The specifications for the Project 253 were issued in April 1942 by admiral Lev Galler. Initial design iteration made by TsKB-32 was unsatisfactory and was transferred in 1943 to TsKB-51 for improvements, resulting in Project 253L (named after chief designer N. G. Loshchinskii). The minesweepers were badly needed in the heavily mined Baltic Sea, therefore pre-production series comprising 32 vessels were ordered 12 April 1943, followed by full-capacity production on two shipyards starting from 12 June 1943. The minesweeper was extremely successful, resulting in 4 shipyards assigned to its production starting from 31 October 1943.^[1]

Two main versions were produced:

• MT-1 (June 1943) - full displacement 126.6 tons
• MT-2 (April 1944) - full displacement increased to 141.3 tons, smaller engines rated to 160 hp (120 kW).

The ships were routinely fitted with four mine-sweeping gears, comprising two mechanical trails, magnetic and acoustic towed trails.

A total of 92 ships were built, all to the Baltic fleet operation. Numbers were T-222 to T-249, T-351 to T-391, T-434 to T-441, T-459 to T-479. Only T-387 was lost to enemy action been sunk by German submarine U-481 28 November 1944.

In 1946, the seven minesweepers (T-225, T-228, T-231, T-241, T-244, T-465, T-467) were transferred to the   Polish Navy.

Upon retirement in 1956, the MT minesweepers were routinely converted into diving support ships.

• List of ships of the Soviet Navy
• List of ships of Russia by project number

• MT type minesweeper - type description and vessels list
• Soviet navy minesweepers: Минно-тральные корабли
• List of Soviet navy minesweepers: Cоветское оружие времен Второй Мировой Войны Тральщики
• Stalin's Ocean-going Fleet: Soviet Naval Strategy and Shipbuilding Programs