Tapi-class corvette

Last updated
Royal Thai Navy corvette Tapi (5) underway in the Gulf of Siam, in 1983.jpg
HTMS Tapi (5) in 1983
Class overview
NameTapi class
BuildersAmerican Shipbuilding Co / Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Co, both USA
OperatorsFlag of the Royal Thai Navy.svg  Royal Thai Navy
Built1970–1974
In commission1971–present
Completed2
Active1
Retired1
General characteristics Following 1980s refit and rearmament [1]
Type Corvette
Displacement
  • 885 long tons (899 t) standard
  • 1,172 long tons (1,191 t) full load
Length275 ft (83.8 m)
Beam33 ft (10.1 m)
Draft14 ft 1 in (4.3 m) (sonar dome)
Propulsion
  • 2× Fairbanks-Morse 38TD8-1/8-9 diesel engines, 2 shafts
  • 5,250 hp (3,910 kW)
Speed20  kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Range2,400  nmi (2,800 mi; 4,400 km) at 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement15 officers, 120 enlisted
Sensors &
processing systems
  • Radar:
  • Signaal LW04 Air/surface search
  • Raytheon SPS-53E surface search
  • Signaal WM-22-61 fire control
  • Sonar:
  • Atlas Elektronik DSQS-21C hull-mounted, medium frequency active search/attack
Armament

Tapi-class corvettes are a class of two corvettes that were built for the Royal Thai Navy in the early 1970s.

Contents

Design and construction

In 1969, Thailand ordered from the United States a single small PF 103-class frigate, of which four examples, the Bayandor class, had been built for Iran in the 1960s, with a second example being ordered in 1971. For procurement purposes, they were allocated the US Navy hull numbers PF 107 and PF 108. [2]

As built, single 3 inch/50 calibre Mk 34 automatic anti-aircraft guns were mounted fore and aft, [2] each capable of firing 6.8 kg (15 lb) shells to a range of 13,400 m (14,600 yd) at a rate of 45 rounds per minute, [3] backed up by a twin Bofors 40mm/L60 mount. Two triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes for anti-submarine torpedoes and a Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar comprised the ships' anti-submarine armament. [2] AN/SPS-6 air-search radar and SQS-17 sonar comprised the ships' sensor suite. [2]

Operational history

The first ship, Tapi, was commissioned on 19 November 1971, with the second ship, Khirirat, following on 10 August 1974. [1] Both ships were modernised during the 1980s, with the US 3-inch guns being replaced by a rapid fire OTO Melara 76 mm gun forward, and a Bofors 40mm/70 gun aft, with two single 20 mm cannon replaced the existing twin Bofors mount. The obsolete Hedgehog was removed, and the ships were fitted with new radar and sonar systems. [2] [1]

As of 2002, they were used for patrolling Thailand's Exclusive economic zone. [1]

Units

Pennant
number
NameBuilderLaid Down [4] Launched [4] Commissioned [4]
5
(later 431)
Tapi American SB Co, Toledo, Ohio 1 April 197017 October 19701 November 1971
6
(later 432)
Khirirat Norfolk SB18 February 19722 June 197310 August 1974

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Saunders 2002, p. 708.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gardiner and Chumbley 1995, p. 462.
  3. Friedman 1997, p. 463.
  4. 1 2 3 Baker 1998, pp. 870–871.

Sources