Koni class frigate
Encyclopedia
Koni class is the NATO reporting name
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
for a anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
built by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. They were known in the Soviet Union as Project 1159. 14 were built in Zelenodolsk
Zelenodolsk, Russia
Zelenodolsk is a town in the northwestern portion of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Volga River, from Kazan. It serves as the administrative center of Zelenodolsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population: Due to its location,...
shipyard between 1975 and 1988. They were originally intended to replace the older Riga class frigate
Riga class frigate
The Riga class was the NATO reporting name for class of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was Storozhevoi Korabl Project 50 Gornostay . The Riga class were analogous to World War II era destroyer escorts.-Design:These ships were a smaller and...
s, but were instead chosen as a design for export to various friendly navies. The Koni I sub class were designed for European waters and the Koni II were made for warmer waters. One was retained by the Soviets in the Black Sea for training foreign crews. Only a few of these vessels remain in service today.
The Romanian Tetal class frigate
Admiral Petre Barbuneanu class frigate
The Admiral Petre Bărbuneanu class corvette is a class of corvettes in service with the Romanian Naval Forces. Only two corvettes out of a total of four are still in service....
s were similar.
M/V Captain Keith Tibbetts
In September 1996 a former Cuban Navy Koni II Class frigate designated 356 was scuttleScuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
d in shallow water in Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac
Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and 5 miles east of Little Cayman. It is about 12 miles long, with an average width of 1 mile...
. This ship was built in 1984 as one of three Koni II class frigates sold to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
to support its Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
fleet. In 1996 the ship was purchased from Cuba by the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
government to be scuttled in Cayman Brac as a dive attraction. The remaining two Cuban Koni II class were expended as targets. Frigate 356 was sunk upright, and initially her deck rested 90 feet below the surface. A serious storm in 2004 broke the ship in two, and her bow now lists at a 45 degree angle, while her midships have become a debris field. Before being sunk the ship was renamed Captain Keith Tibbetts after a local politician and diver. It is one of only a few sunken Soviet Naval vessels in the Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
, and the only one that is easily dived.
Original operators
- Soviet Union - 1 (to BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
in 1990), The Delfin was originally used for training foreign crews in the Black Sea, before being sold to the Bulgarian NavyBulgarian NavyThe Bulgarian Navy is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults...
, currently in service as the Смели" ("Brave"). - AlgeriaAlgeriaAlgeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
- 3, in service, being upgraded with new electronics, ASW torpedo tubes and 8 x Kh-35 Uran/SS-N-25 Switchblade anti-ship missilles - CubaCubaThe Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
- 3, 2 derelict or scrapped and 1 sunk as a reefReefIn nautical terminology, a reef is a rock, sandbar, or other feature lying beneath the surface of the water ....
. - East Germany - 3, scrapped. (Rostock, Berlin - Hauptstadt der DDR, Halle)
- EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
- 1 (ex Yugoslavian). - LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
- 1 (formerly 2), 4 x 406mm torpedo tubes, status unknown, damaged by bombing 2011-MAY-19/20 and on 2011-AUGUST-9. (Al Ghardabia).The remaining ship,Al Hani captured by NTC in Benghazi. - Libyan People's Army - 1, 4 x 406mm torpedo tubes (Al Hani, captured from Libyan Navy)
- YugoslaviaYugoslaviaYugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
- 2, 4 x 324mm torpedo tubes, 1 sold to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, 1 scrapped.