Plan 215 corvette

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Plan 215 corvette
KYD Plan 215.png
Side view of KYD-107 two months after commissioning.
Class overview
Name: Plan 215 class
Builders:
  • Dongchŏn Naval Yard
  • Kimhae Naval Yard
  • Anchŏn Naval Yard
Operators:
Preceded by: none
Built: 1975-1996
In service: 1978-present
Completed: 52 (17 as Plan 216)
General characteristics (as built)
Type: guided missile corvette
Displacement:
  • 750 t (standard)
  • 810 t (full load)
Length:
  • 73.1 m (waterline)
  • 78.0 m (overall)
Beam: 8.2 m
Draft: 3.05 m
Propulsion:
  • 3-shaft CODOG
    • 2 × 15,000-shp gas turbine
    • 1 × 6,000-shp diesel engine
Speed: 34 knots
Range:
  • 1,600 nm (3000 km) at 14 knots
  • 10-day autonomy
Complement: 45 (7 officers, 38 enlisted)
Armament:
  • 4 × YDH-20 or YDH-22 AShM
  • 1 × AK-762 dual 76mm turret
  • 2 × AK-630 CIWS
  • 1 × YDG-34 SAM launcher
  • 80 mines

The Plan 215 corvette was a warship class built in the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe during the 1970s and 1980s. In the West they are generally classified as corvettes, though their official Menghean hull classification is Daehyŏng Yudotan Kwaesokham (대형 유도탄 쾌속전 / 大型誘導彈快速艇), or Large Fast Missile Craft. A total of 52 hulls were completed, 35 of them in the missile corvette configuration and 17 of them in a patrol boat configuration. During the 1990s, many were modernized with newer anti-ship missiles, though the type is still considered largely obsolete today.

Development

Beginning in 1968, Menghe license-built a large number of Osa-class missile boats as Plan 621 KY. While Menghean naval planners were impressed with the type's usefulness in fast sorties from coastal strongholds, eventually producing more than 120 in total, by 1970 there was already some concern over its limitations. It had an at-sea endurance of only 5 days, greatly limiting its sortie range. Once its four anti-ship missiles were expended, it also had little in the way of self-defense armament, leaving it vulnerable to attacks by other corvettes.

To correct these problems, the Menghean Navy began design work on a large missile boat incorporating more supporting systems and defensive weapons. An early prototype design, designated Plan 210, called for a semi-planing hullform with a new combined-gas-and-diesel powerplant, which would have resulted in a ship similar in configuration to Letnia's Tarantul-class corvettes. This was ultimately rejected in favor of the Plan 215 design, which used an older hullform resembling a scaled-down Jangmi-class corvette. The new design also borrowed the Jangmi's entire powerplant, though the sonar related systems were removed and the fuel capacity reduced, allowing for a smaller internal space.

Description

A Plan 215 corvette with YDH-22 anti-ship missiles in lengthened launch boxes.
KYD-114, the first Plan 215 corvette to be refitted with YDH-24 anti-ship missiles and the HR-280 surface search radar.

The Plan 215 corvette has the same main armament as the smaller Osa-class missile boat, with four large launch boxes for YDH-20 anti-ship missiles. From 1980 onward, new ships were modified to carry the YDH-22, a solid-fueled derivative of the YDH-20 with improved accuracy, reliability, and readiness. Refits carried out during the 1990s would re-arm most surviving ships with more advanced anti-ship missiles, including the subsonic YDH-24, the supersonic YDH-25, and the lightweight, subsonic YDH-26.

The Plan 215's main advantage over the Osa-class is its improved self-defense armament. Forward of the superstructure, it has two superfiring AK-630 CIWS turrets, both controlled by a single MR-123 radar over the bridge. These can target missiles, aircraft, and other light ships. Facing aft is an AK-726 twin-barrel turret, also with dual-purpose capability. Its rear-facing position allows the ship to engage pursuing warships while retreating after a missile strike. Just forward of the twin 76mm turret, on part of the superstructure, is a mounted launcher for YDG-34 surface-to-air missiles.

Curiously for a light missile craft, the Plan 215 has extensive mine rails on the quarterdeck, running all the way up to the space behind the missile boxes. It is estimated that as many as 80 mines can be carried at full load, though this would require removing the dinghy and likely leaving the missile tubes unloaded and it would most likely prevent safe usage of the missiles.

The powerplant is identical to that of the Project 159 frigates licensed from Letnia, apparently part of an effort to reduce development costs and speed up construction in factories tooled for work on the older class. This CODOG powerplant consists of two 15000-shp gas turbines and a single 6000-shp diesel engine for regular cruising. Because the Plan 215 is a lighter vessel, it is able to achieve a higher top speed on this powerplant, reportedly 34 knots; yet this is still slower than contemporary missile corvettes with semi-planing hullforms or lifting foils. Each engine powers a single propeller shaft, with the variable-pitch diesel propeller trailing in the water during gas turbine operation.

Plan 216 patrol ship

3-view of a Plan 216 patrol ship. Note the removal of the missile tubes, the wider superstructure, and the new bridge and lattice mast.

In 1991, five Plan 215 corvettes which had been under early-stage construction at the time of the Decembrist Revolution were completed to a modified configuration, later revealed to be designated Plan 216. These vessels were officially categorized as Medium Patrol Ships (중형 초계함 / 中型哨戒艦, Junghyŏng Chogyeham), and they served with the Maritime Border Security Force, a predecessor to today's Menghean Maritime Security Force. A dozen more new-build Plan 216 vessels were completed in the early 1990s, possibly as part of a program to keep the military shipyards operational.

The Plan 216 variant removes the missile boxes which flank the bridge, and replaces them with a large deckhouse structure extending out to either side of the deck. This reportedly contains berthing space for additional personnel and a brig for prisoners. The superstructure also follows a slightly different configuration, with a roomier bridge, squared-off side wings, and a lattice mast with a short-range surface-search radar only. Two motor-dinghies are carried, to aid in patrol and boarding operations. Typically these ships are not fitted with the dual YDG-34 launcher, though its base mounting plate is retained. Otherwise, the gun armament is identical across classes, and the mine rails are retained, reflecting the Menghean Navy's requirement that Maritime Border Security vessels be capable of being pressed into service in wartime.

Ships in the class

During the 1970s and 1980s, Menghean Navy ship naming customs held that fast attack craft (missile boats, torpedo boats, and small minesweepers) would be given unique numbers, but not names. As the Plan 215 ships were technically classified as large missile boats, they were initially given numbers as well, though numbering started in the 100s because they were a new type. To confuse Western and Dayashinese intelligence, the first ship was named KYD-107, implying the existence of at least six earlier hulls. Number assignment for the next several ships followed a random order.

In the mid-1990s, the Menghean Navy updated its ship naming conventions, stipulating that KYD-type ships would be named for distinguished individuals. The rules were retroactively applied to the Plan 215 corvettes from 1996 through 1998, with most of the ships still in service given names from an approved Navy register. Ships designated for scrapping or sale within the next few years were not named, and regular naming was not extended downward to smaller missile and torpedo craft.

Units with an asterisk (*) were completed in the Plan 216 patrol ship configuration. Some were given provisional KYD-type names while under construction, with conversion to the ChD type taking place before launching.

Name Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Status
On Hyŏn-gi (ex KYD-107) Dongchŏn 1975 Apr 10 1976 Dec 03 1978 Nov 13 In service
KYD-109 Dongchŏn 1975 Oct 04 1977 Apr 16 1979 Jun 07 Sold to Kawazi in 1992
KYD-102 Dongchŏn 1976 Dec 22 1978 Jul 23 1980 Mar 15 Sold to Kawazi in 1992
KYD-113 Kimhae 1977 Mar 14 1978 Nov 24 1980 Apr 14 Sold to Kawazi in 1993
Gil Gwan (ex KYD-105) Dongchŏn 1977 Apr 21 1978 Oct 18 1980 Sep 17 In service
Sŏ Min-gi (ex KYD-112) Kimhae 1977 Dec 18 1979 Jul 23 1981 Jan 06 In service
Hak Ya-gwang (ex KYD-126) Dongchŏn 1978 Jul 28 1980 Jan 26 1981 Nov 02 In service
Man Se-jin (ex KYD-104) Dongchŏn 1978 Oct 24 1980 May 04 1981 Nov 04 In service
Dam Jung-san (ex KYD-114) Kimhae 1978 Dec 29 1980 Aug 01 1982 Jan 11 In service
KYD-111 Dongchŏn 1979 Apr 13 1980 Nov 08 1982 Sep 22 Sold to Kawazi in 1994
Jong Yŏng-uk (ex KYD-116) Kimhae 1979 Jul 29 1981 Feb 04 1982 Sep 01 In service
Ban Yun-gi (ex KYD-119) Dongchŏn 1980 Feb 04 1981 Aug 05 1982 Dec 01 In service
Ya Jong-gyo (ex KYD-123) Dongchŏn 1980 Jun 17 1982 Jan 02 1982 Nov 16 In service
Pyo Ji-ung (ex KYD-106) Kimhae 1980 Aug 06 1982 Feb 15 1983 Aug 30 In service
Gyŏng Chang-min (ex KYD-103) Dongchŏn 1980 Nov 13 1982 Apr 21 1983 Jul 29 In service
Kim Ji-gwang (ex KYD-101) Kimhae 1981 Feb 17 1982 Aug 30 1983 Dec 17 In service
An Wu-hyŏng (ex KYD-108) Anchŏn 1981 May 24 1983 Jun 11 1985 Aug 09 In service
Si Jŏng-dae (ex KYD-118) Dongchŏn 1981 Aug 19 1983 Jan 26 1984 Apr 15 In service
Gyo Dan (ex KYD-117) Dongchŏn 1982 Jan 06 1985 Apr 29 1984 Nov 20 In service
Hwang Kae-pung (ex KYD-130) Kimhae 1982 Feb 19 1983 Aug 09 1984 Oct 06 In service
Hak Jae-jang (ex KYD-129) Dongchŏn 1982 Apr 26 1983 Sep 20 1985 Jan 15 In service
Ha Su-nŭng (ex KYD-122) Kimhae 1982 Sep 05 1983 Dec 03 1985 Apr 19 In service
Go Dong-ju (ex KYD-125) Dongchŏn 1983 Jan 21 1984 May 06 1985 Jul 30 In service
Gam Yun-gu (ex KYD-110) Dongchŏn 1983 May 01 1984 Jul 15 1985 Oct 06 In service
Hwang Ryŏng-jun (ex KYD-133) Anchŏn 1983 Jun 28 1985 Apr 19 1987 Mar 26 In service
Yun Gi-ha (ex KYD-131) Kimhae 1983 Aug 15 1984 Nov 05 1986 Jul 17 In service
Ryu Min-hyŏk (ex KYD-132) Dongchŏn 1983 Sep 24 1984 Dec 30 1986 Nov 05 In service
Wu Sang-hun (ex KYD-115) Kimhae 1983 Dec 08 1983 Mar 08 1986 Jul 24 In service
Sŏng Wŏn-yŏng (ex KYD-134) Dongchŏn 1984 May 17 1985 Nov 31 1987 Aug 28 In service
Sŏ Jae-ryong (ex KYD-121) Dongchŏn 1984 Jul 22 1986 Mar 08 1987 Dec 11 In service
Sin Hyŏn-ho (ex KYD-135) Kimhae 1984 Nov 08 1986 Sep 28 1988 Sep 03 In service
Han Chung-ji (ex KYD-136) Dongchŏn 1985 Jan 09 1986 Dec 06 1988 Nov 15 In service
Sin Yŏng-sam (ex KYD-137) Kimhae 1985 Mar 14 1986 Oct 25 1988 Dec 26 In service
ChJ-104* (ex KYD-137) Anchŏn 1985 May 02 1988 Mar 06 1991 Dec 11 In service
San Ha-ung (ex KYD-120) Dongchŏn 1985 Dec 08 1987 Sep 12 1990 Oct 17 In service
Byŏn Dae-in (ex KYD-124) Dongchŏn 1986 Mar 17 1988 Jan 13 1990 May 09 In service
ChJ-101* (ex KYD-127) Kimhae 1986 Oct 02 1988 Jun 08 1991 Jun 25 In service
ChJ-102* (ex KYD-128) Dongchŏn 1986 Dec 12 1988 Aug 11 1991 Sep 03 In service
ChJ-103* (ex KYD-140) Kimhae 1986 Oct 29 1988 Sep 21 1991 Dec 30 In service
ChJ-105* (ex KYD-139) Dongchŏn 1987 Sep 19 1990 Jan 09 1992 May 14 In service
ChJ-106* Anchŏn 1988 Mar 29 1990 Apr 13 1992 May 20 In service
ChJ-107* Dongchŏn 1988 May 12 1990 Jan 11 1992 Feb 14 In service
ChJ-108* Kimhae 1988 Aug 06 1990 Mar 26 1992 Mar 18 In service
ChJ-109* Dongchŏn 1990 Jan 16 1991 Aug 31 1992 Sep 29 In service
ChJ-110* Anchŏn 1990 Apr 22 1992 Mar 31 1993 Jun 19 In service
ChJ-111* Kimhae 1990 Apr 25 1992 Jan 16 1993 May 20 In service
ChJ-112* Dongchŏn 1991 May 06 1992 Dec 22 1994 Feb 15 In service
ChJ-113* Dongchŏn 1991 Sep 12 1993 Feb 09 1994 Jun 29 In service
ChJ-114* Kimhae 1992 Jan 24 1993 Jul 11 1994 Oct 24 In service
ChJ-115* Kimhae 1992 Oct 11 1994 Apr 04 1995 Jul 17 In service
ChJ-116* Dongchŏn 1993 Feb 18 1994 Oct 31 1996 Feb 14 In service
ChJ-117* Kimhae 1993 Jul 31 1995 Jan 06 1996 Mar 18 In service

Operators

See also