The navy plans to put its first locally designed stealth missile corvette and a new locally manufactured supply vessel into service late next month, a navy source said yesterday.
“A ceremony to formally put the corvette Tuo Jiang and supply vessel Panshih into service is scheduled to take place in late March at the navy’s Zuoying base in Kaohsiung,” the largest naval base in Taiwan, the source said.
Training on the 502-tonne Tuo Jiang began after the corvette was delivered to the navy by local firm Lung Teh Shipbuilding at a ceremony on Dec. 23 last year at the commercial harbor in Suao (蘇澳), eastern Taiwan.
The twin-hulled Hsun-hai-class corvette is equipped with locally developed Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missiles, a 76mm gun and Mark 46 torpedoes, the source said.
The new ship, which cost about NT$2.1 billion (US$67 million), was purchased to modernize the navy’s fleet.
It has a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,704km), is 60.4m long and 14m wide, and can carry up to 41 people.
One month after the delivery of the Tuo Jiang, the navy received the supply vessel, the Panshih, from local shipbuilder CSBC at a ceremony on Jan. 23 in Kaohsiung.
After the supply vessel is put into service, it will help extend the navy’s maritime combat capabilities through its support of warships, and the nation’s ability to provide international humanitarian assistance, the navy said.
The Panshih would be used to transport fuel, ammunition and other supplies to support the navy fleet in wartime.
In peacetime, it would be mainly used to carry supplies, conduct maritime rescue missions and provide humanitarian assistance, the source said.
Captain Cheng Nai-pin (鄭乃斌), the first captain of the Panshih, has praised the vessel’s mobility, stability and ability to travel long distances and carry large amounts of supplies.
It also has advanced medical equipment to provide better medical services than the Wuyi, the navy’s other supply vessel, he added.
There is a small hospital on the Panshih that includes an operating center, a dental room, three regular wards and an isolation ward.
It cost NT$4.09 billion to build, the source said.
The new vessel measures 196m in length and 25.2m in width. It can take a crew of up to 165 people and has a range of 8,000 nautical miles.
It can reach a maximum speed of 22 knots (40.7kph) and has a load displacement of about 18,140 tonnes and a light displacement of about 9,000 tonnes.
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