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Mihail Kogalniceanu (class)

1993 MODERN NAVY

History

The modern Romanian Armed Forces currently (2017) rely on three river monitors of the Mihail Kogalniceanu level. Built in Romania for Romania, this class includes the pilot boat Mihail Kogalniceanu (F45) and sisters Ion C. Bratianu (F46) and Lascar Catargiu (F47).

The ships were commissioned in 1993, 1994 and 1996, and today (2017) they are all active in the Romanian fleet.

As river watchers, this class is required to work primarily in river/coastal environments, so they have a very shallow draft. Your goal is to support local ground forces or subdue coastal enemies with artillery, machine gun and rocket fire.

The ships follow the Smardan-class river monitors, which are also still in service (five ships in total).

The Mihail Kogalniceanu class displaces 520 tons under standard load and 550 tons under full load. The overall length is 170.10 feet, the beam is 29.5 feet, and the draft is 5.2 feet. Power comes from two marine diesel engines producing 4,400 hp and driving 2 axles under the stern.

The maximum speed attainable in open water is 16 knots. The crew number is between 50 and 60 people.

The weapon is the heart of the class, led by a 2 x 100mm main gun. This is supported by the 2 x 30mm gun mounts in the dual gun mounts. There are also 2 x 14.5 quadruple heavy machine guns and 2 x 40-round 122mm Multiple Rocket Launcher (MRL) systems. The MAN Portable Air Defense (MANPAD) Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launcher Strela-2M is carried on board for close-range air defense.

This weapon is very similar to that carried by Soviet-Russian riverboats of similar form and function, allowing the ship to deal with many types of threats.

The silhouette of the boat includes a clean low-deck line from bow to stern. The main tower is located above the forecastle and above the stern. The bridge is integrated with the flat superstructure located amidships.

This structure contains the communication/sensor mast and several gun emplacements. The vessel is not necessarily designed for blue water operations, but in some cases can be used as a coastal patrol solution when sea conditions permit.