Daejŏng-class destroyer

File:DD Daejong.png The Daejŏng as she appeared after her 130mm guns were fitted, but before the installation of bracing frames around the B and X mounts.
Class overview
Name:	Daejŏng-class destroyer
Operators:	Greater Menghean Empire
Preceded by:	Jindo-class destroyer
Succeeded by:	Paengsŏng-class destroyer
Built:	1929-1933
In service:	1931-1945
Planned:	24
Completed:	16
Cancelled:	8
Lost:	11
Retired:	5
General characteristics Sŏnbong, 1933
Type:	Destroyer
Displacement:	1,470 tonnes standard 1,880 tonnes full load
Length:	111.2 m at waterline 113.1 m overall
Beam:	10.1 m
Draught:	3.94 m (normal)
Propulsion:	2 steam turbines, 38,000 shp total 3 three-drum boilers 2 shafts
Speed:	36 knots
Range:	2,500 nm (4,630 km) at 15 knots
Complement:	227
Armament:	4 × 130mm L/55 Type 32 naval gun 4 × 12.5mm machine gun 2 × 3 550mm trainable torpedo tube depth charges

The Daejŏng-class destroyers (Menghean: 대정급 구축함 / 大靜級驅逐艦, Daejŏng-gŭb Guchugham were a group of 16 destroyers built in the Greater Menghean Empire during the early 1930s. They were known to the Allies as the Tai Chohng class. Intended to double as anti-destroyer escorts and fleet scouts, they carried the powerful 130mm L/55 Type 32 naval gun, but in hand-cranked low-angle mounts which were not capable of anti-aircraft fire. By the outbreak of the Pan-Septentrion War they were still potent surface combatants, but the newer Sŏnsan and Imsil-class destroyers had surpassed them in most respects.

Background

The Daejŏng-class destroyers emerged from an ambitious naval expansion plan which the Imperial Menghean Navy drew up in 1927 in response to an order from Kwon Chong-hoon's government. At this time, signatories to the Septentrion Nine-Power Naval Treaty were temporarily forbidden from building capital ships, but there were no limitations on the number or capabilities of ships displacing under 12,000 tonnes. Given its expectation that its wars would be fought relatively close to home, the Imperial Menghean Navy saw this as a way to balance the superior capital ship fleets of the other major powers by building a large number of relatively light combatants, including destroyers.

After a laborious design process, the first Daejŏng-class destroyer was laid down in 1929. Under the initial design plans, she was to carry a new 125mm L/50 gun based on the Type 10 used by the Gijang-class cruisers. In total, the Navy anticipated an ambitious production run of 24 ships, four more than the preceding Jindo-class.

The amendments made to the Nine-Power Naval Treaty in 1930 disrupted the IMN's calculations by imposing limits on both the aggregate tonnage of destroyers and the capabilities individual destroyers could have. While the Daejŏng's designers had originally anticipated that they could work with superior numbers, they now faced the need to maximize each ship's combat capabilities, in the hopes that the Daejŏng could be used to hunt and kill enemy destroyers. As part of this requirement, the Navy ordered work on a new naval gun which would gain the maximum feasible capability from the 130mm caliber limit for destroyers, a program which would materialize as the 130mm L/55 Type 32 naval gun.

As the new weapon was not in service until 1932, the first four ships in the Daejŏng class were commissioned without their main armament, much to the chagrin of Kwon Chong-hoon and the other ruling nationalists. Even after the new guns were delivered, firing trials revealed that the superfiring mounts' heavy recoil caused damage to the superstructure, necessitating external bracing on completed ships and additional internal bracing on ships still under construction.

Design

The Daejŏng-class destroyers were built around a main armament consisting of four 130mm guns in manually cranked "N-type" mounts with protective shields. Both in caliber and number of barrels, this was a major advance over the preceding Jindo-class destroyer, which carried three 100mm L/45 guns. At 140 kilograms, the weight of the Daejŏng's broadside was nearly three times as high as that of the Jindo's, and in spite of a 30-degree maximum elevation its shells could travel out to a much greater range. Even more importantly, they could penetrate 3 inches of horizontal armor at a range of 9 kilometers, presenting a very real threat to enemy light cruisers.

In torpedo armament, the Daejŏngs brought a 50% increase over the Jindo-class, with two triple mounts rather than two twin ones. These fired the same 550mm torpedoes used by contemporary Menghean destroyers. The increase is somewhat misleading, however, as the Daejŏngs lacked shipboard torpedo reloads. Their designers conceived of them primarily as anti-destroyer and anti-cruiser platforms, in the hopes that attacks on capital ships could be left to more expendable light craft.

Anti-aircraft armament was characteristically light for a destroyer of the early 1930s, and consisted of four water-cooled 12.5mm machine guns on mounts arranged around the superstructure. The main guns could not elevate high enough to target aircraft, nor could they traverse fast enough to track them effectively. Timed-fuse anti-aircraft shells were later developed for the 130mm L/55 Type 32, but they were never provided to Daejŏng-class destroyers.

Propulsion came from three water-tube boilers grouped under two funnels. These provided steam to two geared turbines, each driving a single propeller shaft, for a total of 38,000 shp at full power. As a result of their higher displacement, however, the Daejŏngs were actually slightly slower than their predecessors, with a still-respectable top speed of 36 knots. Travel range was cited as 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 kilometers) at 15 knots, lower than most contemporary destroyers, as the designers anticipated that they would fight close to friendly waters and traded fuel space for traits that would improve combat effectiveness.

Ships in class

In keeping with tradition, the Daejŏng-class destroyers were named after Menghean counties. Sixteen were built in all, with subsequent ships cancelled in favor of newer destroyer classes.

Name	Mengja	Laid down	Commissioned	Fate
Daejŏng	大靜	1929	1931
Hanrim	翰林	1929	1931
Tongjin	通津	1929	1931
Jŏngsŏn	旌善	1929	1931
Sŏchŏn	舒川	1929	1931
Goryung	高隆	1929	1931
Sanggyŏng	上境	1930	1932
Ansa	安沙	1930	1932
Danggang	唐江	1930	1932
Daepyŏng	大坪	1930	1932
Jangha	莊河	1930	1932
Sŏnggwan	城關	1930	1932
Pungjang	豐莊	1931	1933
Injŏm	任店	1931	1933
Jŏnggwan	鼎冠	1931	1933
Sŏnbong	先鋒	1931	1933

See also

• Gijang-class cruiser
• Taean-class cruiser