''Yangyang''-class minesweeper (, ) is a ship class of

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

s currently in service on 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 ...

. Its main missions are gathering data of ports in the Korean region, and searching

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ve ...

and

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...

, in wartime. They sometimes used at finding and recovering North Korean missiles, by using Variable Depth Sonar to detect missile fragments. ''Ongjin'', second ship of the class, is famous for finding the stern of ROKS ''Cheonan'' at the site of the ROKS ''Cheonan'' sinking.

History

At the Korean War, Korea did not have proper

equipment, and it was all about pulling

s out of fishing nets or blowing up floating mines with light machine guns. Therefore, North Korea inflicted massive damage by the naval mine. In the 1980s, Korea developed and used 6 ''Ganggyeong''-class minehunters, which were the base of ''Yangyang''-class ships. In the 1990s, the Navy made an upgraded minehunter design, based on the ''Ganggyeong''-class. The first ship was launched and commissioned in 1999, which was named ''Yangyang''. Two more, ''Ongjin'' and ''Haenam'', were launched a few years later. Compared to ''Ganggyeong''-class, ''Yangyang''-class ships improved minesweeping ability, and increased hull size.

Design

''Yangyang''-class ships are long, wide. They are equipped with Multi-purpose machine gun, a main gun, and Mine Disposal Vehicle (MDV). They use two

Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously. ...

s as propulsion, to control the ship more precisely. To perform minesweeping activities, mechanical/inductive minesweeping device and sonars are equipped. Officially about 50 crew are boarding the ship.

Hull material

To protect the ship from magnetic mine, the ship's hull is made of

fibre-reinforced plastic Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP; also called fibre-reinforced polymer, or in American English ''fiber'') is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass fibre, glass (in fibreglass), Carbon fib ...

, which does not have a magnetic attraction, and lasts longer than commonly used material. It also minimized metallic equipment to tightly control the magnetic material inside the ship. Steel objects that are brought into the ship, like canned food, are heavily restricted and strictly controlled.

Naming

The naming of minesweeper ships is taken from the names of counties and towns adjacent to a naval base. For example, ''Yangyang'' is the name of

Yangyang County Yangyang County (''Yangyang-gun'') is in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The county is located in the northeast of the country in Gangwon-do. Its population is about 31,000 (2004). The Yangyang area is well known for its pine mushrooms (''son ...

, Gangwon Province.

List of ships

References