- Yes
- No
TL;DR
A North Korean-built ship, heavily based on the Soviet Fugas-class, with a 100mm cannon, a dual 57mm cannon, and 4x 14.5mm gatling guns
History
The Soviet Project 53-class, part of the Fugas-class (also incorrectly known as Tral-class), was a class of minesweepers constructed in the mid-1930s. They saw service throughout WWII with the Soviet Navy, and most were scrapped/decommissioned by 1960.
Following the signing of the Korean Armistice in 1953, the DPRK sought to re-equip its navy (the Korean People’s Navy, KPN or KPANF) and replace its dated inventory. They had primarily been equipped with basic Soviet torpedo boats, as well as a variety of civilian boats converted to military use. Along with limited numbers of P-4 and P-6 torpedo boats, the Soviet Union also sent 2 Project 53-class ships – T-2 Tros and T-8 Cheka. These entered service with the KPN very shortly after, numbered 1008 and 1003 respectively.
The DPRK used these two to construct a new class of ships in the late 1960s, named Sariwŏn-class by the US DoD. These ships remained very similar to the two Pr. 53-class ships in their early configurations. Four ships were constructed, initially numbered 511-514. It appears that ships 511-513 received various upgrades throughout their service, and were renumbered multiple times, creating huge confusion online. The same goes for Pr. 53 no. 1003, which received an upgrade at some point in the late 80s, very similar to those of the Sariwŏn-class. They probably held the numbers 725-727 at some point in the mid-1990s, and at least one was then re-numbered to 613 sometime before 2008. All of them serve(d) in the East Sea fleet of the KPANF. Their current status is unknown.
Sariwŏn no. 613 is perhaps the most interesting of the class, and definitely the most different. Its history is completely unknown – we don’t know when the upgrade took place, nor which ship was upgraded – and it has been photographed very sparingly. Judging by the photo below, one ship was numbered 611 (or 613), and has almost the same weaponry as Sariwŏn no. 511 and 512. Almost, because the AA guns appear to me to be the 14.5mm gatling guns, present on the upgraded 613. If this is the case, this appears to be an intermediate version between the base Sariwŏn 511/512 and the upgraded 613.
- Sariwŏn no. 611 or 613, with almost the same weaponry as no. 511 and 512
Characteristics
Sariwŏn no. 613 has an unknown turreted main cannon replacing the old 85mm turret. The turret has been speculated by some to be a copy of the Soviet 76mm AK-176. However, judging from the two angles available, the turret appears quite similar to the DPRK’s own 100mm turret, present on ships like the Amnok corvette. This is a manually-loaded 100mm cannon, highly likely to be a derivative of the B-34 as found on ships like the Najin-class.
- Amnok-class corvette, with 100mm turret
- Only other view of this ship available – barring the likely inaccurate label of 85mm, the turret looks incredibly similar to below
- 100mm turret on Amnok-class corvette
As AA armament, the ship has 4x 14.5mm gatling guns, with two on either side of the superstructure amidships. These are a North Korean development, and have 6 barrels each. Very little information is available on fire rate, but it is expected to be ‘impressive.’ Much like the other ships in the class, Sariwŏn no. 613 has a dual 57mm ZiF-31 mount at the rear of the ship – for no. 613, this appears to have a modified gun-shield shape, appearing much flatter but wider than other examples.
- North Korean 14.5mm gatling gun in service with Myanmar
- The rear dual 57mm set-up of an unknown Sariwŏn-class ship. No. 613 has an altered gun-shield shape.
Little information exists on the radar equipment used on the Sariwŏn-class. No. 613 appears to have the same as all other ships in the class, being a Soviet ‘Pot Head’ search radar (‘Reya’), as well as a Don-2 navigation radar.
The ship has an all steel hull, a length of 62.1m, and a displacement of ~650 tons. It has 2 diesel engines, giving an output of 3000bhp. This allows the ship to reach a speed of 21 knots, or 39 km/h. The ship has a crew of 65-70 (all approximate data).
Conclusion
The Sariwŏn-class is one of the few classes of domestic large North Korean ships, and would be a fun mid-rank ship for a future North Korean coastal fleet sub-tree for China, or as part of a United Korean coastal fleet tree. No. 613 is the most modern of this class, and I suggest it gets a BR of around 4.0-4.3, with a strong primary armament, and very good AA armament.
Specifications
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General
Displacement: 650t
Engine: 2x 1500bhp
Top Speed: 21 knots (39km/h)
Crew: 65-70 -
Armament:
Main Armament
1x 100mm
1x dual 57mm ZiF-31AA Armament
4x 14.5mm gatling guns -
Sensors and Systems:
“Pot Head” (Reya) Search Radar
Don-2 Navigation Radar
Images
No other definitive images exist online.
Sources