Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

The 214-type Son Won Il-class submarine (Chang Bogo-Ⅱ), 7 Hong Beom Do submarine has been put into combat operations to protect Korea's oceans. On the afternoon of January 23rd, the Navy's Submarine Command held a commissioning ceremony for the Hong Beom Do submarine at the Jinhae naval base in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do province. A commissioning ceremony is a ceremony that is held to announce that a battleship has become an official naval vessel after going through building and delivery processes.

The ceremony, which was hosted by Rear Admiral Park, Noh-cheon, Commander of the Navy Submarine Force, was attended by about one hundred people, including sea and land commanding officers from naval forces in Jinhae and other personnel with the institutions involved in delivery cooperation, including the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, and the shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries. The ceremony started with an opening speech, and the opening speech was followed by a progress report, raising of commission pennants, a congratulatory speech from Chief of Naval Operations Command Vice Admiral Jeong, Jin-seop, and instructions to the crew given by Commander Park.

In his instructions, Commander Park said “you all should work with self-respect and faith in certain victory, as the best submarine crew,” and asked them “to attain perfect combat readiness and to concentrate on showing the highest degree of combat power.”

Captain Gang, Jeong-ho, captain of the Hong Beom Do submarine, emphasized “On behalf of the crew of the Hong Beom Do submarine, I pledge that we will focus our energies on exercises for combat operations to complete our given duties, at any time and anywhere, in the spirit and memory of General Hong Beom-do's honorable achievement.”

On the 97th anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement in 2016, Republic of Korea's Navy named its 7th 214-type Son Won Il-class submarine after General Hong Beom-do, who carried out the armed independence movement as Commander-in-Chief of the Korean Independence Army, to honor his patriotism and encourage a new awareness of national security.

With excellent underwater operations, stealth, and sonar, the 1800-ton Hong Beom Do submarine is one of the best conventional submarines. The submarine is 65 meters long and 6.3 meters wide. Its maximum underwater speed is 20 knots (37㎞ per hour). With its unique stealthiness, it can carry out anti-surface and anti-submarine warfare, offensive mining, and more.

Particularly noteworth is the fact that the submarine is loaded with domestically-made cruise missiles enabling long-range precise strikes at the enemy's core facilities. It is also loaded with an "Air Independent Propeller(AIP)," which propels the submarine without air. The submarine does not need to float on the surface of the water while carrying out its duties, allowing operations to be performed for about ten days. Survivability and stealthiness, which determine the life of a submarine, have been greatly enhanced.

After going through about 4-month combat operation exercise and operational capability assessment, the Hong Beom Do submarine will be deployed to operations in May and will carry out the "invisible national strategic weapon system" duty.

With the Hong Beom Do submarine now in commission, Republic of Korea's Navy has 16 submarines.

A naval official said, “expanding the retention of submarines with the three major capabilities required of an 'underwater assassin' – long underwater navigation, powerful punch, and excellent detection – will contribute greatly to strengthening our naval strategy.” 

By Byeong-No, Yun <trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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