Hasŏ Class Large Anti-Submarine Patrol Ship (DChD)
DChD-07 Chŏllo
DChD-07 Chŏllo, the second ship in the class, as she appeared at the start of the Second Pan-Septentrion War.
General Characteristics:
Type: Large Anti-Submarine Patrol Ship (
Daehyŏng Dae-Jamsuham Chogyeham, DChD)
Displacement: 26,200 tonnes (full)
Length: 211.1 meters overall, 195.7 meters at waterline
Beam: 30 meters overall, 27.5 meters at waterline
Draught: 7.5 meters to keel, 10.5 meters inc. sonar bulge (full load)
Propulsion: CODAG with integrated electric propulsion
- 2x LM2500+G4 gas turbine generator, 34,700 kWe each
- 2x Taesan T16J diesel generator, 8,000 kWe each
- 4x Samsan 8EY26ALW diesel generator, 3,450 kWe each
- 2x 55,000 kW electric motor
Speed: 29.5 knots
Range: 13,000 nautical miles (24,000 km) at 16 knots
Complement:
- 52 officers
- 435 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems
- SMART-L MM/F air-search radar
- Thales NS100 air-search radar
- Nun-10 electro-optical sensor
- Ŭ-100D variable-depth sonar
- AN/SQR-19 towed sonar array
Electronic warfare and decoys:
- 4x Metturi EW suite
- 2x Baram-2 chaff/flare launcher
- 2x Manhwagyŏng-H torpedo countermeasure launcher
- 8x floating radar decoy ejector
Armament:
- Mark 41 vertical launching system (2x 8-cell self-defense-length module)
-- YDG-64 SAM, quadpacked
-- YDG-66 SAM, quadpacked
- 2x GBM-23/5 Bulkkot CIWS
- 2x2 350mm torpedo tube for YŎ-35/2 torpedo
- 8x GCh-75 12.7mm HMG (fitted for but not with)
Aircraft:
- 12x Gyundoan-Han GH-36N heavy ASW helicopter (pushrotor-driven)
- 3x Gyundoan-Han GH-28B medium AEW helicopter
- 2x Gyundoan-Han GH-28D search-and-rescue helicopter
Overview:
The Hasŏ-class cruisers are a group of three large helicopter carriers in service with the Menghean Navy. They are formally designated as "large anti-submarine patrol ships" (Menghean: 대형 대잠수함 초계함 / 大型對潛水艦哨戒艦,
Daehyŏng Daejamsuham Chogyeham), but in Anglian language literature they are typically referred to as cruisers or helicopter carriers due to their large air wing. They specialize in the anti-submarine role, with an advanced hull sonar and variable-depth sonar, and are also armed for self-defense against submarine-launched anti-ship missiles.
The unique design of the Hasŏ class makes a number of design compromises, all of which are entirely deliberate.
The enclosed superstructure allows seven additional helicopters to be carried, five inside the deck-level parking area and two on the lowered elevators, without resorting to deck spotting, which could complicate maintenance in the stormy, tropical waters where these ships were deemed likely to operate. The double-ended flight deck permits a higher sortie rate than a single large flight deck aft, especially when a third of the air wing is deployed; in this condition, standard procedure is to land helicopters on the aft deck and take off from the forward one, maximizing efficiency. A single, large flight deck would allow more helicopters to land or take off at once, but the Menghean Navy deemed that the double-ended style was adequate for constant-cycling ASW patrol operations.
The armament of the Hasŏ class is purely defensive. Four 350mm torpedo tubes are embedded in the stern; these fire the same YŎ-35/2 torpedo used by the ship's air wing. The starboard-side superstructure extension contains 16 self-defense-length Mk41 VLS cells in two 8-cell modules, and these are loaded with quadpacked YDG-64 or YDG-66 missile canisters for a total of 64 short-range surface-to-air missiles, a robust line of defense against anti-ship missiles launched from submarines or multirole aircraft. Two CIWS installations, one forward and one aft, provide 360-degree coverage. No other missile armament is carried. The Menghean Navy conceived of the Hasŏ-class ships as rear-area combatants, tasked with patrolling waters which are outside the reach of enemy carrier battle groups and land-based fighters but potentially infiltrated by enemy submarines. In this role, cruise missiles, heavy anti-ship missiles, and long-range surface-to-air missiles would be superfluous. Typically, a frigate in the ASW battle group remains near the Hasŏ-class ship to provide limited long-range SAM cover and fire rocket-deployed torpedoes.
In addition to conducting ASW patrols, the Hasŏ-class DChD is meant to serve as the flagship of an anti-submarine battle group typically comprised of itself, one destroyer, one frigate, 4-6 corvettes, two long-range acoustic surveillance ships, and one underway replenishment ship, which cycles back and forth between the patrol area and a friendly port, usually with one corvette as its escort. The DChD has onboard flag facilities to host the officer (usually a Rear Admiral) commanding the formation, and to coordinate anti-submarine operations over a wide area. It also has liquid UNREP delivery equipment to top off the fuel tanks of other corvettes in the formation, especially if they expended fuel pursuing a threat. For underway delivery of passengers and dry cargo, the Hasŏ-class DChD would rely on helicopter VERTREP, though most dry cargo replenishment would await the arrival of the dedicated replenishment ship.
Finally, the design of the Hasŏ-class DChD puts a significant emphasis on survivability. The hull is divided into nine watertight segments, each one separated from the next by a double-skinned bulkhead packed with fragment-absorbing material. The electric drive motors are split across two such compartments--one aft of the aft elevator, one aft of the forward elevator--so that the ship can cruise at half power if either compartment is damaged. The generator sets are even more dispersed: the diesel gensets are distributed across four compartments, with small emergency generators in two more, and the gas turbine generators are located in the superstructure, which also reduces the space reserved for exhaust and ventilation and leaves them entirely immune to flooding. The fully electric propulsion system also reduces the ship's acoustic signature, especially when only running the gas turbine generators in the superstructure. Five belts along the hull further mask machinery noise by deploying curtains of air bubbles, as do holes along the edges of the propeller blades.
Ships in the class:
All four Hasŏ-class cruisers are named for Menghean provinces. This is a new naming convention in the Menghean Navy, though it does echo the naming of the Chanjok Jachido-class cruisers, which were named for Menghean Semi-Autonomous Provinces. While the Chŏllo plain is divided into two provinces, North Chŏllo and South Chŏllo, the second ship in the class is simply named Chŏllo, in reference to the entire region.
When the Second Pan-Septentrion War broke out in April 2022, three Hasŏ-class cruisers were in service, and a fourth was being fitted out. All were built at the Songsu-do Naval Yard in the city of Gyŏngsan.
- DChD-06 Hasŏ: laid down 2016-02-17, launched 2017-12-06, commissioned 2019-12-19
- DChD-07 Chŏllo: laid down 2016-11-18, launched 2018-09-30, commissioned 2020-07-18
- DChD-08 Unsan: laid down 2017-12-09, launched 2019-11-04, commissioned 2021-09-18
- DChD-09 Songgang: laid down 2018-10-03, launched 2020-08-30, commissioning planned for late 2022