Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Missile Boat Classes, Osa Class Missile Boat, Hamina Class Missile Boat, Sa'ar 4.5 Class Missile Boat, Hayabusa Class Patrol Boat, Kuang Hua Vi Class Missile Boat, Roussen Class Facm, Matka Class Missile Boat, Helsinki Class Missile Boat, Sa'ar 4 Class Missile Boat, Komar Class Missile Boat, Type 021 Class Missile Boat, Type 037-Ii Class Missile Boat, Tuima Class Missile Boat, Rauma Class Missile Boat, Ambassador Mk Iii Missile Boat, Sarancha Class Missile Boat, Houbei Class Missile Boat, Sa'ar 3 Class Missile Boat, C 14 Class Missile Boat, Doan Class Fast Attack Craft, Type 024 Class Missile Boat, Type 037-Ig Class Missile Boat. Excerpt: The Osa class is the NATO reporting name for a group of fast attack craft developed for the Soviet Navy in the early 1960s. The Soviet designations are Project 205 ( 205) and Project 205U ( 205) Tsunami. These craft are probably the most numerous class of missile boats ever built, with over 400 vessels constructed for both the Soviets and for export to allied countries. Two main variants were built: the Osa 1 (Project 205) which had box-shaped missile containers and the Osa 2 (205U) which had cylindrical missile containers. "Osa" means "wasp" in Russian, but it is not an official name. These missile boats were designed to be much better fighting vessels than the previous Komar (Project 183R) class. While the Komars were cheap and efficient (and the first to sink a warship, destroying the Israeli Navy's Eilat), their endurance, sea keeping and habitability were modest and the missile box was vulnerable to damage from waves. Among their weak points was the wooden hull, the radar set lacking a fire control unit, and as single defensive position consisting of two manually operated 25 mm guns, (even if quite p... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=8777429
