Sorum-class tugboat

The Russian Navy Sorum-class seagoing tug MB-99 (Project 745) during the Navy Day celebrations at Vladivostok in 2008
Class overview
Name	Sorum class
Builders	Yaroslavl Shipyard Zelenodolsk Shipyard (Project 745MB)
Operators	Soviet Navy (former)  Soviet Border Troops (former)  Russian Navy  Russian Coast Guard Rosmorport (former)[a]  Ukrainian Navy (former)[b]  Vietnam People's Navy (one unit)
In commission	1972
Completed	c. 43[1]
General characteristics (Project 745)
Type	Seagoing tug
Displacement	1,452 t (1,429 long tons; 1,601 short tons)
Length	56.5 m (185 ft 4 in)
Beam	12.64 m (41 ft 6 in)
Draft	4.47 m (14 ft 8 in)
Installed power	2 main diesel gensets (2 × 1,000 kW) 2 auxiliary diesel gensets (2 × 100 kW)
Propulsion	IEP; two shafts: 2 × DC propulsion motors[2] (2 × 1,500 PS or 1,480 shp)
Speed	Max: 13.2 knots (24.4 km/h; 15.2 mph)
Range	6,200 nmi (11,500 km; 7,100 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Endurance	40 days
Complement	35
Sensors and processing systems	2 × Don navigational radars Communication systems
Armament	One unit since 2015: 2 × twin 12.7 mm Utyos-M machine gun turrets[b]

The Sorum class, Soviet designation Project 745, is a series of seagoing tugs built for the Soviet Navy and KGB Border Troops, and later operated by the Russian Navy and FSB Border Service.[3]

These vessels perform the standard missions of a seagoing tugboat with other missions such as protecting and patrolling Russian maritime borders, enforcing navigational rules and law enforcement, search and rescue, and fisheries protection.

Design

Project 745 seagoing tug

The oceangoing tugs are auxiliary vessels for the Soviet Navy, later the Russian Navy.[4][1]

Project 745P patrol ship

The border patrol ships are modified versions of the original Project 745. They are armed with two 30 mm AK-230M or AK-306[c] gun mounts giving them the ability to fire on surface, air and ground targets, and are equipped with the Kolonka-1 fire-control system to control these weapons.[5][1]

Project 07452 experimental vessel

The reconnaissance vessel is a version of the original Project 745, which is a testbed for SIGINT and hydroacoustic equipment.[1]

Project 745MB seagoing tug

The oceangoing tug is a modernized version of the original Project 745. It is equipped with two main diesel gensets (2 × 1,500 kW), three auxiliary diesel gensets (2 × 200 kW + 1 × 100 kW), an asynchronous propulsion motor (1 × 2,720 PS or 2,680 shp) and a bow thruster.[6][2][1]

Project 745MBS rescue tug

The rescue tug is a SAR version of the modernized Project 745MB, which is equipped with a switched reluctance propulsion motor instead of an asynchronous one.[2][1]

Externally, the Projects 745MB and 745MBS tugs can be distinguished from the original Project 745 tugs by twin funnels instead of one.

• 
  The Russian Navy Project 745 seagoing tug MB-307 in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1993
• 
  The Ukrainian Navy Project 745 seagoing tug Korets and Gyurza-M-class gunboat Berdiansk (U175) in the Black Sea in 2016
• 
  The Russian Border Troops Project 745P border patrol ship Zabaykalye in the western Pacific in 1992
• 
  The Russian Coast Guard Project 745P border patrol ship Bug and Yamaha S-329-type border patrol boat Steregushchy during the Russian-Japanese exercise in Aniva Bay in 2009
• 
  The Soviet Navy Project 07452 experimental vessel (de facto reconnaissance vessel) OS-572
• 
  The Russian Navy Project 745MB seagoing tug MB-12 at Cape Zhelaniya in 2020
• 
  The Russian Navy Project 745MBS rescue tug Viktor Konetsky and IRIS Shahid Mahdavi (P313-1) during the CHIRU exercise in 2019

History

A Project 745P border patrol ship was involved in an incident involving Greenpeace vessel where the Russian ship fired warning shots, and later seized a Greenpeace vessel after they attempted to board an oil rig in the Arctic in 2013.[7]

Another Project 745P border patrol ship rammed a Ukrainian tug in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018.[8]

See also

• List of ships of Russia by project number
• List of NATO reporting names for equipment

Notes

1. One unit (the ex-Soviet Navy seagoing tug MB-26) that was scrapped in 2019.[1]
2. One unit (the Ukrainian Navy seagoing tug Korets, ex-Soviet Navy's MB-30) that was captured by the Russian Armed Forces in the Port of Berdiansk during the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 28, 2022.[1]
3. The last five of nineteen built ships.[1]

References

1. Russianships.info.
2. Grigoryev 2023, p. 120.
3. Polmar 1986.
4. Polmar 1986, pp. 9, 82, 322.
5. Polmar 1986, pp. 9, 385.
6. Zelenodolsk Shipyard.
7. "Russia 'seizes' Greenpeace ship after Arctic rig protest". BBC News. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
8. "Navy tugboat Yani Kipi vs Russian coastguard". liveuamap. Retrieved 25 November 2018.

Further reading

• Polmar, Norman (1986). Guide to the Soviet Navy (4th ed.). Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. pp. 8–9, 82, 322, 385. ISBN 0-87021-240-0.
• Grigoryev, Andrey V. (June 2023). История и современное состояние судовых систем электродвижения (PDF). WWW.KORABEL.RU (in Russian). No. 2. Saint Petersburg. pp. 116–122. Retrieved 10 March 2024.

External links

• "Seagoing tug - Project 745". Russianships.info. Archived from the original on 17 November 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
• Морской буксир проекта 745МБ [Project 745MB seagoing tug]. JSC "Zelenodolsk Plant named after A.M. Gorky" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2024.