The Riga class was the NATO reporting name

NATO reporting name

NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...

 for class of frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s built for the Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

 in the 1950s. The Soviet designation for these ships was Storozhevoi Korabl (escort ship) Project 50 Gornostay (Ermine stoat). The Riga class were analogous to World War II era destroyer escorts.

Design

These ships were a smaller and simpler version of the Kola class frigate

Kola class frigate

The Kola class was the NATO reporting name for a group of frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1950s. The Soviet Designation was Storozhevoi Korabl Project 42. These ships were analogous to World War 2 era destroyer escorts or German Elbing class torpedo boats...

. According to Conway's this simpler group of ships were ordered by Stalin himself who was concerned about the cost of large ships. The class introduced high pressure steam turbines and new radars into Soviet service. The bridge gun turrets and magazines were covered in 8mm-thick armour. The main armament comprised three single dual-purpose 100mm guns with remote power control and a single Yakor type fire control director. The machinery comprised two TV-9 steam turbines with two boilers and had initial problems with reliability.

There was a modernisation programme designated Project 50 A in the late 1950s early 1960s. This included fitting anti-submarine rocket launchers (RBU-2500) new radar and adding permanent ballast for improved stability.

Ships

A total of 68 ships were built by Nikolayev yards (20 ships), Komsomolsk na Amure (7 ships) and Kaliningrad (the lead yard 41 ships). Most ships were decommissioned by 1980, however some were sold to China. The programme was cut short by Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

 in 1956 as the ships were becoming obsolete and the last ship was completed in 1958.

Operators

: Bulgarian Navy

Bulgarian Navy

The Bulgarian Navy is the navy of Republic of Bulgaria and forms part of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It has been largely overlooked in the reforms that Bulgaria had to go through in order to comply with NATO standards, mostly because of the great expense involved and the fact that naval assaults...

 : 3 ships (Druzki, Smely and Bodry) operated 1958-1990, decommissioned 1990 (Source Conway's)
: Five ships were built in kits for the People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

 to be licence assembled in China as the Jinan class (Type 053) frigate. The Chinese later built their own versions with a different gun arrangements as Jiangnan class (Type 065) frigate
: Finnish Navy

Finnish Navy

The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...

 : 2 ships (Uusimaa

Finnish frigate Uusimaa

Uusimaa was a Finnish . However the class was called the Uusimaa-class in Finland since the ship had some unique modifications ....

 and Hämeenmaa

Finnish frigate Hämeenmaa

Hämeenmaa was a Finnish . The class was called the Hämeenmaa-class in Finland since the ship had some unique modifications . The two 37 mm twin guns were also replaced with two 40 mm single AA guns in 1975....

) acquired 1964, decommissioned 1979 and 1985 (source Conway's)
: East German Navy

Volksmarine

Volksmarine was the official designation of the maritime forces of the German Democratic Republic . It was part of the National People's Army, established in 1956.-History:...

 : 4 ships (Ernst Thälmann, Karl Marx, Karl Liebknecht, Friedrich Engels)
: Indonesian Navy

Indonesian Navy

The role of the Indonesian Navy is to patrol of Indonesia's immense coastline, to ensure safeguard the territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone , to protect Indonesia's maritime strategic interests, to protect the islands surrounded Indonesia and to defend against seaborne threats. The TNI...

: 7 ships transferred 1962-64, decommissioned 1971-86 (Source Conway's)
: Soviet Navy

Soviet Navy

The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...

: 67 ships built.

• Kaliningrad built ships:

"Leopard", "Bars", "Rosomacha", "Sobol", "Barsuk", "Kuguar", "Jenot", "Filin", "Luń", "Kobchik", "Tur", "Loś", "Olień", SKR-76, SKR-69, SKR-70, SKR-71, SKR-72, SKR-73, SKR-74, SKR-54, SKR-75, SKR-77, SKR-80, SKR-81, SKR-10, SKR-4, SKR-5, SKR-8, SKR-14, SKR-15, SKR-59, SKR-60, SKR-61, SKR-62, SKR-64, SKR-55, SKR-65, SKR-68, SKR-56, SKR-50

• Nikolayev built ships:

"Gornostay", "Pantera", "Ryś", "Yaguar", "Sarych", "Puma", "Volk", "Kunitsa", "Korsak", "Norka", "Voron", "Grizon", SKR-51, "Tuman", SKR-53, SKR-57, SKR-58, SKR-63, SKR-66, SKR-67

• Komsomlsk built ships:

"Zubr", "Bizon", "Aist", "Laska", "Pelikan", "Pingvin", "Gepard"