Zhenya class had a maximum speed of and range of at and at.
The vessels were armed with twin-mounted /65 calibre guns. They also carried six naval mines. The Zhenya class was equipped with "Spin Through" and "Don I" surface search radar and "Two Square Head" identification friend or foe. They had a complement of 40.

Construction and career

The design was accepted for construction in 1961 and three vessels were built by Izhora rated by the Soviet Navy as bazovy tralshchik. The first vessel to complete in 1966, Komsomelets Turkmenii, was to be the prototype for an advanced coastal minesweeper design. Komsomolets Buryatii followed in 1968 and BT-177 in 1969. The design was not successful and the Soviet Navy chose to return to a wooden-hulled design in the. Komsomelets Turkmenii was lost in an explosion on 19 August 1989. Komsomolets Buryatii was renamed BT-215 on 18 March 1992. The final fate of the remaining ships is unknown.