Gangwon-class destroyer

Basic information

Type:

Destroyer

Operators:

Republic of Korea Navy

United States Navy

Country of build:

South Korea

Builder:

Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Consolidated Steel

Bath Iron Works (BIW)

Planned:

Completed:

Retired:

In service:

1974 – 2001 (27 years)

Ship measurements

Displacement:

3,516 t

Length:

119 m

Beam:

12.72 m

Draft:

4.56 m

Machine

Propulsion:

4 * GM Mod. 16-278A diesel engines with electric drive, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
2 * screws

Speed:

36.8 knots

Range:

4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)

Personnel

Complement:

350

Combat assets

Electronics:

1 * AN/SPS-10B surface-search radar
1 * AN/SPS-37 air-search radar
1 * AN/WLR-1 radar warning receiver
1 * Mark 37 Director
1 * AN/ULQ-6 ECM
1 * T-Mk 6 Fanfare

Armament:

1970s:
2 * twin 5"/38 cal guns
2 triple Mark 46 torpedo tubes
2 quad RGM-84C Harpoons
1 * RUR-5 ASROC
2 * Mark 10 Hedgehog mortars
1 * depth charge track
1980s:
2 * twin 5"/38 cal guns
1 * twin 40 mm bofors
2 * Sea Vulcan
1 * RUR-5 ASROC
2 * twin RGM-84C Harpoons
2 * triple Mark 46 torpedo tubes
2 * Mark 10 Hedgehog mortars
1 * depth charge track

Aircraft:

1 * Aérospatiale Alouette III

The Gangwon class was a class of 5 destroyers of the Republic of Korea Navy. They entered service in 1974; the last one was decommissioned in 2001.

These were ships used by the U.S. Navy during World War II and were modernized in electronics and weaponry during FRAM I. Throughout the 1970s, they constituted the backbone of the Republic of Korea Navy as a replacement for Chungmu-class destroyers. They remained in service until well into the 1990s. Initially leased till 1977, the ships were later purchased outright by the South Korean navy.

The Republic of Korea Navy acquired five destroyers of the Gearing class for the Republic of Korea Navy from the USA in 1974 as part of the American Military Assistance Program. More were later leased over in later years.

The last of these ships was decommissioned in 2001.