ROKS ''Munmu the Great'' (DDH-976) is a in the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. It was named after the Korean king

Munmu Munmu of Silla (626–681; reigned 661–681) was the 30th king of the Korean kingdom of Silla. He is usually considered to have been the first ruler of the Unified Silla period. Munmu was the son of King Muyeol and Munmyeong, who was the young ...

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

Design

The KDX-II is part of a much larger build up program aimed at turning the ROKN into a blue-water navy. It is said to be the first stealthy major combatant in the ROKN and was designed to significantly increase the ROKN's capabilities.

Construction and career

In March 2009, ''Munmu the Great'' was sent overseas to protect merchant vessels from

Somali pirates Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali, ...

. On 28 May 2007 during firing exercise on the open sea near

Jinhae Jinhae-gu (Hangul: 진해구, Hanja: 鎭海區) is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring. The city front is on a shelter ...

one of the projectiles exploded inside the 127 mm gun barrel which has been replaced later. In 2014 she conducted anti-piracy drills as part of

Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to enga ...

in the Indian Ocean with . In April 2018, it was deployed to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

with personnel from the Special Warfare Brigade as part of a mission to rescue kidnapped South Korean fishermen. On 19 July, 2021, it is reported that 247 out of 301 crew members of the 34th contingent of the

Cheonghae Unit The Republic of Korea Navy Somali Sea Escort Task Group (Korean: 대한민국 해군 소말리아 해역 호송전대), also known as "Cheonghae" Unit (Korean: 청해부대, Hanja: 淸海部隊) was established by the Republic of Korea Navy to prot ...

on the ''Munmu the Great'' was tested positive for the

covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Two Korean Air Force KC-330 departed with 200 replacement members to transport the 301 entire crew members back to South Korea. After returning to South Korea, it is revealed that 270 crew members are tested positive.

Gallery

File:Munmu The Great03.jpg, ROKS ''Munmu the Great'' maneuvering during RIMPAC 2006. File:KDX1-KDX2-sidebyside.jpg, ROKS ''Munmu The Great'' and ROKS ''Gwanggaeto the Great'' lighted ship's lights to celebrate the July 4th Independence Day 2006.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munmu the Great (DDH-976) Chungmugong Yi Sun-shin-class destroyers Ships built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group 2003 ships

Design

Construction and career

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links