History, Development, and Use
of the K-8 Class Minesweeping Boat

 

This section will cover the history, development, and use of the K-8 class minesweeping boat.  In this section you will find where the boat has been used, when it was designed, its limitations and abilities, and how it functions.

 

Brief Operational History

The K-8 minesweeping boats were first manufactured in Poland for the Soviet Navy between 1954 and 1959.  They replaced a variety of minesweeping boats used during the Great Patriotic War, and gave the Soviet Navy an inexpensive ship for keeping its harbors clear of mines in the event of a war with the West.  The ships had an all-wood hull and towed minesweeping gear behind them.  The ships had no equipment for handling mines on board the vessel.

Forty examples of the class were ultimately constructed and used by the Soviets during the early Cold War, but by the late 1950's the ship was being replaced by the TR-40 minesweeper.  Throughout the Cold War the number of active K-8's in service declined.  Some were transferred to foreign naval forces like Poland (22) and Cuba (1).  In 1978 five K-8 minesweepers were also transferred to Vietnam, but in the USSR less than half remained in active service.  A few K-8 boats were converted to mine warfare drones.  These were designated Project 361T and only saw limited use.  The survivors of the class were relegated to reserve status until they were deleted from the fleet listings in the early 1980's.

  

Tactical Use and Limitations

The K-8 was a small craft that was only suitable for operations very close to shore.  They had no radar and are not capable of carrying out missions of long duration.  The ship also had no onboard mine handling gear, but rather towed a minesweeping array.  In the event of war, the K-8 was expected to keep local Soviet ports clear of mines.  The twin DShK machine guns mounted on a bow turret could be used to detonate mines or for anti-aircraft defense.

 

Deployment Chronology

The K-8 class minesweeping boat replaced a variety of Great Patriotic War minesweeping craft.  It was kept in service for a very long time, and was only phased out in the 1980's.  In this section you can find out more about the boats it replaced and the boats that replaced it, if we have them on our site, by clicking the links below.

The K-8 replaced... K-8 Class
Minesweeping Boat		 The K-8  was replaced by...
  TR-40 Class Mine Sweeping Boat

 

Sources Cited

Here are some of the most informative sources that we have used in compiling this information for you.  We hope you can find them as useful as we have.

 

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K-8 Minesweeper