In April 1942, TsKB-51 was tasked with designing a 100-ton "small minesweeper" with both wooden and metal hull options. By February 1943, the new ship had been developed and received the design number 253. It was then sent to Leningrad, where designers simplified it due to the limited resources available for shipbuilding in the besieged city. After these changes, ships of this type were designated Project 253L. The first ship in the series was commissioned in November of that year. A total of 36 Project 253L harbor minesweepers were built. Only five ships were lost during the entire war, two of which were blown up by mines. Another was lost in September 1955 during nuclear torpedo tests. The ships were written off from the Soviet Navy in the early 1950s. However, more modern Project 253LP ships served in the Polish Navy until 1959.

The Pr.253L was introduced in Update 2.41 "Firebirds". It is a very slow ship which main feature is its two 45mm guns, that have a reload time of a few seconds between shots. It can also lay mines, but due to its low speed, this is rarely makes sense to do.