# Kormoran 2-class minehunter

The Kormoran II (Cormorant class), formally Project 258, is a class of mine hunting vessels dedicated for the Polish Navy. The 2011 Defense Budget included a single vessel of this class. It was launched on 4 September 2015 and was predicted to enter service late 2016. Two more ships have been planned. Ships are built by Remontowa Shipbuilding Gdańsk and Naval Shipyard Gdynia consortium. It will be armed with a 35mm OSU-35K naval weapon station.

## Construction

Project 258 vessels are 58.5 m (191 ft 11 in) long and 10.3 m (33 ft 10 in) wide. The draft is 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) and the displacement is 830 tons. Contrary to previous construction concepts of this type, the hull was made of non-magnetic steel instead of plastic. The advantage of the steel hull was, among other things, lower operating costs and higher fire resistance. The hull itself is divided into 33 sections. The ship's superstructure has two floors in the fore section and one floor in the stern. The main deck has full bulwark. When constructing the ship, efforts were made to limit the unit's detectability by radars. It is powered by two combustion engines with a capacity of 1,360 hp each, which allows a maximum speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Additionally, the minesweeper has a bow thruster. The main armament of the ship is the OSU-35K naval weapon system armed with a 35mm Oerlikon KDA autocannon. The ship is equipped with the Integrated Combat System manufactured and supplied by CTM, including: SCOT combat management system, passive defense system, underwater observation system, including SHL-101 / TM and SHL-300 sonar stations and a system of remotely and wirelessly fired charges explosives for destroying sea mines "Toczek". On the other hand, Xblue Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) have been selected to provide critical navigation capabilities to the Polish Navy’s new-build Kormoran II class mine countermeasure vessels.

## Description

The main tasks of the Kormoran II type units include searching, classification, identification and fighting sea mines, identification of fairways, guiding units through mine hazard waters, putting mines and remote control of self-propelled anti-mine platforms.

## Vessels

A lead ship ORP Kormoran (601) was commissioned on 28 November 2017. In summer 2018 building of a second ship of this project - named ORP Albatros (602) - was initiated. Albatros was launched on 10 October 2019 and entered service on 28 November 2022. Construction of third ship, ORP Mewa (603), started on 10 October 2019. Mewa was launched on 17 December 2020 and entered service on 22 December 2022. It's planned to build another 3 ships till the end of 2027 (initially 2031), first of which, ORP Jaskółka (604), construction started on 23 March 2023 and it's planned to enter service in July 2026. Two last vessels of Kormoran-II class, ORP Rybitwa (605) and ORP Czajka (606), are scheduled to start construction in December 2023, October 2024 and to enter service in March and October 2027 accordingly.
| Name | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Status |
| ORP Kormoran (601) | 23 September 2014 | 4 September 2015 | 28 November 2017 | Active |
| ORP Albatros (602) | 18 September 2018 | 19 October 2019 | 28 November 2022 | Active |
| ORP Mewa (603) | 10 October 2019 | 17 December 2020 | 14 February 2023 | Active |
| ORP Jaskółka (604) | 25 July 2023 | 26 June 2024 | | Launched |
| ORP Rybitwa (605) | 20 March 2024 | | | Under construction |
| ORP Czajka (606) | 15 October 2024 | | | Under construction |