Megi-class submarine

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INS Shishumar enters Port of Duqm Oman.jpg
Aengmujogae visiting Karala, Qusayn, in 2008
Class overview
Builders:
Operators: Menghe
Preceded by: Plan 358 class
Succeeded by: Bung'ŏ-class submarine
Built: 1991-2002
In commission: 1995-present
Planned: 6
Completed: 6
Active: 6
General characteristics
Type: Attack submarine
Displacement:
  • 1,680 tons surfaced
  • 1,880 tons submerged
Length: 65.2 m overall
Beam: 6.5 m
Draught: 6 m (surfaced)
Propulsion:
  • 4 × MTU Type 8V396 SE diesel engines, 2400 hp each
  • 1 × Siemens electric motor, 4,600 hp
  • 7-bladed propeller
Speed:
  • 11 knots surfaced
  • 21 knots submerged
Range:
  • 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) at 10 knots, surfaced
  • 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 8 knots, snorkeling
Endurance: 50 days
Test depth: 500 m
Complement:
  • 8 officers
  • 32 enlisted crew
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Atlas Elektronik CSU 83 sonar
  • Thomson Sintra DUUX-5 passive sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
JJ-13 ESM antenna
Armament:
  • 8 × 533mm torpedo tube
  • 14 torpedoes, OR
  • 28 mines

The Megi class are a group of six specially-modified Type 209 submarines built for the Menghean Navy. The first two were built in Eisenmaat, and the remaining four were built at the Gyŏngsan Songsu-do Naval Yard in Menghe. The design is based on the Type 209/1400, but with a lengthened forward hull to fit Menghean 533mm torpedoes, which are longer than the standard torpedo models used in Eisenmaat.

History

The Democratic People's Republic of Menghe built a number of large diesel-electric submarines, derived from the Letnian Romeo class. Following the Decembrist Revolution, the new Menghean government sought a new foreign supplier for its next submarine family, as the Romeos and their domestically built successors were noisy and unreliable. Representatives of the Menghean Navy contacted shipbuilders in Eisenmaat and Letnia in 1989, and eventually selected a custom modified variant of the Type 209 class.

Under the agreement signed between Menghe and Eisenmaat, the first two boats were laid down in Eisenmaat in 1991, and would be built there according to Menghean custom specifications. The next four would be built in Menghe, using a mix of proprietary parts shipped from Eisenmaat and local components manufactured in Menghe.

Armament

Each Megi-class submarine is armed with eight 533mm torpedo tubes and can carry 14 torpedoes. These are Menghean-type torpedoes, with a maximum length of 7.9 meters. Each torpedo can be replaced with two mines for a minelaying mission; these are deployed through the torpedo tube.

Refits

Over the course of the 2010s, all of Menghe's Megi-class submarines went through mid-life refits. The modifications included the ability to fire the YDH-26J anti-ship missile from a torpedo-tube canister. Compatibility with the longer-range YDH-28 was apparently not included. The boats also received new electronics, sensors, and communication systems.

Boats in the class

The Megi class were the first Menghean submarines to be named after maritime life, in accordance with the Navy's new naming scheme. Previous Menghean submarines, all the way back to the Pan-Septentrion War, had only been given hull numbers.

Name Meaning Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Status
Megi Catfish Grentz Werft 102 1991 Mar 07 1993 Apr 24 1995 Oct 23 In service
Aengmujogae Nautilus Grentz Werft 102 1991 Oct 21 1993 Aug 11 1995 Nov 15 In service
Gamojing'ŏ Cuttlefish Gyŏngsan 1994 Feb 23 1996 Apr 19 1998 Oct 11 In service
Myŏlchi Anchovy Gyŏngsan 1994 May 06 1997 Feb 01 1999 Apr 09 In service
Mikkuraji Mudfish Gyŏngsan 1996 Apr 24 1998 Nov 10 2000 Jan 15 In service
Nalchi Flying Fish Gyŏngsan 1998 Feb 05 2000 Apr 18 2002 Jul 19 In service