The Project 161 armored boats were designed and built in besieged Leningrad. hen the Baltic Fleet's large surface ships were unable to leave their bases, the burden of combat operations in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea fell on the few submarines and the "mosquito fleet", necessitating ships of this class. Design work was carried out in record time, practically in parallel with construction of the first hull. The final design was approved on September 15, 1943—a week before commissioning of the lead boat, BK-501.

Testing was kept to a minimum; the most important test for the new armored boats was combat. The boats actively provided artillery support for landings during the Vyborg, Moonsund, and East Prussian offensive operations and participated in sinking the German destroyer T-31 in the battle off the island of Nerva. Nevertheless, the tight development schedule took its toll, and many shortcomings in the boats had to be corrected during production. For instance, the 82-mm mortar was only installed in the bow of the hull on the first BK-501 of the early series; in later series, it was moved to the stern for convenience. A total of 20 ships of this project were built from 1943 to 1944. Three were lost, and the rest remained in service until the late 1950s.

The MBK-161 early was introduced as one of the rewards for the 2019 Operation "Shipyard" event. This "shallow-water battleship" is well-armored and armed but has very low speed. Therefore, when entering combat, it is necessary to determine the direction in advance because it will not be possible to quickly change flanks.