Storm Class Patrol Boat

Storm Class Patrol Boat

The Storm class fast patrol boats (FPB) were a class of 20 vessels built for the Royal Norwegian Navy.

In Norwegian these boats were called missilkanonbåter (MKB) meaning boats with missiles and guns. They were operated by the Coastal Combat Flotilla together with the MTBs, or Missile Torpedo Boats. None of the boats are currently in service with the Royal Norwegian Navy. The design was Norwegian and all of the boats were built by Norwegian ship yards from 1965 to 1967.

The Storm class was designed by Lieutenant-commander (later Captain) Harald Henriksen. Same man was also involved in the design of the Rapp-class MTB's - the first Norwegian-built MTB's. Later he also designed the Snøgg- and Hauk-class MTB's. Lieutenant-commander Henriksen's wife, Margot Henriksen was godmother of the first KNM Skjold (P 963), delivered to the Norwegian navy in February 1966 from Westermoen yard in Mandal.

Norway donated a Storm class each to Estonia and Lithuania and three to Latvia in 1995. In the Lithuanian Navy, the exStorm class are designated the DZUKAS class, and in the Latvia Navy, the exStorms are were designated the Bulta class. Since the 1999 edition of The World Defence Almanac the Storm class has not been listed for the Estonian Navy.

At the end of the 1990s two vessels were sold to Lithuania and three were sold to Latvia. A further three hulls may have been donated to each of the Baltic countries as spare parts.

The prototype Storm, completed May 31, 1963, was later scrapped and replaced by a second boat taking the same name and pennant number P960; the last of the class completed in 1968. After 1970 Penguin missiles were fitted to these boats in addition to the original armament.

Currently the Lithuanian Navy operates two Storm class boats, P32 "Sėlis" (transferred 2001) and P33 "Skalvis" (transferred 2001).