The Gawron class or Projekt 621 is a class of multipurpose corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

s ordered by Polish Navy

Polish Navy

The Marynarka Wojenna Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - MW RP Polish Navy, is the branch of Republic of Poland Armed Forces responsible for naval operations...

. The Gawron class is a variant of the MEKO A-100

MEKO

The MEKO family of warships was developed by the German company Blohm + Voss.MEKO is a registered trademark. The portmanteau stands for "Mehrzweck-Kombination" . It is a concept in modern naval shipbuilding based on modularity of armament, electronics and other equipment, aiming at ease of...

 project developed by the Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...

 shipyard in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Construction of the first ship of the class started in 2001.

Construction

There were plans to build 7 Gawron-class corvettes, but as of 2009, work has only begun on one ship, which is to be named Ślązak . The program suffered delays due to insufficient funding from the government and delays in choosing final weapons and systems configuration. The hull was launched on 16 September 2009, but the program was suspended due to the ongoing financial crisis

Late 2000s recession

The late-2000s recession, sometimes referred to as the Great Recession or Lesser Depression or Long Recession, is a severe ongoing global economic problem that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The Great Recession has affected the entire world...

. Work has now resumed and the first ship should be commissioned by 2015.

Ships

Ship name	Status	Planned commission date
Ślązak	Being built	2015
Kujawiak	Planned	Unlikely to be before 2018
Krakowiak	Planned	Unknown
Mazur	Planned	Unknown
Kurp	Planned	Unknown
Goral	Planned	Unknown
Unknown	Planned	Unknown

External links

• Mateusz Ossowski ywojenne.za.pl/rozne_artykuly/projekt_621_typ_gawron.html "Projekt 621 (typ Gawron)" Detailed Article on Gawron-class frigate [Polish]
• "Włoska siłownia Gawrona" Portal Morski [Polish]