The Project 1171 Tapir / Alligator-class large landing ship is a Soviet-designed beachable landing ship tank built by Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad. The class was created to move troops, tanks, vehicles, ammunition, and cargo directly onto shore or through captured ports, and Russian use of the type as a Sea of Azov resupply ship was documented during the 2022 phase of the Russia-Ukraine War.
Russia used Project 1171/Alligator-class landing ships for Sea of Azov resupply during the 2022 invasion; satellite imagery and U.S. defense reporting confirmed one was struck and sunk at Berdyansk, with later Ukrainian reporting identifying the lost ship as Saratov rather than Orsk.
Role detailsProject 1171 was a beachable landing ship tank, but the Berdyansk episode shows why captured ports also mattered: cranes and hard quays let Russian forces unload armor, ammunition, and supplies closer to Mariupol than a cross-beach landing would allow.
Class references list combinations of 20 main battle tanks, 47 BTRs, 52 army trucks, troops, or 1,000 t of cargo depending on group and load plan.
USNI News reported that the struck Alligator-class ship was being used in a Russian resupply effort supporting operations near Mariupol.
All ships carried the 57 mm ZIF-31B gun, while later or selected ships had additional 25 mm guns, Grad-M rockets, Strela-3 launchers, and anti-saboteur sonar.
RussianShips lists Project 1171 as 14 completed large landing ships plus the unfinished Nikolay Golubkov hull, all from Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad. The production groups correspond to the baseline Project 1171 and the later Project 1171/II, Project 1171/III, and Project 1171/IV modification groups.
| Group | Members | Commissioned | Source-backed notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project 1171 / Group 1 | BDK-10 later Saratov; BDK-6 later Krymsky Komsomolets; BDK-13 later Tomsky Komsomolets; BDK-62 later Komsomolets Karelii | 1966-1967 | Initial four completed ships; the Saratov hull was yard no. 291 and commissioned on 18 August 1966. |
| Project 1171/II | BDK-66 Sergey Lazo; BDK-69 later Orsk | 1968 | Second production group; RussianShips lists Groups 1 and 2 with 15 days endurance. |
| Project 1171/III | BDK-77 later 50 let shefstva VLKSM; Donetckiy shakhter; BDK-100 later Krasnaya Presnya; BDK-104 later Ilya Azarov and Rivne; Alexandr Tortcev; Petr Ilyichev | 1969-1972 | Largest production group; RussianShips lists Groups 3 and 4 with 20 days endurance and the higher 440-troop cargo layouts. |
| Project 1171/IV | Nikolay Vilkov; Nikolay Filchenkov; unfinished Nikolay Golubkov hull | 1974-1975 | Final completed pair plus one cancelled hull; GlobalSecurity identifies Nikolay Vilkov and Nikolay Filchenkov as Mod IV ships. |
RussianShips.info groups the fourteen completed Project 1171 ships into four build groups. GlobalSecurity maps the later groups to Project 1171/II, Project 1171/III, and Project 1171/IV modification labels, with differences in landing capacity, provisions endurance, and weapons composition.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| Project 1171 / Group 1 | Initial production group | The first four ships, including Saratov as BDK-10, form the initial group; RussianShips.info lists 15-day autonomy and a 313-troop assault-load configuration for Groups 1 and 2. Sources: Project 1171 - Large landing ships, Alligator Class - Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator |
| Project 1171/II | Second production group | The second group includes BDK-66 Sergey Lazo and BDK-69 Orsk; it retained the early autonomy and troop-capacity pattern while continuing the Yantar-built sequence. Sources: Project 1171 - Large landing ships, Alligator Class - Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator |
| Project 1171/III | Later production group | Project 1171/III covers the six Group 3 ships; RussianShips lists 58A-3 diesels, 20-day autonomy, and up to 440 troops with tanks, BTRs, trucks, or cargo. Sources: Project 1171 - Large landing ships, Alligator Class - Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator |
| Project 1171/IV | Final production group | The final completed group includes Nikolay Vilkov and Nikolay Filchenkov; RussianShips.info lists 58A-4 diesels, 20-day autonomy, and added 25 mm gun fits for this group. Sources: Project 1171 - Large landing ships, Alligator Class - Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator |
Reference sources place Project 1171 production between 1964 and 1975 at Yantar Shipyard in Kaliningrad.
Sources: Project 1171 Tapir class, Project 1171 - Large landing ships
WeaponSystems.net lists the Project 1171 Tapir class as entering service in 1965 as a Soviet landing ship tank.
Sources: Project 1171 Tapir class
RussianShips and GlobalSecurity list 14 completed Project 1171 ships built at Yantar in four production groups, with the fifteenth hull Nikolay Golubkov not completed.
Sources: Project 1171 - Large landing ships, Alligator Class - Project 1171 Tapir class Alligator
USNI News reported that satellite imagery confirmed an Alligator-class landing ship had sunk at the pier in Berdyansk after a Ukrainian strike, while the same reporting described the ship's resupply role near Mariupol.
Sources: Satellite Images Confirm Russian Navy Landing Ship Was Sunk at Berdyansk
After early reports named Orsk, Ukraine's General Staff identified Saratov as the destroyed Project 1171 landing ship and said two Ropucha-class landing ships were damaged.
Sources: Not Orsk but Saratov Landing Ship Destroyed at Berdiansk Port
