ROCS ''Tian Dan'' (, PFG2-1110) is the eighth ship of the guided-missile frigates of the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...

(ROCN), which was based on the of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''Tian Dan'' was intended to be the first hull of the second batch of the class, with improved armament and electronics. However, delays in the development of the weapon systems and electronics led to the second batch being cancelled. In 1999, the first ship of the second batch was re-ordered to the standard design with all the improvements to the design. The ship was constructed beginning in 2001 by the China Shipbuilding Corporation in Taiwan and the frigate was launched in 2002 and entered service with the ROCN in 2004. In 2014, ''Tian Dan'' was among the Taiwanese vessels sent to assist in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight.

Design and description

The ''Cheng Kung'' class are based on the long-hulled version of the s of the

but with modifications. The class was intended to be built in two batches, with Batch I built to the standard design, and Batch II constructed to an improved design, incorporating new technologies. The standard initially had a light

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of and a

full load displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of . They initially measured

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

and at the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

with a beam of and a maximum

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

of . They are powered by two General Motors LM-2500

gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

s turning one shaft connected to a

controllable pitch propeller In marine propulsion, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. Reversible propellers—those where the pitch can be set to negative values—can al ...

, creating . They also have two drop-down auxiliary propulsion units that create . This gives them a maximum speed of . They carry of fuel giving them a range of at . The ships have four 1,000 kW diesel alternator sets for generating electricity. For additional stability in heavy seas, the ships have

fin stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

s. The frigates have a crew of 206 including 13 officers and an air group of 19. The frigates were initially armed with eight

Hsiung Feng II The Hsiung Feng II (HF-2; , "Brave Wind II") is an anti-ship missile system developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taiwan. The HF-2 is designed to be deployed aboard ships or at facilities on land. ...

SSMs placed in two box launchers located atop the superstructure aft of the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. They also mounted a Mark 13 launcher for 40

RIM-66 Standard The RIM-66 Standard MR (SM-1MR/SM-2MR) is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM), with a secondary role as an anti-ship missile, originally developed for the United States Navy (USN). A member of the Standard Missile family of weapons, the ...

MR surface-to-air missiles. They have an OTO Melara /62 dual-purpose naval gun situated forward and two single-mounted Bofors /L70 guns. the 40 mm guns cannot be crewed while the 76 mm gun is firing due to blast effects. The ''Cheng Kung'' class mounts a /76

Phalanx The phalanx ( grc, φάλαγξ; plural phalanxes or phalanges, , ) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar pole weapons. The term is particularly ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of ...

(CIWS) atop the

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

. Flanking the CIWS atop the hangar are two Type 75 20 mm/75 guns. For ASW, the frigates are armed with two triple-mounted Mk 32 torpedo tubes for Mark 46 torpedoes. The ships mount SPS-55 surface search

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

, SPS-49(V)5 air search, Mark 92 fire control radar, STIR 24 missile fire control radar and Mark 90 Phalanx fire control radar. They are also equipped with DE 1160B hull-mounted

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

and are capable of using the ATAS towed passive sonar or the SQR-18A towed sonar. For

electronic countermeasures An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting info ...

, they mount the Chang Feng IV suite, which consists of the SLQ-32(V)5 radar warning system and the Sidekick radar jammer, and the

SLQ-25 Nixie The AN/SLQ-25 Nixie and its variants are towed torpedo decoys used on US and allied warships. It consists of a towed decoy device (TB-14A) and a shipboard signal generator. The decoy emits signals to draw a torpedo away from its intended targe ...

torpedo decoy system. The ships are equipped with the Prairie-Masker acoustic signature reduction system. The ships came designed with a hangar and aft

helicopter deck A helicopter deck (or helo deck) is a helicopter pad on the deck of a ship, usually located on the stern and always clear of obstacles that would prove hazardous to a helicopter landing. In the United States Navy, it is commonly and properly ...

capable of operating two helicopters. However, the ROCN had difficulty acquiring helicopters capable of operating from the class until they obtained the S-70C Thunderhawk helicopters from the United States. Though capable of operating two, only one is kept housed aboard the frigates. The ships use the Recovery Assist, Secure and Traverse (RAST) haul-down system for their helicopters.

Upgrades

The displacement of the ''Cheng Kung''-clas frigates has varied over time. In 2009, it was reported that the vessels had a light displacement of and a full load displacement of . Furthermore, their draft increased to a maximum of . This increased again by 2013, with the ships displacing light with a maximum draft of . The ''Cheng Kung'' class was initially fitted with eight Hsiung Feng II SSMs, instead of the

Harpoon A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument and tool used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other marine hunting to catch and injure large fish or marine mammals such as seals and whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal ...

missiles that the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class used. Ships of the class began refitting with four

Hsiung Feng III The Hsiung Feng III (HF-3; , "Brave Wind III") is a medium range supersonic missile with capabilities to destroy both land based targets and naval targets developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) in Taiwan ...

(HF III) missiles, replacing four of the Hsiung Feng II missiles after the new HF III missiles entered production. In addition, the ROCN ordered Harpoon missiles for use by the ''Cheng Kung''s in September 2000. After the US stopped supporting the SM-1 and their associated launch system support was taken up by

NCSIST National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST; ) is a Taiwanese state owned corporation, formerly part of the Republic of China Ministry of National Defense's Armaments Bureau, which is active in the development, manufacturi ...

which also implemented an upgrade program for the missiles. Upgrades to the SM-1 include a better rocket motor and an active seeker. The class's Mk 75 main guns have been upgraded and have an improved firing rate of 100 rounds a minute.

Construction and career

''Tian Dan'' was initially ordered as the first ship of the second batch of the ''Cheng Kung'' class. However, the second batch was cancelled in October 1994. The ship was re-ordered from the China Shipbuilding Corporation at Kaoshuing, Taiwan, as a continuation of Batch I in January 1999, but funding for the vessel did not become available until December 2000. The frigate was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 21 December 2001 and was launched on 15 October 2002. Named for a famous Chinese commander, the ship was commissioned on 11 March 2004. The ''Cheng Kung''-class frigates make up the ROCN 146th Frigate Squadron. On 14 March 2014, ''Tian Dan'', along with two of Taiwan's Coastguard patrol vessels, arrived in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

between Malaysia and Vietnam to join the multi-national search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight.

Gallery

File:ROCN Yueh Fei (PFG2-1106) and ROCN Tian Dan (PFG2-1110) Shipped at Zuoying Naval Base 20151024a.jpg, ROCS ''Yueh Fei'' and ROCS ''Tian Dan'' on 24 October 2015 File:ROCN Pan Chao (PFG2-1108) and ROCN Tian Dan (PFG2-1110) Shipped at Zuoying Naval Base 20141123b.jpg, ROCS ''Pan Chao'' and ROCS ''Tian Dan'' on 23 November 2014 File:Mk 32 torpedo tube of ROCN PFG-1110 20190324a.jpg, ROCS ''Tian Dan'''s Mark 32 torpedo tubes File:Mark 13 missile launcher of ROCN PFG-1110 20190324.jpg, ROCS ''Tian Dan'''s Mark 13 launchers File:Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III launchers of ROCN PFG2-1110 20190324.jpg, ROCS ''Tian Dan'''s

and

File:ROCN PFG2-1110 name plate 20190324.jpg, ROCS ''Tian Dan'''s nameplate File:ROCN PFG-1110 bulletin boards and a besom 20190324.jpg, ROCS ''Tian Dan'''s bulletin board

Notes

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tian Dan (FFG-1110) Cheng Kung-class frigates Ships built in the Republic of China 2002 ships Frigates of the Republic of China