This TARANTUL class corvette began life at Volodarskiy Shipyard, Rybinsk (Leningrad), USSR. Upon completion she was transferred to the East German government and placed in service as Rudolf Egelhoffer. The 540 ton craft was typical of TARANTULs transferred abroad by the Soviets; more capable versions were built for Soviet service. The corvette's main armament was two pairs of SS-N-2C "Styx" antiship missiles. She also carried a single 76.2mm (3 inch) rapid-fire gun, two AK-630M 30 mm Gatling close-in defense guns, and a launcher station for four SA-N-8 Strela man-portable SAMs. A massive gas-turbine propulsion plant gave the corvette a top speed of over 45 knots.

Upon the reunification of Germany in 1990, Rudolf Egelhoffer became the (West) German Hiddensee (P6166), the only one of five sisters to be placed in service by the reunified navy. She was transferred to the U.S. in November 1991, and was brought across the Atlantic on a heavy lift ship early in 1992. Included in the transfer were over 170 SS-N-2C 'STYX' missiles for the ship. The corvette was placed in U.S. service 14 February 1992. The craft was not assigned an official USN name, but was always known as Hiddensee.

From 1992 to 1996 Hiddensee was operated by the Naval Air Warfare Center from Solomons, Maryland; the Chesapeake was her operating area. Although acquired for use in training exercises - an afloat equivalent to the Navy's adversary or "agressor" aircraft squadrons - the craft saw little use in that role. The fleet never seemed interested in making use of the vessel's unique equipment and abilities to enhance training exercises. Hiddensee was laid up in September of 1993 owing to a lack of operating funds. She returned to service in 1994 for research and testing purposes, but her career would not last much longer. Hiddensee was deactivated for the final time on 18 April 1996, a victim of tight budgets and lack of interest in the fleet. After a short period of storage the corvette was put on display at Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts.