Project 57 "Forelle" Patrol Boats - From the Ruins like a Jumping Trout

Suggestions Naval
1
Would you like to see this in-game?
  • Yes
  • No
0 voters

Project 57 “Forelle” Patrol Boats

image

TL;DR
Coastal vessel, East German patrol boat, outfitted with powerful twin guns facing the rear.

History:
In the 1950s, East Germany was looking to develop their own torpedo boats to supplement the ones bought from the USSR, multiple efforts resulted in a variety of boats, many resembling WW2 designs, such as the Project 63 and 68 LTS-boats, similar to the LS-boats, or the experimental Project 81 hydrofoil torpedo boat, resembling the VS-boats. But the first, albeit unsuccessful, attempt was the Project 57 TS-boat.

It came from a 1952 development order for a 60 ton torpedo boat placed by the East German military. The resulting Project 57 “Forelle” (trout) torpedo boats were intended to be fitted with 2 reproduced Daimler-Benz MB 511 diesel engines (called 20-KVD-25) that came from a concurrent project. The first prototype fitted with the German engines was built and tested in 1955 but it suffered from both engine and hull issues. Different hull builds were tested until a satisfactory one was found, but final development of the engines was not possible, so the production ships were fitted with 4 Soviet M-50F diesels instead. The prototype was then scrapped, and two other boats were built in 1963 at Rosslau, but they too did not meet expectations, and were relegated to the Border Brigade rather than the navy. As such the planned torpedoes was never fitted and they were never real torpedo boats. The two of them (G-01 and G-02) had short service lives, and were scrapped in 1965.

Specifications:

Armament:
1x2 25mm/79 2M-3
1x2 12.7mm DShK
2x 533mm Torpedoes (never fitted)
12 Depth Charges

Displacement:
60 tons standard
65 tons full

Length: 27.7m

Beam: 7.16m

Draft: 1.05m

Propulsion: 4 M-50F3 diesel engines, 4800 hp, driving 2 shafts

Speed: 38 knots (70.4 km/h)

Range: 1000 nmi (at 12 knots)

Crew: 12 (dubious source, but a reasonable number)

Systems:
Zarnitsa Radar

Drawing:
image

Sources:
Mehl, H., Schäfer K, & Israel, U. (1989). Mit Sternmotor auf Luftkissen. In Vom Küstenschutzboot Zum Raketenschiff: Schiffe und Boote der Volksmarine (pp. 143-146). Militärverlag der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik.
http://s-boot.net/englisch/sboats-vm-forelle.html
https://www.navypedia.org/ships/germany_east/gdr_cf_m0.htm
http://www.vierte-flottille.de/schiffeundboote/schnellb/forelle/forelle.html

3 Likes
2

Again, give me all the domestic GDR boats. The guns on this would tear enemy coastal vessels to shreds. +1

1 Like