ROKS Hwacheon on 17 October 2015
History
South Korea
Name
  • Hawcheon
  • (화천)
NamesakeHwacheon
BuilderHyundai
Launched1997
Commissioned1998
Identification
StatusActive
General characteristics
Class and typeCheonji-class fast combat support ship
Displacement
  • 4,200 tonnes (4,134 long tons) light[1]
  • 9,113 tonnes (8,969 long tons) full load[2]
Length133.7 m (438 ft 8 in)[3]
Beam17.8 m (58 ft 5 in)[3]
Draft6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)[2]
Propulsion2 × Voith Schneider Propeller
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)[3][1]
Range4,500 nmi (8,300 km)[1]
Sensors and
processing systems		2 × Anti-ship radar[2]
Armament
Aviation facilitiesHelipad

ROKS Hwacheon (AOE-59) is the third ship of the Cheonji-class fast combat support ship (AOE) in the Republic of Korea Navy. She is named after the lake, Hwacheon.

Development

After the Korean War, the Korean Navy purchased and operated small refueling ships from the 1960s to the 1980s. These ships were obsolete due to prolonged operation, which forced their retirement beginning in the late 1970s. As the demand for maritime operations increased day, the Navy required vessels to complete the missions.[4]

From the mid-1980s, based on ship drying experiences, the Korean Navy proposed building combat support ships domestically. From 1988 to 1990, the first combat support ship, later named Cheonji, was built and launched.[4]Daecheong and Hwacheon were built seven years later. At the time, the Korean Navy decided whether or not to build follow-up ships after finishing the operation test of the first ship.

As the needs of support ships increased, the Navy designed the Soyang-class ships in 2016, based on the Cheonji class.

Construction and career

ROKS Hwacheon was launched in 1997 by Hyundai Heavy Industries and commissioned in 1998. She was the third logistic support ship built by the Navy.

In November 2007, ROKS Hwacheon and ROKS Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin made a visit to New York, USA.[5]

ROKS Hwacheon and ROKS Yang Man-chun made a three-day goodwill visit to Auckland, New Zealand on 22 August 2010.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "함정" [Ships]. Republic of Korea Navy. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  2. 1 2 3 "천지급 군수 지원함" [Cheonji-class combat support ship]. 국방과학기술용어사전. Retrieved 2019-11-08.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 윤병노 (2019-08-25). "보급물자 적재 능력 최대 1만1050톤(소양함) '든든'". 국방일보. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  4. 1 2 김대영 (2018-11-16). "바다 위의 보급창고 '군수지원함'". 나우뉴스. Retrieved 2019-11-17.
  5. ↑ Turner, Tom (2007-11-08), ROKS Hwacheon (AOE 59) in New York, USA. November, 2007, retrieved 2021-07-09
  6. ↑ "ROKS Hwacheon, ROKS Yang Manchoon - SeapixOnline.com". www.seapixonline.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
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