KUTER ZWALCZANIA OKRĘTÓW PODWODNYCH CZSZ-172

CZSZ-172 is a Polish anti-submarine vessel (ZOP) from the Cold War period. The unit was put into service in the Navy in the first half of the 1970s. The length of the ship was 28.85 meters and 5.8 meters wide. The drive was provided by three M50 F7 diesel engines, which allowed it to reach a maximum speed of 27-28 knots. The armament at the time of launching consisted of a single 25mm double-barreled cannon and two OTAM-53 torpedo tubes. CZSZ-172 was one of the cutters of project 918, which was developed at the turn of 1972 and 1973 at the Naval Shipyard in Gdynia and in the Northern Shipyard in Gdańsk. Shortly after, a modernized version was created - project 918 M. In order to shorten the research and development work on the new project, the hull of the DMW-M1 motorboat was used. The new ZOP boats were to operate mainly in the Baltic Sea and perform patrol functions a short distance from their native coasts. Their armament and electronic equipment, however, allowed not only to carry out ZOP activities, but also to destroy the enemy's small surface ships. Generally, units of this type have been quite successful. Finally, the last ships of Project 918 / 918M were decommissioned in 2006.