ROKS Cheon Wang Bong during her launching
Class overview
NameCheon Wang Bong class
BuildersHanjin Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries
Operators Republic of Korea Navy
Preceded byGo Jun Bong class
Built2014 -
In service2014 - present
In commission2014 - present
Planned4
Completed4
Active4
General characteristics
TypeLanding Ship, Tank
Tonnage4,950 tons (empty) / 7,140 tons (full)
Length126.9 m (416 ft)
Beam19.4 m (64 ft)
Draught5.4 m (18 ft)
Installed power12,800 hp (9,500 kW)
PropulsionCODAD, 4 × MAN 12V28/33D STC diesel engines rated at 5460 kW, 4 x 6L21/31 auxiliary engines rated 1,200 kW [1]
Speed
  • 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) maximum
  • 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) cruising
Range8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi)
Boats & landing
craft carried		2 x LCM
Troops300
Crew120
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
  • 1 × Hanwha Defense Systems (formerly Doosan DST) 'No Bong' twin 40mm gun
  • 4-cell K-VLS Compact Version for:
    • Haegung K-SAAM quadpacked in 4 per cell
ArmorLIG Nex1 SLQ-200K Sonata electronic warfare suite, Rheinmetall MASS decoy system[2]
Aviation facilitiesAft helicopter deck

The Cheon Wang Bong-class tank landing ship (Korean: 천왕봉급 전차상륙함; Hanja: 天王峰級戰車上陸艦) is an amphibious landing ship class of the Republic of Korea Navy.

Development

ROKS No Jeok Bong in Langkawi 2023

In the late 1980s the Republic of Korea Navy decided to gradually replace its aging fleet of World War II-era LST-542-class tank landing ships (renamed Un Bong-class LST) purchased from the US Navy in 1958. A three phase plan was laid out to develop new landing ships to meet the demands of modern amphibious and transport operations.

The first phase was designated as the LST-I project, and development and design started in 1987 by Korea Tacoma, currently Hanjin Heavy Industries. After 4 years of development, the lead ship Go Jun Bong (LST-681) was launched in 1991. Three more ships followed and all four ships were commissioned by 1998.

The second phase, or LST-II, was originally planned to import four Newport-class tank landing ships, but after being postponed due to budget issues, it was changed in favor for domestic built 4500-ton LPDs to be commissioned by 2013-2016.[3] After the construction of the first vessel, a follow-on contract for four additional vessels were awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industries in December 2013.[4]

Ships in the class

Name Pennant number Builder Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Status
ROKS Cheon Wang Bong LST-686 Hanjin Heavy Industries 11 September 2013 1 December 2014 Active
ROKS Cheon Ja Bong LST-687 Hyundai Heavy Industries 15 December 2015 1 August 2017 Active
ROKS Il Chul Bong LST-688 Hyundai Heavy Industries 25 October 2016 2 April 2018 Active
ROKS No Jeok Bong LST-689 Hyundai Heavy Industries 2 November 2017 21 November 2018 Active

References

  1. ^ "MAN Engines Bound for Korean Navy Vessel - Diesel & Gas Turbine Worldwide - July 2011". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-01-18.
  2. ^ "Rheinmetall receives order from South Korea: MASS naval countermeasures system for LST-II-class".
  3. ^ Chosun Daily - 4천500t급 차기상륙함 윤곽 드러나 10/9/2007 Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "S. Korea signs contract to acquire second LST-II landing ship". english.yonhapnews.co.kr.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cheon Wang Bong class LSTs.
Commissioned ships of the Republic of Korea Navy
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