- Yes
- No
History: The Project 664 torpedo boats ( also known by the NATO reporting name of Wisla) were a class of 8 Polish designed and built torpedo boats.
The class was designed as a replacement for the soviet made project 183 boats in service. The first effort was ORP Błyskawiczny, the only project 663D class boat that started construction in 1961 and entered service four years later. While Błyskawiczny encountered some hiccups during tests, she would be pivotal in the design of the 664s, sharing a similar outline, hull shape and propulsion configuration of 4 diesel engines and one TM-1 gas turbine using a license built adaptation of a Klimov K-1 jet engine.
From the 16th of August 1969, the Wislas were laid down and all were commissioned by the 17th of November 1973
The table below gives more information on laid down, launch and commission dates for each boat
All the boats would join ORP Błyskawiczny in the 3rd Navy flotilla. The boats would go on to have a quiet, albeit troubled service. The hull was prone to cracks as it was made of hydronalium and didn’t cope well in sailing at high speeds in rough seas. The gas turbine was inefficient at fuel consumption, resulting in a inefficient propulsion. The crew also had to deal with a vibration prone, noisy and cramped boat. Finally, the top speed advantage the class did have would end up being limited by sea conditions. As a result, these boats would exit service between 9 to 14 years after they entered.
The class suffered 2 collision incidents, one on 20th of April 1973 with Sprawny colliding with Project 206F ORP Mewa near Stilo and another on the 17th of May 1985 with Sprawny colliding with ORP Nawigator within the Baltic straits. As far as I’m aware, none of the involved vessels suffered casualties and continued service as per usual. The 664s were also present in exercises , with 6 of the class taking part in Posejdon-75 and 4 in Reda-83
Today only ORP Odważny remains as a museum ship while the other 7 sisters were scrapped. Curiously, the AK-230s were swapped out for twin 2M-3M guns.
Specifications:
Displacement- 94t (standard) or 128t (full)
Length- 24.76m
Width- 7.79m
Draft- 1.61m
Crew- 20
Armament- 2x AK 230 30mm gun a 4x 533m torpedo tubes (of which, the two aft tubes can be exchanged for 2x AMD 1000s, 4x AMD 500s or 20x JaM naval mines)
Sights: Kolonka gun sights
Systems- MR 102 surveillance and torpedo fire control radar
Speed- 91kmh
Sources:
Robert Rochowicz. Reda-83 – these used to be exercises . “Sea, Ships and Vessels”
Robert Rochowicz. The Last Parade of the Navy of the Polish People’s Republic . “Sea, Ships and Vessels”
Teodor Makowski, Robert Rochowicz: "Polish torpedo boats