Pr. 206
This page is about the Soviet motor torpedo gun boat Pr. 206. For the other versions, see Pr.206 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Pr.206 "Shershen" (NATO reporting name: Shershen-class) was a Soviet motor torpedo gunboat developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for Project 183 "Bolshevik" motor torpedo boats. Project 206 was to be used near the friendly coast in good weather and under air cover. The Pr. 206 was 34.7 m in length, had a 6.7 m beam and a draught between 1.46 and 1.5 m. The propulsion was made of three M-503A diesel engines producing 4,000 hp each, with every engine having its own propeller shaft. The engines allowed the ship to reach a maximum speed of 83 km/h. Primary armament consisted of two AK-230 CIWS at stern and bow, aided by the MR-104 Rys track radar, the Shershen was also equipped with an MR-102 Baklan search radar allowing searching for surface and air targets. The torpedo armament was composed of four 533 mm torpedo launchers with two tubes on each side of the hull. Additionally, 12 BB-1 depth charges or 6 mines could be carried. 87 Shershens were made for the Soviet Navy, with 10 boats being made in Yugoslavia for the local navy. A total of 123 ships were manufactured, with over 30 being exported to foreign operators. One of the most prominent users of the Shershen was the East Germany Navy which operated 18 vessels until 1990, followed by 16 units operated by Vietnam and 14 by Yugoslavia.
Project 206 was introduced during Update 1.79 "Project X" when the Soviet fleet was implemented into the game. The Pr. 206 boats had great manoeuvrability paired with above-average speed as well as very good torpedo armament. The 53-36 torpedoes found on the Shershen have a very high speed of 93 km/h, paired with an 8 km range with no torpedo mod equipped and a 400 kg TNT eq. warhead making them one of the most versatile torpedoes after the Japanese Type 93 Long Lance. Primary armament is also very strong due to the high fire rate of the rotary AK-230 cannons. The offensive power of the Pr.206 matches no other motor torpedo boat except some of the heavier armed frigates such as Köln or SKR-1.
General info
Survivability and armour
The Pr. 206 has an inexistent armour which barely stops .50 cal. Crew count is not great as well as spacing. Overall, the survivability is really limited and lacklustre. However, the best survivability technique is to not even be fired at. Thanks to the ship's profile, it is able to perform agile manoeuvres and hide in places in which not every ship would look at, specially big ships like destroyers. A single salvo from a destroyer is more than enough to completely destroy the Pr. 206 so do not rely on the armour.
Mobility
Overall, the Pr. 206, while being a heavy patrol boat, has decent speed as well as decent agility. While it is not able to perform like other smaller patrol boats, it is able to perform better than any bigger ship, even the coastal frigates and fast attack crafts.
Mobility Characteristics | |||
---|---|---|---|
Game Mode | Upgrade Status | Maximum Speed (km/h) | |
Forward | Reverse | ||
AB | |||
Upgraded | 112 | 59 | |
RB/SB | |||
Upgraded | 83 | 44 |
Modifications and economy
Armament
Primary armament
The Pr. 206 is armed with 2 double-barrel turrets, the AK-230. These weapons have their pros and cons when it comes to facing ships and aircraft. While it is not able to destroy heavily armoured targets, it is able to decimate aircraft and lightly armoured targets within seconds because of their rate of fire. Due to having quadruple AK-230s, while having less rate of fire individually compared to the AK-630 (rate of fire is similar to the Falcon SPAA), it has a combined RPM of 4,000. Sadly, the only ammunition available is an HE/AP belt with an incendiary variant. As it only has a single AP round every 3 HE rounds, killing armoured targets will be tricky, but this is somewhat compensated by the RPM. The tremendous rotation speed (30°/s) make the turrets able to engage multiple targets one after each other with high speeds, they are also able to track and follow up even the fastest planes.
- 30 mm HE belts: AP-T · HEF* · HEF* · HEF*
- 30 mm HE-I belts: AP-T · HEF-I* · HEF-I* · HEF-I*
Penetration statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | ||||||
10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
HEF* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |
AP-T | 68 | 65 | 51 | 37 | 28 | 21 | |
HEF-I* | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Shell details | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||||||
0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
HEF* | 1,060 | 0.36 | 0 | 0.1 | 47.28 | 79° | 80° | 81° | ||||
AP-T | 1,060 | 0.36 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | ||||
HEF-I* | 1,060 | 0.35 | 0 | 0.1 | 60.06 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Additional armament
The Pr. 206 is armed with 4 single-tube torpedo launchers with 533 mm 53-56 torpedoes. These are your main weapon against heavily armoured threats or when doing sneak attacks at distance. They have a max range of 8 km (13 km with torpedo mode) and can be used at almost point-blank, the torpedo must travel 50 m at minimum to be armed (most of the time "point-blank" engagements will be between 100-500 m). Depending on the map, game mode and captain's discretion, torpedo depth can be adjusted in order to achieve multiple tasks. However, the launchers are fixed to the hull, meaning the hull has to be turned in order to launch the torpedoes.
1-meter depth - This is the most universal depth used for all types of engagements, being in deep water or at shallow waters. This depth is capable of hitting all sorts of vessels, including PT boats. The main downside is that enemy ships can see the water trail made by the torpedo, which can make enemy vessels evade or fire at the torpedo.
4-meter depth - This is the recommended depth when on deep water trying to do long range sneaky engagements to big ships (most of them have bulkheads more than 4 m under the waterline). This is one of the riskier techniques as there is no way to launch them on shallow waters (most shallow water maps have water depth of 2-3 m). Only the captain and the team will be able to see the torpedo symbol while traveling close to them, and it will not leave any visible water trail compared to the 1-meter depth torpedo.
The Pr. 206 has access to BB-1 depth charges, but these are all but useless in the current state of the game.
Note: Near to the roll-off depth charge rack are 4 similar looking cylindrical objects in a side drop rack. These are actually MDSh smoke canisters (Морская дымовая шашка), which weigh 40-45 kg, have a diameter of 41 cm, and a length of 48 cm. There are 3 versions of the identical canister, BDSh-5, BDSh-15 or MDSh.
Radar
The Pr. 206 has access to the MR-102 air/surface search radar and MR-104 fire control radar (FCR). The MR-102 is located on top of the main mast. MR-104 are located at the back of the ship on top of the superstructure behind the main mast. Enemy pilots are often unaware of the presence of the radar as they are uncommon in-game, use surprise to your advantage. Radars can give you a huge advantage with situational awareness, as no plane will be able to catch you unsuspected. Be aware of radar interference (mountains, trees, tall structures in general) as they will affect both your search and tracking radar. There are blind spots with the radars which pilots can exploit, but most of them will not do so as radars are uncommon in battles. As previously stated, tracking radar can be used to manually engage targets. It is recommended to use tracking radar when engaging immediate threats and air targets in general, as it has no access to gunners.
MR-102 Baklan - Air/surface Search Radar | |||
---|---|---|---|
Maximum Detection Range |
Guaranteed Detection Range |
Max Azimuth Scan Angle |
Max Elevation Scan Angle |
50,000 m | 10,000 m | ±180° | 0°/+75° |
MR-104 Rys - Fire Control Radar | |||
Maximum Tracking Range |
Minimum Tracking Range |
Azimuth Tracking Angle |
Elevation Tracking Angle |
10,000 m | 100 m | ±155° | 0°/+80° |
Usage in battles
As a patrol boat with heavy firepower, it is able to dominate the steep waters of any match, not only because of the RPM but also because of the radar. However, the Pr. 206 should not be used as a frontline vessel, as every single vessel it will face will have more than enough firepower to destroy it in seconds. The torpedo can be formidable if used correctly, not only for the fact they are able to destroy whatever it hits, but also because they are hard to aim due to the distances the Pr. 206 has to navigate in order to get into a decent launch distance. The 30 mm should be used always to sink everything but heavily armoured ships. They are able to decimate light vessels in seconds, as well as planes. For this same reason, the Pr. 206 should be used as an anti-air flagship, as it is able to detect and engage enemy planes in a range of 130 km. Absolutely no aircraft will surprise it while the search radar is active. The Pr. 206, when used in Enduring Confrontation events, is the most reliable and "Jack-of-All-Trades" ship seen in-game. Not only because it is able to dominate the skies, but also because it is able to decimate enemy convoys within seconds with the firepower and torpedoes, specially if said convoys are unarmed cargo ships.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Access to radar
- Good firepower
- High speed turret rotation
- Reaches top speed within seconds
Cons:
- No armour whatsoever
- Small crew complement
- The 30 mm guns are quickly depleted
- Closed and tightly packed crew compartments
History
The Pr. 206, NATO reporting name Shershen-Class, was a class of torpedo boats built for the Soviet navy during the 1960s. Designed as a replacement for the Pr. 183 class, the ships were fitted with considerable armament for their size. Many ships of the class were built for both Soviet and foreign service; some vessels remain in service with foreign navies to this day.
The Pr. 206 was designed as a replacement to the previous Pr. 183 "Bolshevik"-class with similar capabilities: the ships were designed to operate in coastal waters close to friendly naval and air units. The ships displaced 172 tons full-load and had a crew of 24; the armament consisted of two AK-230 gun mounts, guided by the ship's "Drum Tilt" radar, along with four 533 mm torpedo tubes capable of firing anti-shipping torpedoes with rudimentary homing ability. The Pr. 206s were usually fitted with a single quadruple 9M32 MANPAD (man-portable) surface-to-air missile mount for short range anti-air defence.
In total, 123 Pr. 206 boats were built, including 87 ships built for the Soviet Navy (between 1960 and 1970 at the Zelenodolsk and Yaroslavl shipyards, the rest being exported). As with many Soviet light vessel designs, the Pr. 206 was widely exported to countries including Angola, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Congo, Egypt, East Germany, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Vietnam, and Yugoslavia. Twelve additional boats of the Pr. 206E subclass, featuring simplified technologies, were exported to foreign navies. The Pr. 206 has now been retired from Russian service. However, some vessels remain in service with the Egyptian, Vietnamese, and North Korean navies.
Media
- Skins
See also
Links to articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the ship;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
USSR boats | |
---|---|
Motor torpedo boats | D-3 · G-5 · G-5 (ShVAK) · Pr.123-bis · Pr.123K (A-11) · Pr.123K · Pr.183 |
Motor gun boats | TKA-412 · MO-4 · OD-200 · Pr.183 BM-21 · Ya-5M |
Motor torpedo gun boats | Pr. 206 · Pr.206-M · MPK Pr.12412 · MPK Pr.12412P · MPK Pr.11451 |
Gunboats | Groza |
Armoured gun boats | BMO · MBK-161 early · MBK-161 late · MBK pr.186 · MBK pr.186 (MK 85) · Pr.1124 early · Pr.1124 late · Pr.1124 MLRS |
Pr.191 · Pr.191M · Pr.1204 · Pr.1204 late |