Cheon Wang Bong-class tank landing ship
The Cheon Wang Bong-class tank landing ship (Hangul: 천왕봉급 전차상륙함, Hanja: 天王峰級戰車上陸艦) is an amphibious landing ship class of the Republic of Korea Navy.
| .jpg.webp) 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 | 
 | 
| 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 | |
| Armament | 1 × Hanwha Defense Systems (formerly Doosan DST) 'No Bong' dual 40mm gun, 2 x K-VLS | 
| Armor | LIG Nex1 SLQ-200K Sonata electronic warfare suite, Rheinmetall MASS decoy system[2] | 
| Aviation facilities | Aft helicopter deck | 
Development
    
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
    
-  "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-01-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Rheinmetall receives order from South Korea: MASS naval countermeasures system for LST-II-class".
- Chosun Daily - 4천500t급 차기상륙함 윤곽 드러나 10/9/2007 Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
- "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. | 
