P 4-class torpedo boat

The P 4 class torpedo boat, Soviet designations Project 123-bis and Project 123-K, commonly called the Komsomolets-class (Russian: Комсомолец, a male member of the Komsomol), were Soviet aluminum-hulled torpedo boats. They were armed with twin heavy machine guns and two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedoes. A large number of them were exported to allied states such as North Vietnam and China. They saw service in a variety of conflicts including World War 2, the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Vietnam War and the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus.

P 4 class torpedo boat
Decommissioned P 4 class torpedo boat of the Bangladesh Navy. Preserved at the Bangladesh Military Museum.
Class overview
Name
  • Project 123-bis "Komsomolets" torpedo boat
  • Project 123-K "Komsomolets" torpedo boat
Builders
Operators
Preceded byD-3 class
Succeeded byP-6 class
Built1944-1955
Completed~336[1]
General characteristics
TypeMotor torpedo boat
Displacement22 tonnes (22 long tons; 24 short tons)
Length18.70 m (61 ft 4 in) (B-123) 19.26 m (63 ft 2 in) (K-123)
Beam3.40 m (11 ft 2 in)
Draft1.0 m (3 ft 3 in)
Propulsion2 × Soviet M-50 diesel engines, 2,400 hp (1,790 kW), 2 shafts
Speed46–55 knots (85–102 km/h; 53–63 mph)
Range500 nmi (930 km; 580 mi)
Complement7-12
Sensors and
processing systems		1 × Soviet I band Zarnitsa (Skin Head) navigational radar (K-123 only)
Armament
  • 2 × 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedoes
  • 2 × 2 12.7 mm (0.50 in) DShK heavy machine guns or 1 x 2 14.5 mm (0.57 in) KPV heavy machine guns [2]
  • 6 x BM-1 depth charges [1]

The P 4 torpedo boats consisted of two primary types; the Project 123-bis (B-123) type with 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) machine guns, and the Project 123-K (K-123) type with added radar and 14.5-millimetre (0.57 in) machine guns.

Design and development

The P 4 torpedo boats were developed from the pre-war prototype Komsomolets torpedo boat (Project 123) in 1942 due to the unsatisfactory performance of the G-5 type motor torpedo boat. The original Project 123 was a single-step, hydroplaning design built from duralumin like the G-5. The prototype was built at the No.194 Marti yard in Leningrad in 1939, and after good test performance it was meant to replace it before the German invasion put a stop to those plans. Compared to the prototype Komsomolets, the new design, called Project 123-bis, had a flush deck hull, and were powered by American-supplied Packard petrol engines instead of the Soviet Mikulin GAM-34.

The armament consisted of two twin 12.7-millimetre (0.50 in) DShK heavy machine guns, two 450 mm torpedo tubes, and 6 depth charges.

Post-war, the Project 123-bis was identified as one of the more successful Soviet torpedo boat designs and production continued. As American-supplied engines dried up, new boats were built using Soviet M-50 diesel engines. A new variant, Project 123-K, was developed in 1950, with the addition of a radar and a single twin 14.5 mm KPV machine gun replacing the DShKs.[1][2]

Service history

The first P 4 torpedo boats were delivered to the Soviet Baltic Fleet in 1944. On 11 April 1945, the boats TK-131 and TK-141 attacked and scored a torpedo hit against the German destroyer Z34, though they were unable to sink it.[2]

In 1951, the People's Republic of China purchased 46 P 4 torpedo boats from the Soviet Union, assigning them into 4 torpedo boat brigades. About 81-90 in total would be purchased from the Soviet Union from 1950-1955.[1][3] The People's Liberation Army Navy would use them extensively in naval battles with the Republic of China Navy, most notably in 1954 when 4 P 4 torpedo boats sank the Evarts-class frigate Tai Ping (ex-USS Decker) off the Dachen Islands. All Chinese P 4 torpedo boats have been decommissioned, and 4 were transferred to the Bangladesh Navy in 1983.[4]

Some of the surviving Chinese units were converted into target drones, and thus returned to service, functioning as minor support auxiliaries controlled by converted gunboats.

12 P 4 torpedo boats would be exported to North Vietnam in 1961. Three of them (T-333, T-336, and T-339) launched an abortive attack on the American Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer USS Maddox in August 2, 1964, starting the Gulf of Tonkin incident (see Edwin E. Moise, Gulf of Tonkin and the Escalation of the Vietnam War (Revised Edition), Naval Institute Press, 2019, pages 52-63).

The vessels T-1 and T-3 of the Cyprus Navy were dispatched to engage the first Turkish flotilla at Operation Atilla as it approached Kyrenia. One vessel was destroyed by air attack, and the other by artillery from Turkish destroyers.

Variants
  • Project 123-bis: also known as B-123, original P 4 class torpedo boat design with two twin 12.7 mm (0.50 in) DShK heavy machine guns and Packard petrol engines.
  • Project M123-bis: B-123 with Soviet M-50 diesel engines.
  • Project 123-K: also known as K-123, P 4 class torpedo boat with 14.5 mm (0.57 in) KPV heavy machine guns and radar, slightly larger than B-123 with a different bridge design.
  • Project K123-K: K-123 boats fitted with a A-10bis forward hydrofoil.
  • Project 123-U: K-123 boats converted to target ships with remote control systems.
  • 2 B-123 boats were fitted with the A-10 and A-11 forward hydrofoil.
  • 6 K-123 boats were converted to gunboats, with their torpedoes removed and a second pair of KPV machine guns added.[1]

Egyptian variants
  • Project 123-K with Rocket Launcher: K-123 boat with an eight barrel rocket launcher fitted. One example was captured by Israel.[5]

Surviving boats

References
Notes
  1. "Project 123". RussianShips.info. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  2. Budzbon, Radziemski & Twardowski 1996, p. 323-325
  3. "P4 torpedo boat". haijun360.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  4. "P-4/P-6 torpedo boat". haijun360.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  5. "Egyptian Torpedo Boat K-123 Walk Around Page 1". www.primeportal.net. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  6. ""Komsomolets" Torpedo boat Baltiysk - Baltiysk - TracesOfWar.com". www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  7. "59°55'45.2"N 30°14'01.5"E".
  8. Meng, Ah. "Tianjin Phoenix Mountain Camp". Mafengwo. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  9. Inc, Depositphotos. "Torpedo boat of the Komsomolets (type 123-bis) as a monument of World War II". Depositphotos. Retrieved 2021-05-04. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  11. "The Motor Torpedo Boat of the Navy of the East China Military Command that Sunk the "Taiping" Warship of the KMT Navy". The Military Museum of The Chinese People's Revolution. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  12. "Torpedo Boat Memorial: a monument to the sailors of the Black Sea fleet. Novorossiysk, Russia - Picture of Torpedo Boat Memorial, Novorossiysk - Tripadvisor". www.tripadvisor.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  13. "Kaliningrad / Russian Federation - May 08, 2008. The memorila was..." iStock. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  14. "Torpedo boat project "123K" (TKA "Komsomolets") on Sapun Mountain in Sevastopol". Depositphotos. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  15. "Katernikov Square, Kronshtadtskiy Rayon, St.Petersburg". maps123.net. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
Bibliography
  • Moïse, Edwin E. (1996). Tonkin Gulf and the Escalation of the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2300-7.
  • Budzbon, Przemyslaw; Radziemski, Jan; Twardowski, Marek (2022). Warships of the Soviet Fleets 1939–1945. Pen and Sword Ltd. ISBN 978-1-5267-5195-9.
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