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fighting ships of the world

LATVIAN NAVY (LATVIA)

ESCORTS

VIRSAITIS patrol ship (1917/1919)

Virsaitis 1940

Name No Yard No Builder Laid down Launched Comp Fate
Virsaitis (ex-Sarkana Latvija, ex-M68)     Neptun, Rostock, Germany 1916 25.7.1917 10.1917 // 7.1919 to USSR 13.8.1940 (��������� [Virsaytis])

 

Displacement standard, t

500

Displacement full, t

539

Length, m

56.0 wl 59.3 oa

Breadth, m

7.40

Draught, m

2.15

No of shafts

2

Machinery

2 VTE, 2 Marine boilers

Power, h. p.

1850

Max speed, kts

16

Fuel, t

coal 120

Endurance, nm(kts) 2000(6)

Armament

2 x 1 - 88/42 Tbts L/45 C/14, 30 mines, mechanical minesweeping gear

Complement

51

Project history: Former German minesweeper, M68 was mined off Latvian coast, ran ashore and later abandoned being repaired in dry dock in Riga. Repair was completed by Latvian and minesweeper was commissioned by them in January 1919 (Latvia took real independence in July, when Germans abandoned).

Modernizations: 1939: - 2 x 1 - 88/42; + 2 x 1 - 84/52 Škoda M.27, 2 x 1 - 47/40 Škoda, mine stowage raised to 40

Naval service: Virsaitis was incorporated to Red Navy in August 1940.

Virsaitis 1926

Ivan Gogin, 2009-15