In 1948, TsKB-19, on its own initiative, developed an abbreviated preliminary design of a small torpedo boat based on the M123bis project.
The project provided for equipping the boat with a radar, a state identification system, reinforced machine gun armament and modern radio communications equipment.
Of course, the project received full approval from the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry, since it made it possible to give a “second life” to the obsolete M123bis project and further “pull” the Komsomol series into the 1950s without costly re-equipment of production.
There was only one thing left to do - it was necessary to convince the “main customer”. The method chosen was quite original at that time. On March 2, 1948, TsKB-19’s proposal for a new boat was reported and considered at a meeting of the officers of the 1st Sevastopol torpedo boat brigade, which was chaired by the brigade commander, Rear Admiral V.T. Protsenko. The brigade fought the entire war on T-5s of various modifications, so the opinion of the combat boat officers was categorical: “the meeting considers it extremely necessary to build and test the lead boat of this project as soon as possible.”
At first glance, such a decision by the boat officers present at the meeting, most of whom went through the war and were convinced from their own experience of the dubious combat value of small torpedo boats, seems difficult to explain. But on the other hand, the designers’ promises were too tempting: increased seaworthiness, radar, identification system, enhanced machine gun armament, modern radio communications... All this, combined with such qualities as high speed and low visibility, could rehabilitate small torpedo boats in the eyes of boat sailors . Approval of the new project “from below” was received.
However, further design of a new small torpedo boat has stalled. The main reason was the unavailability of new types of weapons and weapons promised to the sailors.
Only in 1950, the proposal of TsKB-19 to create a new small scale torpedo boat based on the M123bis project was officially formalized in the form of a joint protocol of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry and the Navy dated January 17, 1950, and then approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1327- 489 dated March 26, 1950.
Now, on completely legal grounds, TsKB-19 has developed an abbreviated technical project for the re-equipment of two production boats of the M123bis project.
The re-equipment project received the designation 123K (the letter “K” meant “corrected”). The Project 123K torpedo boat was developed in two versions: “A” and “3”.
Option “A” provided for the installation of a radar transponder of a “friend or foe” identification system of the “Fakel-MO” type, an open navigation bridge and the preservation of two 2UK-T machine gun turrets. The differences from the basic M123bis project were minimal.
The “Zarnitsa” radar station and a full set of “Fakel-M” equipment (interrogator and transponder) were installed on the boat of option “3”. The increased weight load was supposed to be compensated by removing the 2UK-T bow machine-gun turret.
For some reason, TsKB-19 released working drawings for both versions of the project separately, although both boats were structurally completely identical, with the exception of separate foundations and mounts for instruments and samples of weapons and weapons, the presence or absence of which distinguished one option from the other.
By and large, the development of the project in two versions, with the clear advantage of the boat with the Zarnitsa radar, reflected a well-founded fear that the industry would overtake the shipbuilding industry. Scientific Committee of the Navy (NTK Navy). Behind the new one, it was created at the end of 1945 as TsNIIVK. is now unable to cope with the supply of radar sets for a large series of boats, especially since this station was supposed to be installed on the TKA of the TD-200bis and 183 projects. Therefore, at first it was assumed that only every third production boat would receive Zarnitsa.
The problem of hull strength was very acute - a constant “headache” for the creators of domestic torpedo boats. Back in 1936, when on a significant part of the Baltic and Black Sea boats of the G-5 type (which had already undergone repairs with hull reinforcement), cracks appeared in the bottom plating sheets and frames , as well as in the under-engine foundations, the long-suffering of the sailors came to an end. By order of the Chief of the Naval Forces of the Red Army V.M. Orlov, a special commission was created under the chairmanship of the head of the Scientific Research Institute of Military Shipbuilding (NIVK)2 N.V. Alyakrinsky, which included famous scientists. - shipbuilders, including a major specialist in the field of ship strength, Yu. A. Shimansky.
The commission first of all drew attention to the lack of standards and methods for calculating the strength of the hulls of high-speed planing boats among the creators of the Sh-4 and G-5 torpedo boats3. In his calculations, A.N. Tupolev used a method for calculating the strength of the fuselage of flying boats and seaplane floats. To be on the safe side, all overload coefficients were “voluntarily” doubled.
Unfortunately, the creation of this document took many years. Only ten years later, in 1946, in the “Proceedings of the Central Research Institute named after. acad. A.N. Krylov” Issue 10, the work of Yu.A. Shimansky “Calculation of the strength of planing boats” was published. However, the calculation methods given there were only advisory in nature. The first official “temporary method for calculating strength” appeared in 1952, and two years later the “Rules for calculating the strength of hull structures of planing boats” appeared - a document that has not lost its relevance to this day.
The TKA hulls of projects 123 and 123bis, calculated in a “home-grown” way, turned out to be quite “flimsy”. The entire post-war history of the “one hundred twenty-third” is a long list of numerous “joint decisions” of the Navy and the SMEs regarding the strengthening of the frame and hull plating. The sad list included: the installation of additional frames in the bow, reinforcement of the hull and bulkheads with overhead sheets in the most critical places, installation of local carlings and stiffening ribs, strengthening of under-engine foundations, etc. They tried to radically solve the problem when creating the 123K boat by initially strengthening its structure through additional frames and some thickening of the skin, and recalculating the general and local strength “by the method. prof. Shimansky”, however, the boats still continued to “crackle”. In the early 1950s, specialists from TsNII-45 (now TsNII named after academician A.N. Krylov) received an original proposal - to install strain gauges on Project 123K boats in the most stressed areas of the hull. According to the authors of this idea, when permissible voltages were exceeded, a “red light” would light up on the boat commander’s control panel, after which he should slow down or change the boat’s course relative to the wave. To this proposal, representatives of the Navy responded that the boat was created for combat and no The “red light” cannot interfere with the accomplishment of a combat mission. In turn, the specialists of TsNII-45 suggested “to save government property” to pay attention to the notorious light only in peacetime. The end result was that the issue, as they say, was “dropped.” But the problem of strength remains! Navy specialists, with tenacity worthy of better use, demanded from the designers that a tiny boat with a displacement of 22 tons could move at full speed at sea level 4. Industry resisted as best it could. As a result, it was decided that “experience is the criterion of truth.” It was decided to subject the first serial torpedo boat of Project 123K (plant No. 500) built by plant No. 831 in Feodosia to “extended seaworthiness tests under a special program.”
The tests took place in the Feodosia region from March to November 1952 and lasted 245 days. The tests themselves took only... 28 days. We waited 115 days at sea for “an appropriate weather test program.” 102 days were spent eliminating damage, scheduled maintenance, painting the hull, etc., etc.
According to the test results, the Navy was still forced to listen to the arguments of the designers and limit the speed of the boat in seas of 4 points to 40 knots. The test report meticulously recorded all the numerous hardware failures, but how did the boat crew feel? I will give an excerpt from the report so that the reader can better imagine what the crew of a small red torpedo boat experienced in a stormy sea:
"The boat's sailing in a sea state of 4 at full engine speed (1700 rpm) is carried out in very difficult conditions for personnel, requiring great endurance and endurance, a high degree of physical training and seamanship."
Despite the fact that the personnel of the boat being tested had sufficient experience in sailing on torpedo boats (at least 3 years of service) and that the tests were carried out in the Black Sea conditions with a navigating bridge. - Approx. auto air temperature above zero, it is noted that the crew’s performance at the end of the trip decreased sharply.
Observations of the work of personnel are summarized in Table No. 1 (the style and spelling of the document are preserved).
Seventeen years before the events described, in the summer of 1935, the following happened in the Pacific Fleet: during exercises, a formation of Sh-4 type TKA was supposed to attack “enemy” ships. Suddenly the weather deteriorated, the sea state reached 4-5 points. It was out of the question. The torpedo boats had difficulty overcoming the wave at low speeds; the engines of two boats stalled, and they were thrown ashore by the storm.
One can note the “colossal” progress in the development of domestic small red torpedo boats. In 1935, armed with two 450 mm caliber torpedoes, the TKA type Sh-4 at a sea level of 4-5, had difficulty rowing against the wave. Seventeen years later, at the cost of enormous efforts of designers, armed with such With torpedoes, the Project 123K torpedo boat could move at a speed of about 50 knots with a sea state of 4 points, but, like its “great-grandfather,” it was not able to use its weapons.
Surprisingly, the results of seaworthiness tests of the Project 123K boat (serial number 500) did not in any way affect the construction program of small torpedo boats of this project.
The two lead boats of projects 123K-“A” and 123K-“3” (factory No. 4 31, 432) were converted from serial boats of project M123bis and accepted into the Navy on October 31 and November 24, 1950, respectively. The 123K-“3” version was put into serial production, since in the 1950s a torpedo boat without a radar could only be used as a traveling boat.
When approving the technical design of the boat, Project 123K, the Navy Shipbuilding Directorate showed previously unusual adherence to principles and demanded that the boat’s anti-aircraft weapons be strengthened. Indeed, in the era of jet aviation, the boat, equipped with only two 12.7-mm machine guns (at the level of the “G-five” of the latest series!), looked practically unarmed. As a result, an “additional agreement between the Navy and SMEs dated December 27, 1950” was born on the placement of a new 14.5-mm twin turret mount 2M-5 on production boats. According to the unkind domestic tradition, the agreement specifically stipulated that: “if there are no 2M-5 turret mounts by the time the first production boats are completed, their replacement with 2UK-T turret mounts is permitted.” But even after such a “strengthening,” the weakness of the boat’s artillery armament was obvious. As a consolation, a “scientific” justification was given: “... this drawback is not so significant, considering that torpedo boats, as a rule, operate as part of a formation of boats.” Since, fortunately, domestic boats of Project 123K participate in combat operations were not accepted, the crews of Egyptian and Syrian torpedo boats had to test this bold statement on their own skin.
Based on operating experience in the Project 123bis and M123bis TKA fleets, a number of changes were made to the design and equipment of the Project 123K TKA:
Instead of a closed commander's cabin, an open navigation bridge with a wind deflector is installed. Perhaps this was the only constructive solution that actually took into account the combat experience of the Second World War. To instantly make decisions about changing speed and course (for example, during an air attack), the boat commander needed, first of all, excellent visibility. However, after a few years, on new projects of combat boats, the navigation bridge had to be made closed again and even hermetically sealed. A new problem was on the horizon - nuclear defense; the autopilot “Yantar” (“Yantar-2”) was replaced by the more modern “Zubatka-2”;
Instead of semi-submerged rudders, fully submerged balance rudders were installed (under the transom plate) with stocks running behind the transom, with a steering cable drive from the autopilot “Zubatka-2”;
Ten fuel tanks were replaced with six tanks of a new design (the total capacity of the tanks remained the same). It became possible to pump fuel from one tank to another; - to improve the maneuverability of the boat, the remote control system for reversing the main engines was combined with an engine telegraph;
For the convenience of loading torpedo tubes, as well as placing smoke bombs, the upper deck was extended beyond the transom in the form of a crinoline. There were other, smaller improvements.
And yet, despite all the improvements made, acquaintance with the tactical and technical elements of the small torpedo boat of Project 123K causes great bewilderment. All its advantages compared to the Project 123bis torpedo boat built in 1944 were the installation of a radar, a “friend or foe” identification system and the replacement of gasoline engines with diesel engines. The torpedo armament did not stand up to any criticism; it froze at the level of the early 1930s, and the anti-aircraft armament remained frankly weak.
Serial construction of Project 123K TKA was carried out at plant No. 831 in Feodosia using the progressive flow-position method. In total, from 1951 to 1955, 205 boats of Project 123K were built here (excluding boats with serial numbers 431 and 432, which were converted from serial boats of Project M123bis.)
The boats were built in six series, which differed slightly from each other (see Table No. 2).
It is interesting to compare the labor intensity of construction and the cost of a serial small torpedo boat of Project 123K with similar indicators for a serial large torpedo boat of Project 183 (see Table No. 3).
Since prices of that time are difficult to compare with modern ones, let’s analyze the table in relative figures.
With almost the same labor intensity of construction (and this despite the fact that the displacement of the BTKA is almost three times greater!), the cost of one ton of displacement of the MTKA is 1.5 times higher. Considering the low TFC of MTKA, the superiority of BTKA in terms of cost-effectiveness is obvious.
By the mid-1950s, in the USSR Navy, small torpedo boats of Project 123K almost completely replaced their predecessors - TKAs of Projects 123bis and M123bis.
Having become morally obsolete long before their birth, in the 1950s they could not be considered as a real fighting force. It got to the point that one of the options for using this “formidable” weapon involved leading Project 123K TKA groups with large Project 183 torpedo boats, a kind of return to the idea of the 1930s.
In the late 1950s - early 1960s, the USSR Navy was intensively decommissioning the Project 123K MTKA. A number of TKAs were converted into target boats according to Project 123U. There were also some long-livers, for example, the TK-275 (serial number 690) of the Black Sea Fleet was decommissioned only on December 1, 1978.
Under military assistance programs, torpedo boats of Project 123K in the 1950s - early 1960s were transferred to: the Albanian Navy - 12 units, Bulgaria - 12, Vietnam - 6, Egypt - 12. Zaire - 3, Yemen - 5, Cyprus - 6 , China - 55, Cuba - 12, Romania - 6, Syria - 12, Somalia - 4 and North Korea -12 units. 4
On boats of Project 123K, the experiments started on TKA of Projects 123bis and M123bis with a low-submerged hydrofoil designed by R.E. Alekseev were continued. So in 1951, a bow wing was installed on the TK-996 torpedo boat. It is impossible not to note this unique boat of its kind. Laid down in Tyumen under the M123bis project (serial number 432), it was completed in Feodosia under the 123K project (option “3”), becoming the lead boat of this project.
After a bow hydrofoil was installed on the boat in Gorky in 1951 at the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, the project number was changed to K-123K. The boat was tested in 1953, after which five more production boats were equipped with a low-submerged bow wing.5
The surviving Project 123K boats were very useful in creating naval memorials. So in Leningrad in 1973, a monument to the heroic sailors of torpedo boats was unveiled on Vasilyevsky Island. Similar memorials were opened in Kaliningrad, on Sapun Mountain near Sevastopol, in Novorossiysk, Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.
In this regard, the small torpedo boat of Project 123K, which had never fought, was very lucky.
Brief description of nonstruntia
Taking into account the immutability of the theoretical drawing and main dimensions (without protruding parts), as well as the general location (with a small exception for the TKA of Project 123K) and the main technical solutions used on boats of Projects 123bis, M123bis and 123K, these torpedo boats are considered together, while all the main differences of each specific type are discussed separately.
The hull of boats of projects 123bis, M123bis, 123K was made in accordance with theoretical drawing No. 123bis-A100-14. The contours of the underwater part were made redundant, as the most hydrodynamically advantageous branches of the frames in the middle and aft parts of the hull were made straightened. The bow frames had a camber, which ensured the necessary seaworthiness and ability of the boat to ride the wave. The entire deck of the boat was made without ledges and had beams. The set system is transverse with reinforced longitudinal set. On boats of projects 123bis and M123bis, the outer plating, deck, wheelhouse, bulkheads, brackets and other structures were made of clad sheet duralumin grades D-17T and D17TV. All racks, angles and other parts made from profiles were made of D-6 grade duralumin. In the design of the Project 123K boat, new grades of duralumin D16A-T and D-16T were used, which had higher mechanical qualities. In the boat hull kit, only open ship-type profiles were used, ensuring easy inspection and relative ease of repair.
The longitudinal strength of the hull was ensured by a powerful box-shaped keel beam and stringers.6 All connections of the hull parts were riveted. The rivets are duralumin; in the most critical places it was necessary to use steel rivets isolated from the body. On the outside, riveting along the bottom and sides was carried out with an external countersunk head. The thickness of the outer skin, depending on the area of the housing, is from 2 to 4 mm.
Along the length, the hull of boats of projects 123bis and M123bis was divided into 6 compartments by five bulkheads on frames 13, 35, 40, 46 and 55. All bulkheads, except the bulkhead on 35 sp. waterproof made of duralumin sheets and angle-bulb struts. On Project 123K boats, due to the replacement of the pilothouse semi-recessed into the hull with an open navigation bridge, installation of radar and other equipment, the internal arrangement was slightly changed. A special feature of the design of the boat’s hull was a “stepped” waterproof bulkhead of 40. To generate electricity on the Project 123bis TKA, two generators were used, mounted on Packard engines (24 V DC mains). Rechargeable batteries were used as a backup power source.
On project M123bis and 123K boats there are two GS-1000 or GSK-1500 generators mounted on M-50 diesel engines (24 V DC mains). The engine compartment also contained an auxiliary unit: gasoline engine-generator-compressor-pump L6/3 (24 V) or diesel generator-compressor-pump DGK-10 (24 V). Rechargeable batteries were used as a backup power source.
Armament
The main armament of the boats was a torpedo, which consisted of two TTKA-45 tube torpedo tubes with a powder firing system. The devices were installed on the deck, symmetrically on both sides, with an opening angle relative to the DP of 5°. Starting with Project 123K boats of the 2nd series, modernized TTKA-45-52 torpedo tubes with flameless firing were installed. The devices were adapted to fire 45-36N or 45-36NU torpedoes. To heat the torpedoes, electric heating pads were installed in the devices, powered by a 24 V network. Firing was controlled from the commander's cabin (navigation bridge on the 123K project) using an electromechanical drive. To ensure targeted firing of torpedoes, a KLN-1 boat torpedo sight was installed on the roof of the cabin (on the bridge).
The artillery armament of the Project 123bis and M123bis boats consisted of two 2-UK-T boat turret machine gun mounts with coaxial 12.7 mm DShK machine guns. The total ammunition of the machine guns consisted of 2,400 rounds. Initially, machine gun installations were protected by armor plates made of 2P bulletproof armor with a thickness of 7 mm. Subsequently, in order to combat overloading of the boats, all armor protection, including the wheelhouse, was removed.
The Project 123K boat was equipped with one 14.5-mm turret coaxial machine gun mount 2M-5 (two Vladimirov heavy machine guns). The ammunition capacity was 400 rounds per barrel.
Detection and communication equipment, navigational weapons
TKA projects 123bis, M123bis had only visual detection means.
The Project 123K TKA was equipped with a boat radar "Zarnitsa" (a copy of the American radar S0-13). The station's antenna was installed on a special collapsing mast. The station's all-round visibility indicator (PVI) was located in the 3rd compartment on the port side. The state recognition equipment was provided by the interrogator "Fakel" -MZ” and the defendant “Faklel MO”.
Project 123bis and M123bis boats were equipped with the Mackerel radio station (HF range), which was later replaced by the more modern R-607. Project 123K boats had two radio stations P-607 and P-609 (VHF range).
Navigation equipment of boats of projects 123bis and M123bis included: boat gyromagnetic compass KGMK-4, magnetic compass KI-11. The RPK0-2 or RPK-2M radio semi-compass was installed on the M123bis project TKA.
Project 123K boats received a more modern gyromagnetic compass DKGMK-3 as well as a gyroscopic direction indicator “Gradus”, designed to develop a course or azimuth direction and issue this data to the autopilot “Zubatka-2”.
Systems and devices
Project 123bis torpedo boats did not have an effective fire extinguishing system. The standard system for filling fuel tanks with exhaust gases (Shaternikov system) and fire extinguishers for domestic combat boats did not fully ensure the fire safety of the boat.
Project M123bis and 123K boats were equipped with a stationary carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system, consisting of a 40-liter carbon dioxide cylinder, shut-off valves and a pipeline. There were two hand-held fire extinguishers in the engine and commander's compartments.
The ventilation system on the boats included exhaust sinks in the sides of the boat in the area of each compartment. To receive air into the engine compartment, there were air intakes with louvres in the forward part of the wheelhouse (navigating bridge). To ventilate the engine compartment when parked, a blower fan with a capacity of 400 m3/hour was designed.
The anchorage of the boats consisted of one Inglefield system anchor weighing 40 kg and a steel anchor cable 50 m long. The anchor was lifted and released manually.
Transportation of boats by rail was carried out in accordance with NKPS instructions No. TsD/1500 ed. 1946 with the first degree oversized™ on a standard four-axle 60-ton platform (two-axle 20-ton platforms were brought under the extremities). During transportation, the following were removed from the boats: bow sections of the TTKA-45, TA guards, rudders, propellers, antennas, signal mast (Zarnitsa radar antenna, barrels of the 2I-5 machine gun mount for Project 123K boats).
Conclusion
In the history of the Russian navy, the raid of English torpedo boats on Kronstadt on August 18, 1919 is not a “blank spot”. It is described in detail in historical and even fiction, let’s remember I. S. Isakov’s “Kronstadt Reveille” or the collection of short stories “Sea Soul” » L. Soboleva. Standard cliché: the insidious British, the heroic destroyer Gabriel that foiled their plans, the surviving English boats caught from the water, looking at Bolshevik Kronstadt with fear and curiosity. Our losses are minimal: the former cruiser “Memory of Azov” was sunk and the old battleship “Andrey Pervozvanny” was damaged. The British were defeated: four of the eight boats were sunk, nine boat sailors were captured, and the interventionists suffered another shameful defeat.
From a military point of view, this is true. The British clearly overestimated the capabilities of their SMV. The torpedo boat operation, despite a number of competent tactical decisions, was doomed to failure from the very beginning.
But let's try to move away from the imposed stereotypes. Kronstadt is a first-class sea fortress, which was created and equipped over two centuries. These are powerful coastal and island forts with hundreds of long-range guns and searchlights, protected harbors, and huge dry docks. The southern and northern fairways are blocked by a chain of forts built on artificial islands. There are numerous pile, mud and stone barriers and minefields all around. The last time a large Anglo-French squadron tried to attack Kronstadt from the sea was during the Crimean War, but was forced to retreat in disgrace.
Ships docked in Kronstadt harbors are reliably protected by granite breakwaters with narrow passages. And suddenly... tiny enemy ships sneak along the impassable northern fairway past the modern dreadnought forts “Totleben” and “Obruchev”, past the chain of old “numbered” forts. They go around the fortress and from the side of Petrograd through a narrow passage they break into the harbor. For the first time in almost two hundred years ago, enemy surface ships broke into the holy of holies of the Russian fleet - the harbor of Kronstadt!
How does a person feel who discovered and captured a thief in his apartment, which he closed with two metal doors and hung bars on the windows? Obviously, first the joy of the winner, a little later bewilderment, and then admiration for the abilities of the caught thief!
Raid on Kronstadt, sinking of the cruiser "Oleg"
Torpedo boats found ardent supporters in the young Soviet fleet. Cheap and effective weapon! Battleships and cruisers have outlived their usefulness. Submarines, naval aviation, torpedo boats, this is what the young Soviet republic needs to protect its sea borders - ideas that were expressed by representatives of the so-called “young school” in the Red Army Navy in the late 1920s.
But the “young school” was ideologically destroyed. The country needs a strong sea and ocean fleet! However, the construction of small scale torpedo boats of the G-5 type continues at an ever-increasing pace. The creators of this torpedo boat, the British, were the first to abandon their brainchild. The companies Vosper and British Power Boat have created fundamentally new non-rated seaworthy torpedo boats. Many countries bought ready-made boats or licenses for their construction from these companies. At this time, in our country they were experimenting with might and main with the gigantic “leaders of torpedo boats” G-6 and G-8, “crocodiles” by V.I. Levkov, and “wave control” boats. Having seen the light, the leadership of the USSR Navy, with a huge delay, ordered the industry an experienced seaworthy torpedo boat of the second generation D-3, and immediately began to look for a replacement for the obsolete T-fifth." “The main tactical element of a torpedo boat is speed" and "the modified contours are the most favorable in hydrodynamic terms" - these are two unshakable postulates that, contrary to the main trends in the development of the class of torpedo boats, led to the appearance in our fleet of the second generation of small, small torpedo boats of Project 123.
History is woven from contradictions: in our country, the world's best large torpedo boat, Project 183, was created, embodying the latest achievements of domestic and world boat building. In parallel with it, an archaic small redundant duralumin torpedo boat of Project 123K was built in a large series, which inherited from the Pervenets the bow arrangement of the engine room, riveted hull structure and a powerful box-shaped keel beam. Thanks to technical progress, tube torpedo tubes, a large-caliber anti-aircraft machine gun, and a radar station appeared on it.
And yet one gets the impression that this boat was nothing more than the pinnacle of the evolution of those same English SMVs that sank the cruiser Oleg and attacked Kronstadt in 1919.
A model of the Project 123K torpedo boat was installed in Kaliningrad on the banks of the Pregolya River at the intersection of Moskovsky Prospekt and Oktyabrskaya Street.
Access is free, the pedestal is high. There is no security.
The condition is not historical.
Date of filming: June 01, 2015.
01.
All photos are clickable up to 3648x2736.
02. The boat is the central element of the Baltic Sailors memorial complex. 
03. The memorial plaques ( , ) of the memorial list the units and formations of the Baltic Fleet that took part in the Great Patriotic War. 
04. Historical monument
municipal significance
Memorial sign
Baltic sailors
1974 
05. On the pedestal there is a model of a torpedo boat of Project 123K with elements of 123-bis and original parts.
The original boat, installed in 1974, was badly damaged by time and vandals. 
06. The local press wrote about the restoration:
For more than a month it was undergoing reconstruction at the Yantar Baltic Shipyard, where shipbuilders manufactured a new hull.
The old one is rusty.
The surviving torpedo tubes, steering wheel and propellers were removed from the previous combat vehicle.
The "original" parts were installed on a fresh metal body.
"Komsomolskaya Pravda. Kaliningrad" (04/04/2010)
Yantar specialists carried out serious research work, as a result of which the 123-bis project, whose torpedo boats took part in military operations in the Baltic, was taken as the basis for the model.
The new memorial sign will differ in appearance from its predecessor - a representative of a later, post-war project.
From the 1978 model Komsomolets, only the torpedo tubes remained on the new boat.
"New Kaliningrad" (04/01/2010)
It is difficult to understand why the 123-bis project is mentioned, although the boat is most similar to the 123K.
From 123K - superstructure, radar mast, shape of the stern end.
In addition, the 123K has only one 2M-5 machine gun mount, while the 123-bis has two 2-UK-T.
The differences in silhouettes are obvious: 
Definitely 123K.
Most likely, the desire to pass it off as 123 bis is due to the fact that 123K is a strictly post-war series of boats, and 123 bis managed to successfully fight. 
07. A real rear admiral gives an interview to television crews against the backdrop of a boat and the “House of Soviets” - the most epic Kaliningrad unfinished project of Soviet times. 
08. "Komsomolets" - a series of Soviet small torpedo boats of projects 123, 123bis, M-123bis and 123K.
The lead boat of Project 123 was laid down on July 30, 1939 at the shipyard of the Leningrad plant No. 194 (slipway No. S-505).
Launched on May 16, 1940, entered service on October 25, 1940.
On March 12, 1941 he was enlisted in the Black Sea Fleet.
The characteristics differed significantly from the boats of subsequent series. 
09. After the launch of the lead boat of Project 123, the design bureau of shipyard N 639 began finalizing the project, and in November 1943 the fleet received a new project of boats of the Komsomolets type, designated "123bis".
Until the end of World War II, 31 Project 123bis boats rolled off the stocks of Tyumen Plant No. 639. 
10. In the post-war period, the project of Komsomolets type boats was revised 2 more times, and in 1946-1953, another 205 Komsomolets torpedo boats rolled off the stocks of the Feodosia shipyard No. 831 (50 - project M-123bis and 155 - project 123K ). 
11. A customized boat with a duralumin hull.
The hull is divided into five compartments by waterproof bulkheads.
A hollow keel beam is laid along the entire length of the hull, performing the function of a keel.
To reduce pitching, side keels are installed on the underwater part of the hull.
Two aircraft engines are installed in the housing one behind the other, while the length of the left propeller shaft was 12.2 m, and the right - 10 m.
Torpedo tubes, unlike previous types of boats, are tubular, not trough. 
12. Screws. Possibly original. 
13. Model of the 2M-5 installation with a coaxial 14.5 mm Vladimirov machine gun.
I saw what the original installation looks like in St. Petersburg.
Strange barrels in the foreground (and on the left side of the photo, on the other side) - imitation of BM-1 depth charges 
14. BM-1 (Bomba Malaya, First) was proposed as an auxiliary anti-submarine weapon, as well as as a weapon for slow-moving ships and boats that would not be fast enough to escape the shock wave of the Big Bomb BB-1.
In addition, the “Small Bomb” became a mine clearance tool and was used to detonate enemy acoustic mines. 
15. Torpedo tubes - it seems that the only original detail of the monument. 
16. The main armament of the boat is two 450 mm torpedoes 45-36Н, 45-36НУ in TTKA-45 torpedo tubes (on II-VI series TTKA-45-52).
The monument was erected in St. Petersburg on the territory of the Lenexpo exhibition complex (Bolshoi Avenue of Vasilyevsky Island, 103).
You can get to the monument by public transport, more than ten routes of which pass in close proximity.
Stop "Middle Avenue (Nalichnaya Street)".
Free parking is available nearby.
Access is free (even too free), you can touch and climb. There is no security (except for Lenexpo security).
On this day, there was a “Smelt Festival” on the territory of Lenexpo. The square was filled with exhibitions, shopping arcades, and street cafes.
That's why there are a lot of people in the frame.
400 meters north of the boat, there is another naval memorial - “Submarine D-2 Narodovolets”.
all photos are clickable up to 3648x2736
02. We discovered the boat quite by accident when we went to the mentioned holiday, after inspecting Narodovolets.
03. There are no signs of type/project/number/name on the boat itself or its pedestal.
To identify the ship, I re-read several reference books kindly posted on the website Encyclopedia of Ships by Andrey Pupko.
By the way, in my opinion, the best Russian-language encyclopedia on ship topics.
04. Also, through an iterative search, I was able to presumably determine which particular boat was installed as this monument.
In several sources, for example http://russian-ships.info/katera/123.htm, this boat is designated as TK-23 of project 123-K.
I didn’t find any other confirmation about the number, but according to the drawings and descriptions of weapons I found in reference books (type of machine guns, presence of radar, general layout), this is indeed a “Torpedo boat pr.123-K”.
05. Project 123-K was a development of the projects of the published torpedo boats of projects 123 "Komsomolets" (the first boat was launched in 1940) and 123-bis (1944).
123-K is a post-war series (1949-55), improved compared to the previous ones.
Increased speed, changed weapons.
06. A total of 205 boats of this project were built.
This is the last series of MTKA (Small Torpedo Boats) produced in the USSR
07.
08. Several dozen 123-K boats were exported to China, Egypt, Cyprus, North Korea and other countries.
Some were installed as war memorials. Exactly the same boat is parked at the marine terminal in Novorossiysk.
09. On the pedestal, next to the large inscription “1941-1945 To the heroic sailors of the Baltic torpedo boats”, there is
a small plaque with a brief description of the heroic episodes and exploits of the boat sailors.
(let me remind you that the boat itself was produced in the 1950s and did not take part in the battles of the Great Patriotic War)
10. Twin heavy-caliber Vladimirov machine guns (KPV) in the 2M-5 installation. Belt feeding (80 shots per belt).
The 2M-5 units were produced at the Tula Machine-Building Plant.
The youngest is in the shooter's place.
12. Bow part of the deck (tank).
Under the large rectangular cover there should be an engine compartment with an engine.
The lead boat "Komsomolets" of Project 123 was laid down on July 30, 1939 at the shipyard of the Leningrad Shipyard No. 194 named after. Comrade A. Marty. Launched on May 16, 1940, entered service on October 25 of the same year, and on March 12, 1941, was enlisted in the Black Sea Fleet. The Komsomolets torpedo boat was intended for torpedoing enemy ships and for setting up smoke screens. Back in the summer of 1940, when Komsomolets was still undergoing factory tests, its design underwent serious alterations. The TsKB-19 design group V.M. took on the task of modifying the ship. Burlakova. First of all, the anti-aircraft weapons were strengthened; instead of one heavy-caliber DShK machine gun, four were installed on a pedestal mount (two each in twin turret mounts). At the same time, the ship's displacement increased by 3 tons, and the speed decreased from 51 knots to 46–48. The caliber of torpedo tubes was also reduced from 533 to 450 mm, now designed for 45-36-NU torpedoes. "Komsomolets" was a boat of a completely new design, significantly different from the serial torpedo boats of the G-5 and D-3 types, and superior to them in a number of combat qualities. Unlike the old wooden ones, the new boat had a duralumin hull 18.7 m long and 3.4 m wide (divided by waterproof bulkheads into five compartments). A hollow keel beam ran along the entire length of the hull, which served as a keel. In addition, along the sides below the waterline there were additional side keels that reduced pitching. Two Packard-type aircraft engines with a power of 2400 hp. With. (instead of GAM-34-F with a power of 1000 hp) provided the boat with a speed of up to 48 knots (86 km/h). The motors were located longitudinally in the hull, one after the other, so that the length of the left propeller shaft was 12.2 m, and the right - 10. The main armament consisted of two 450-mm torpedo tubes, which, unlike previous types of boats, were tubular and not guttered. The serial Komsomolets boats were armed with four 12.7-mm heavy-caliber DShK machine guns mounted in two twin UK-2 mounts (on the XIII series boats of later construction they were replaced by two mounts with 20-mm ShVAK automatic cannons), as well as six large depth charges. Smoke equipment was installed on the boat (device DA-7 with a capacity of 40 liters). Changes in the design resulted in good seaworthiness of the new boat; it could use its weapons and sail at maximum speed in seas up to force 3, inclusive. Unlike other domestically built torpedo boats, the Komsomolets boat received an armored deckhouse (made of 7 mm thick sheet). During the Great Patriotic War, the Project 123 torpedo boat was further modified. The changes affected mainly production technology. The hull structure was also strengthened and a number of minor improvements were made. Instead of one engine, they installed two, and although the boat’s displacement increased by 5 tons, the speed remained the same - 48 knots. In November 1943, the Tyumen Shipyard (shipbuilding plant No. 639) delivered to the fleet the lead boat of the Komsomolets type of a new project, designated “123-bis”. It entered service in August 1944, when the war was moving further and further to the west. Project 123-bis torpedo boats were built with voluntary contributions from Soviet people, and therefore some of them, in addition to numbers, received their own names, for example: “Tyumensky Rabochiy”, “Tyumensky Komsomolets”, “Tyumensky Pioneer”, “Rechnik Angara”, “Odessky” patriot”, “Odessa collective farmer”, “Odessa Komsomolets”, “Komsomol of Kazakhstan”, “Artemovets”, “Working Artem”, “Sailor of Dalstroy” and others. Until the end of the war, 30 boats of type 123-bis rolled off the stocks of Tyumen plant No. 639, and in 1946–1953, another 205 such ships were built at shipyard No. 183 in Feodosia (50 of project 123-bis and 155 of project 123-K) . New coastal torpedo boats of the Komsomolets type managed to take an active part in the final battles in the Baltic during the Great Patriotic War. The actions of the maneuverable and fast Komsomols against German convoys turned out to be very successful. These torpedo boats fully demonstrated their high combat qualities in the spring of 1945, when units of the Red Army were already completing the defeat of Nazi troops, advancing towards Berlin with heavy fighting. From the sea, Soviet ground forces covered the ships of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet, and the entire burden of hostilities in the waters of the southern Baltic fell on the shoulders of the crews of submarines, naval aviation and torpedo boats. Trying to preserve ports in East Prussia for as long as possible to evacuate retreating troops, German troops made frantic attempts to dramatically increase the number of search, strike and patrol groups of boats. These measures significantly aggravated the situation in the Baltic, and then the 3rd division of Komsomolets torpedo boats was deployed to help the existing forces of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet. On the night of April 21, 1945, the search for enemy ships in the area of the Hel Spit was carried out by a detachment of boats under the command of Lieutenant Commander P. Efimenko. The Soviet boats were moving at the slowest speed. This masked, but also required iron restraint and self-control from the crews. And then P. Efimenko decided to go deep into the Danzig Bay - to the mouth of the Vistula. At that time, the boatmen were given only one task: to find and sink enemy ships, which continued to intensively transfer troops by sea. Finally, three German fast landing barges (LGBs) with strong artillery armament were discovered. Five patrol boats followed them at a short distance. However, the attack had to be postponed because it could have been the vanguard of a large convoy. And in this case, the intuition and calculation of Lieutenant Commander P. Efimenko turned out to be correct. In the pre-dawn twilight a caravan appeared. It consisted of an extremely overloaded transport, escorted by several destroyers, patrol boats and torpedo boats. Closing the marching order were two more high-speed landing barges. Having distributed the targets, the squad leader gave the order to attack. The first to go forward was the boat TK-135 of Senior Lieutenant A. Aksenov and immediately fired a salvo from both torpedo tubes. Following him, with a slight delay, the boat TK-133 “Working Artem”, captain-lieutenant V. Solodovnikov, discharged the torpedo tubes. Several seconds passed, and a deafening double explosion was heard behind the boats: the torpedoes hit the target - the German destroyer Z-34 received serious damage. Further actions of Aksenov and Solodovnikov were almost automatic - turning the boats around, setting up a smoke screen and leaving with afterburner. However, this time the Soviet boats were unlucky: when leaving the battle, an enemy shell hit the TK-135’s engine compartment, and its engines immediately stalled. He lost his speed, but soon help arrived. Under heavy fire from enemy guns, another boat TK-131 “Rechnik Angara” of Lieutenant N. Korotkevich, covering A. Aksenov’s “Komsomolets” with a smoke screen, took the damaged boat in tow and began to take it out of the battle. However, a German patrol ship, converted from a fishing vessel, fired all its guns and blocked the path of the Soviet torpedo boats. And immediately both boats opened fire on the enemy from large-caliber machine guns. Soon the German patrol boat caught fire, followed by an explosion, and after a few minutes only its wreckage remained on the surface of the water. The path to their base was open for torpedo boats. In 1995, at the Almaz shipbuilding plant in St. Petersburg, which specialized in the construction and repair of high-speed boats for the Federal Border Service and the Russian Navy, specially for the Central Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill in Moscow, a original drawings of a full-size model of the Project 123-bis boat. It was given a side number in honor of the honored torpedo boat "TK-131".
Length – 18.7 m Width – 3.4 m Draft – 1.2 m Standard displacement – 20.5 tons Full displacement – 23 tons Maximum speed – 48 knots Cruising speed – 28.8 knots Power: internal gasoline aircraft engine Combustion "Packard" - 2x1200 hp. Cruising range - 345 miles Armament: Air defense artillery - 2 twin installations of 12.7 mm DShK heavy machine guns (later 2 installations of 20 mm ShVAK cannons) Anti-submarine weapons - 2 tray bomb releasers;
– 6 M-1 depth charges;
Apparatus with smoke mixture DA-7 with a capacity of 40 liters
Torpedo and mine armament - torpedo tubes - 2x450 Navigation autonomy - 36 hours Crew - 7 people.
The Soviet torpedo boat "Komsomolets" is a small, high-speed military mine-artillery ship designed to carry out torpedo attacks on enemy ships in the coastal sea zone. Due to the design features and high tactical and technical parameters, ships of this type can be used for other purposes: conducting landing operations, conducting naval reconnaissance and laying minefields.
History of the creation and development of the Komsomolets torpedo boat project
The task of designing a new torpedo boat for the Russian Navy in 1939 was received by a group of designers from plant No. 194. The design work was led by P.I. Taptygin. The new torpedo boat received a factory index - project 123. The main goal that was set for Soviet designers was to create a more powerful warship that could replace the G-5 torpedo boats, which formed the basis of the domestic mosquito fleet.
The lead ship of Project 123 was laid down in July 1939 at the shipyard of Leningrad Plant No. 194. In October 1940, the ship entered service, and in March 1941, the new torpedo boat was enlisted in the Black Sea Fleet.
Subsequently, work began on improving the project. As a result, a whole family of torpedo boats of projects 123bis, M-123bis and 123K appeared, produced by Soviet shipyards in different years.
In total, during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet shipbuilders transferred 30 units of various modifications to the fleet. In 1946-48, another 88 torpedo boats of various types were manufactured.
- Tactical and technical characteristics of torpedo boats "Komsomolets"
- Displacement - 20.5 tons.
- Length - 18.7 m, width - 3.44 m, draft - 1.0 m.
- Two gasoline engines with a power of 1200 hp.
- Cruising range - 240 miles.
- Armament: two 450-mm torpedo tubes, two twin 12.7-mm DShK anti-aircraft machine guns, 6 BM-1 depth charges.
- Crew - 7 people.
Komsomolets torpedo boats were used in combat operations on the Black Sea and the Baltic at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War. In the post-war period, in the 50s, some torpedo boats of this type were transferred to the People's Republic of China. As part of the PLA naval forces, torpedo boats were used during the Vietnamese-Chinese armed conflict in the South China Sea. A small number of Komsomolets boats were transferred to political regimes friendly to the USSR.
Photo of the boat
