Menghean aircraft carrier Haebang

Haebang (Menghean: 해방 / 解放, "liberation") is an aircraft carrier in the Menghean Navy. She was laid down in 1980 and commissioned in 1990. A sister ship, Sŭngri (승리 / 勝利, "victory"), was planned, but never laid down, making Haebang the only ship in her class.

Haebang was the first Menghean aircraft carrier to be laid down after the end of the Pan-Septentrion War in 1945, and also the first Menghean aircraft carrier capable of launching and recovering jet aircraft. Due to a lack of design experience between 1945 and 1980, she featured a number of compromises and outright design flaws, particularly with regard to her flight deck layout, elevator placement, and propulsion system. Operational experience with the Haebang contributed to the design of the Sibiwŏl Hyŏgmyŏng class aircraft carriers, which corrected many of the Haebang's deficiencies.

Construction

During the 1970s, the Menghean Navy conducted a number of design studies for medium aircraft carriers. Sim Jin-hwan was a particularly strong supporter of major warship projects, believing that like the DS-5 fighter, they would demonstrate Menghe's ability to stand on an even technological ground with its rivals. As early as 1973, the Navy drew up a design sketch for an aircraft carrier which would use navalized versions of the Daesŭngri DS-2 fighter and Songrim SR-3 attack aircraft. Like other Menghean large-warship designs in the 1970s, however, this proposal remained on the drawing board due to budget constraints and technical challenges.

Work on aircraft carrier design concepts continued into the late 1970s. In the process, the Navy clarified the carrier's operational requirements, and improved upon the original layout. The final iteration of the design, designated Plan 115, was built around the fighter support role, and would provide a radius of air cover for groups of surface ships operating outside the range of land-based Navy fighters. Two carriers were planned, and both of them would be assigned to the South Sea Fleet.

The first of the two hulls was laid down on February 3rd, 1981 at the No.5 "battleship drydock" of the Songsu-do Naval Yard. Her hull was launched from the drydock on August 19th, 1985. While the original work schedule called for her successor, Sŭngri, to be laid down in the same drydock following her launch, economic instability and the urgent needs of the Second Emergency Shipbuilding Program meant that Sŭngri was cancelled.

The economic hardship of the Ryŏ Ho-jun era also interfered in Haebang's own fitting-out. Because Dayashina was seen as the most urgent threat, naval construction work prioritized surface combatants, such as the Chŏndong-class destroyers, and submarines. Work on the Haebang had all but stopped in 1987, and was slow to start up again after the Decembrist Revolution. Despite concerns from some moderates that an such an offensive weapon would undercut efforts to patch relations with Dayashina, Choe Sŭng-min insisted that Songsu-do complete work on the aicraft carrier. Haebang was finally commissioned on June 3rd, 1990, three years behind schedule and considerably over budget.

Service

Even after her long delays in construction and fitting-out, Haebang saw continued problems. Her first few years of service amounted to an extended sea trial period, as the Navy trained pilots in carrier operations and air crew in at-sea servicing. The ship also had a number of maintenance issues during its breaking-in, including problems with the electronic flight command system.