Cheon Wang Bong-class tank landing ship

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.

ROKS Cheon Wang Bong during her launching
Class overview
Name	Cheon Wang Bong class
Builders	Hanjin Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries
Operators	Republic of Korea Navy
Preceded by	Go Jun Bong class
Built	2014 -
In service	2014 - present
In commission	2014 - present
Planned	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Landing Ship, Tank
Tonnage	4,950 tons (empty) / 7,140 tons (full)
Length	126.9 m (416 ft)
Beam	19.4 m (64 ft)
Draught	5.4 m (18 ft)
Installed power	12,800 hp (9,500 kW)
Propulsion	CODAD, 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
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 x LCM
Troops	300
Crew	120
Sensors and processing systems	STX RadarSys SPS-100K surface search radar LIG Nex1 SPS-540K surveillance 3D radar
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
Armor	LIG Nex1 SLQ-200K Sonata electronic warfare suite, Rheinmetall MASS decoy system[2]
Aviation facilities	Aft helicopter deck

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