ROKS ''Seoul'' (FF-952) is the second ship of the ''Ulsan''-class

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

in the

Republic of Korea Navy The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy in ...

. She is named after the city,

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

Development

In the early 1990s, the Korean government plan for the construction of next generation coastal ships named ''Frigate 2000'' was scrapped due to the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

. But the decommissioning of the destroyers and the aging fleet of ''Ulsan''-class frigates, the plan was revived as the

Future Frigate eXperimental The ''Incheon''-class frigates (Hangul: 인천급 호위함, Hanja: 仁川級護衛艦), also known as the Future Frigate eXperimental or FFX during development, are coastal defense frigates of the Republic of Korea Navy. The lead ship was launc ...

, also known as FFX in the early 2000s. 10 ships were launched and commissioned from 1980 to 1993. They have 3 different variants which consists of Flight I, Flight II and Flight III.

Construction and career

ROKS ''Seoul'' was launched on 24 April 1984 by

Hyundai Heavy Industries Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI; ) is the world's largest shipbuilding company and a major heavy equipment manufacturer. Its headquarters are in Ulsan, South Korea. History HHI was founded in 1972 by Chung Ju-yung as a division of the ...

and commissioned on 14 December 1985. She was decommissioned on 31 December 2015 and moored at Seoul Battleship Park, in her namesake city as a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seoul (FF-952) 1984 ships Ulsan-class frigates Frigates of the Republic of Korea Navy Museum ships in South Korea Ships built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Group