Plan 145 submarine chaser
 DChS-2015 in 1974
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: |
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| Preceded by: | Kronshtadt-class submarine chaser |
| Built: | 1971-1983 |
| In commission: | 1974-2013 |
| Completed: | 38 |
| Scrapped: | 36 |
| Preserved: | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 440 tonnes |
| Length: | 59.8 m overall |
| Beam: | 7.2 m |
| Draught: | 2.5 m (keel, full load) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 30.4 knots |
| Range: | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km) at 14 kts) |
| Complement: | 74 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: | |
The Plan 145 submarine chasers were a class of small patrol vessel built in the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe during the 1970s. Initially, they were designated as small anti-submarine patrol ships (sohyŏng dae-jamsuham chogyeham), but after the 1995 ship reclassification they were retroactively reclassified as coastal anti-submarine patrol ships.
During the 1990s, these ships were repurposed as patrol ships for the Maritime Border Security Force, retaining their anti-submarine weapons so that they could serve as auxiliary escorts in wartime. All have been retired from Menghean service, though some were exported to Polvokia and remain in use there.
Description
The Plan 145 submarine chasers were developed as successors to the Kronshtadt-class submarine chasers exported to Menghe by Letnia during the 1960s. Compared to these ships, they had a somewhat more advanced hull sonar and a higher top speed. Nevertheless, within the context of the 1970s, the submarine chaser concept was of debatable value, and these ships were mostly limited to coastal operations.
Armament consisted of two twin 50mm gun turrets, using the same 50mm medium-caliber AA guns developed by Menghe during the Pan-Septentrion War in open-topped, water-cooled mounts. A simple optical gun director forward of the radar mast allowed central aiming and firing of these weapons. Higher up on the superstructure were two twin 23mm ZU-23-2 anti-air guns, again in open-topped mounts; these mounts were unpowered and had local aiming only, with no separate gun directors. On the foredeck, these ships were armed with four HBDJ-21/5 anti-submarine rocket launchers, each one with five 210mm manually reloaded tubes, all in fixed, forward-firing mounts. On the quarterdeck, the Plan 145 submarine chasers were built with depth charge racks and fixed, outward-facing depth charge throwers; these were removed in the late 1980s.
