Pr.183 BM-21

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Rank VI Israel | Premium | Golden Eagles
Merkava Mk.2D Pack
This page is about the premium Soviet motor gun boat Pr.183 BM-21. For the regular version, see Pr.183.
Pr.183 BM-21
ussr_pr_183_egypt_bm_21.png
GarageImage Pr.183 BM-21.jpg
Pr.183 BM-21
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Description

The Pr.183 BM-21 is a premium gift rank III Soviet motor gun boat with a battle rating of 3.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Apex Predators" as a reward for Battle Pass: Season X, "Royal Guard".

The Pr.183 BM-21 is a non-standard Project 183 PT boat (AKA P-6 in NATO code) exported to Egypt with its rear-turret and torpedoes removed for the installation of a BM-21 MLRS. The major difference between the Pr.183 and the Pr.183 BM-21 is the BM-21 Grad 122 mm MLRS launcher on the aft platform in place of the turret; as well as a new radar replacing the original, dome-like one. The 40 rockets onboard will make sure light vessels will meet a swift end from the bombardment of 122 mm rockets from distance.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armourfront / side / back
Main fire tower10 / 10 / 10 mm
Hull40 mm (wood)
Superstructure4 mm (steel)
Number of section3
Displacement67 t
Crew16 people

Being one of the last PT boats built by Soviet Union, the ship itself is rather unprotected where the hull is still made of wood, only the 25 mm autocannon turret and the superstructure are made with 4 mm hardened steel. Any projectile larger than rifle-calibre will have no problem penetrating the mere 4 mm of steel on the turret and command tower, let alone the hull itself with only 10 mm. A near-miss from higher calibre cannons can do serious damage to the ship itself.

Mobility

Speedforward / back
AB109 / 44 km/h
RB81 / 33 km/h

The ship is propelled by four M50-T diesel engines with 4 shafts, propelling the ship at up to 70 km/h (37.8 kt). This ensures the overall flexibility of the ship to retreat from heated battlefield or navigating through complicated channels of water.

Mobility Characteristics
Game Mode Upgrade Status Maximum Speed (km/h) Turn Time (s) Turn Radius (m)
Forward Reverse
AB Stock ___ ___
Upgraded 109 44
RB/SB Stock ___ ___
Upgraded 81 33

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB1 065 Sl icon.png
RB1 399 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts290 000 Sl icon.png
Aces700 Ge icon.png
Research Aces790 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 100 / 150 / 50 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 154 / 154 / 154 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Seakeeping Unsinkability Firepower
Mods new ship hull.png
Dry-Docking
Mods new ship rudder.png
Rudder Replacement
Mods new ship screw.png
Propeller Replacement
Mods new ship engine.png
Engine Maintenance
Mods ship damage control crew.png
Damage Control Division
Mods ship fire control crew.png
Fire Division
Mods engine smoke screen system.png
Smokescreen
Mods new ship pumps.png
New Pumps
Mods ammo.png
25mm_2m3_he_navy_ammo_pack
Mods ammo.png
25mm_2m3_ap_navy_ammo_pack
Mods new main caliber turrets.png
Primary Armament Targeting
Mods ship rangefinder.png
Improved Rangefinder
Mods ship art support.png
Artillery Support

Armament

Primary armament

Turret2 x 25 mm 2M-3 mounting
Ammunition3900 rounds
Belt capacity65 rounds
Fire rate300 shots/min
Vertical guidance-10° / 85°
Main article: 2M-3 (25 mm)

With the aft turret and torpedo tubes removed, the only main weapon onboard is the front 25 mm 2M-3 twin mount autocannon. While the ammo count and the penetration of the cannon is more than enough to tear down small vessels, this is the only primary armament: keep the turret in operation at all cost to maximum its efficiency.

Special armament

Turret122 mm BM-21 rocket launcher
Ammunition40 rounds
Main article: BM-21

The 122 mm BM-21 rockets, commonly known as "Grad" (Hailstone), are installed as a MLRS. The launcher itself could traverse 360° thanks to its clearance to the superstructure. While the original intention of MLRS on an attack boat is purely for coastal bombardments against enemy ground targets, if enemy boats or auxiliary ships i.e minelayers or destroyer escorts are within its range, all the 40 rockets onboard with almost 10 kg TNT equivalent of explosive contents will certainly give them a bad day, either from being detonated on impact or critically damaged by the salvo.

Usage in battles

A common characteristic of PT boats is their rather unprotected hull and superstructure, this is especially true for Pr.183 due to the size and weight limits for PT boats. The ship only has 10 mm of wood for the hull and 4 mm steel for turret and command tower, anything larger than .30 calibre has very high odds to penetrate the ship itself, let alone direct hits from cannons. So staying away from heated battlefield is extremely crucial for its survival. This also being limited by the rather small crew pool at only 16 crews onboard; chances are the ship might still be afloat but the crews will be knocked-out instead.

The Egyptian Navy removed the aft twin 25 mm autocannon turret and torpedo tubes onboard, and installed a BM-21 MLRS instead. The weapon itself, a single 122 mm rocket projectile with 10 kg of TNTe, is certainly a nightmare for light ships as this will likely mean a knock-out for them, larger ships up to destroyers could even fall victim of it as it has a 40-shot salvo and this could trigger extensive damage to either exposed components or overpressurizing turrets, disabling the ship or even sinking them straight. Although having one less autocannon turret from its base model, the remaining 2M-3 twin mount 25 mm autocannon has rather high penetration for its calibre and 120 shots per magazine can also make sure it can cause havoc to unnoticed ships that showed their sides or ships with rear-mounted weaponry. To make sure the maximum efficiency of the ship, it is suggested to play it as a "guerrilla-on-water" where players can utilize its sufficient mobility to manoeuvre around inland channels where it can take cover behind terrain, then strike out for a sudden attack for enemy ships; alternatively taking cover and use the rockets for taking down unnoticed enemies. Making it a small yet formidable enemy to be dealt with.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Extremely lethal twin 25 mm turret with high ammo count and devastating firepower
  • Small and nimble for navigating through inland channels
  • 40 rocket salvos with high explosive content, extremely lethal to smaller vessels

Cons:

  • Equipped with only one turret and its rocket launchers
  • Extremely fragile to gunfire
  • The size of the rocket launcher could trigger a detonation and lead to complete loss
  • Relative small crew pool for replacement


History

As one of the last PT boat classes built by Soviet Union, the Project 183 Bolshevik Class PT Boat has been one of the major export vessel of the Union to allied countries including PLAN (which they later built domestically as the Type 6602 under the June 4th Agreement), KPAN and notably, Egyptian Navy.

During the Nasser presidency, the country had a good relationship with the Soviet Union with the latter providing a large amount of aid and military equipment ranging from assault rifles up to jet fighters. The abundant Project 183 was also among one of the sales to Egypt with around 46 of them delivered to their navy. Although being already obsolete in the late 1960s which led to some losses against Israel (2 by Eilat, on July 1967), the Egypt Navy got revenge by sinking Eilat on 21st, October 1967 and claiming the very first AShM kill in war history using the heavily-modified Project 183R with P-15 missiles.[1]

While the Egyptian Navy maintained a fairly large fleet of Project 183s, 12 boats were then modified to carry BM-21 Grad MLRS at the cost of some onboard armaments; these ships would have likely been decommissioned by late 20th Century and very few images are left as proof of their existence.

Media

Videos

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

References


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-106 · 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
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

USSR premium ships
Motor torpedo boats  G-5 (ShVAK) · Pr.123K (A-11)
Motor gun boats  TKA-106 · Pr.183 BM-21 · Ya-5M
Motor torpedo gun boats  MPK Pr.12412P
Armoured gun boats  MBK-161 early · MBK pr.186 (MK 85) · Pr.1124 MLRS · Pr.1204
Sub-chasers  MPK Pr.122bis
Frigates  Rosomacha
Destroyers  Kerch · Ryany · Leningrad · Stroyny · Smelyi · Neustrashimy · Blagorodnyy
Light cruisers  Kerch · Zheleznyakov
Battleships  Marat