PB Shershen (FSU)

The Shershen class was the NATO reporting name for a class of torpedo boats built for the Soviet Navy and allies. The Soviet designation was Project 206 Shtorm (ru. Проект 206 «Шторм»).

Designed by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau in the late 1950s, the Project 206 class was developed to replace the aging Project 183 torpedo boats by incorporating more powerful M-503 diesel engines and automated radar-directed AK-230 gun systems. The lead vessel entered service with the Soviet Navy in 1962, with over 120 units subsequently constructed at yards in Yaroslavl and Sosnovka. These vessels saw active combat during the Yom Kippur War in Egyptian service and were deployed by North Vietnam during the later stages of the Vietnam War. While retired from Russian service by the late 1990s, the class left a lasting legacy as a highly exported Cold War design, with a few units remaining operational in secondary roles with foreign navies into the 21st century.