K-8-class minesweeper

Class overview
Name	K-8 class minesweeping boat
Operators	Cuban Revolutionary Navy Russian Navy Vietnam People's Navy Polish Navy Nicaraguan Navy
In service	1954-present
Completed	40
General characteristics
Type	Coastal Minesweeping Boat
Tonnage	26 tons
Length	16.9 m (55 ft)
Beam	1.2 m (4 ft)
Height	3.2 m (10 ft)
Installed power	3x diesel engines delivering 700 horsepower
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement	6
Armament	2x M38 DShK 12.7mm Machine Guns on Bow

Operational History

First manufactured by Poland for the Soviet Navy in 1954, the K-8 class minesweepers replaced a variety of minesweepers that had been used during World War II. This gave the navy an inexpensive ship to clear mines from its harbors in case of a war with NATO and the West. A wooden hull negated the effects of magnetic mines, and the vessels towed minesweeping gear behind them. However, vessels had no equipment for actually handling mines aboard ship.

Am total of forty vessels were completed. The TR-40 minesweeper slowly replaced the K-8s in Soviet service, but the vessels were transferred to foreign navies such as Poland, Cuba and Vietnam. Designated Project 361T, a handful of K-8 boats were converted to mine warfare drones but saw limited service. The survivors were put into reserve until being struck from the record in the early 1980s.

Bibliography

• http://www.russianwarrior.com/STMMain.htm?1947vec_K8minesweeper.htm&1
• http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/russia/littoral.htm