50 Years Old, the Amphibious Landing Ship of the Vietnamese Navy is Still New

17 September 2019

Project 771A Polnocny, medium class amphibious assault ship has 75,15m in length and 847 tons dispcement, Vietnamese Navy own three of these ship : 511, 512 and 513 (image : Shipbucket, photos : Army Newspaper, QPVN)

According to the Navy newspaper, on the morning of August 26, Vice Admiral Pham Hoai Nam - Member of the Central Party Committee, Navy Commander and the Navy Military delegation came to inspect the Good Ship Contest, the annual water surface training contest 2019 at the test site Vung Tau. Here, he visited and directly checked a number of naval ships, including the 511 ship.

The 511 ship was originally a small amphibious ship that had been supplied to Vietnam by the Soviet Union since 1979. Before that, the ship had spent about 10 years operating in the Soviet Navy. In 1979, the ship passed nearly 5,000 nautical miles from the Soviet Union to Vietnam, joined the duty Brigade 125 with the code "511". Thus, up to today, the landing ship 511 is 50 years old.

But what is surprising is the fact that the 511 landing ship was as new as the factory. In the photo, Deputy Admiral Pham Hoai Nam looks at the AK-230 artillery viewfinder system on the landing ship 511. There is no rust in the corners of the ship despite always operating in harsh marine environments.

And here is the landing room of the 511 landing ship, it is difficult to find a "time mark" on the ship. Indeed, it must be said that it is admirable of the ability of the Vietnamese People's Navy to "keep well used and durable.

Looking at these images, no one would have imagined that this was the 50-year-old ship that served non-stop.

In addition to 511, the Marine Transport Brigade 125 still has two ships of the same type with the numbers 512 and 513 transferred with them in 1980. According to Russianship, all three ships were built by the Stocznia Polnocna factory (Poland), design of medium class amphibious assault ship Project 771A of the Soviet Union.

Class of ships has standard displacement of 795 tons, full load of 847 tons, length of 75.15m, width of 9.02m, draft of 2.07m, cruising speed of 18 knots/h, range of about 3,200 km, reserve a 5-day itinerary with 34 crew.

According to the designer, the carrying capacity of the amphibious ships was up to six T-54 or PT-76 tanks or BTR-60 armored vehicles and 204 naval infantry. Alternatively, three ATS-1 amphibious trucks and 204 soldiers or 10 Zis-151 trucks can be optionally carried. In the photo, Vice Admiral Pham Hoai Nam visits the tank of the chariot tank - the place where tanks and armored vehicles are stored.

Tanks, marines, and amphibious boats can move out of the ship with two large doors at the tip of the nose. The army often called it "open-mouthed ship" because of its special design: the landing door at the bow of the ship could be opened, lowering the "tongue" to the surface of the water to allow tanks to swim to the island and marines. maneuver to hit the target.

In addition, the amphibious landing ships of the Vietnamese Navy are also equipped with a number of self-returning weapons and reinforcements for the naval amphibious operations in amphibious operations to occupy the coast and islands. Specifically, two anti-aircraft artillery platforms (CIWS) AK-230 and two WM-18A series rocket launchers with 180 rounds of ammunition.

A close-up of one of the 140-mm WM-18A 18 rocket launchers. It is like the famous "Grad" cannon of the army at sea, whose task is to clear the landing area before the infantry forces - tanks leave the ship.

The anti-aircraft cannon is equipped with 140-mm-long M-14OF explosive bullets, carrying a 4kg explosive charge with a range of 600 to 9,810m.

(KienThuc)