South Korean shipbuilder Kangnam Corporation launched the sixth and final Yangyang-class minesweeper on order for the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) on 15 March.
Named Goseong, the 59.4 m-long vessel (with pennant number MSH 577) entered the water in a ceremony held at the company’s facilities in Busan, industry officials told Janes.
Goseong, which is expected to enter RoKN service in 2022 and be homeported at the Jinhae naval base, is the final vessel of the second batch of three Yangyang-class minesweepers ordered in November 2010.
The first ship of that upgraded batch, Namhae, was launched in April 2020 and the second one, Hongseong (MSH 576), entered the water in September 2020.
The three ships of the first batch were commissioned in 1999, 2003, and 2004, respectively.
According to the manufacturer, the ships of the first batch have a crew complement of 56, including seven officers and five divers; an overall beam of 10.3 m; a draught of 3 m; and a standard displacement of 880 tonnes.
The ‘Batch I’ vessels are equipped with a Thomson Marconi TSM 2061 Mk 3 combat data system, a Thomson Marconi Type 2093 variable-depth sonar, a Raytheon I-band radar, and a BAE Systems ‘deep mechanical and combined influence sweep system’. They also carry two Gayrobot Pluto remotely operated vehicles and are armed with a Sea Vulcan 20 mm cannon and two 7.62 mm machine guns.
Powered by two MTU diesel engines, the class can reach a top speed of 15 kt and has a maximum range of 3,000 n miles at 12 kt.
Little information has been revealed about the systems the upgraded ‘Batch II’ vessels are being equipped with.
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