Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Yono class |
Builders | Yukdaeso-ri Naval Shipyards [1] |
Operators | Korean People's Army Naval Force |
Preceded by | Yugoclass |
In service | 1965–present |
In commission | 10 |
Building | 36 |
Completed | 36 |
Active | <36 (most in reserve) |
General characteristics | |
Type | Midget submarine |
Displacement |
|
Length | 20–22 m (65 ft 7 in – 72 ft 2 in) |
Beam | 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) |
Draught | 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) |
Propulsion | Single-shaft MTU diesel engine with electric drive |
Speed |
|
Range |
|
Complement | 2 + 6 or 7 special forces personnel |
Armament |
|
The Yono-class submarine (occasionally confused with Yugo-class) is a class of North Korean miniature submarines, produced for domestic use as well as for export. Also referred to as the Yeono class, [3] these submarines displace 130 tons, significantly less than North Korea's larger 1,800-ton Romeo-class submarines. [4] As of May 2010, North Korea is reported to operate ten of these submarines. [4]
The Yono-class submarine was first created in 1965. [5]
A Yono-class submarine is thought to have fired the torpedo attack which sank a South Korean Pohang-classcorvette, ROKS Cheonan on 26 March 2010 in South Korean waters. [6] According to some investigators, the weapon used in the attack was a North Korean-manufactured CHT-02D torpedo, from which substantial propulsion parts were recovered. The device allegedly exploded not by contact, but by proximity 6 to 9 metres (20 to 30 ft) below Cheonan, creating a powerful pillar of water, called the bubble jet effect. [7]
High ranking North Korean military officials denounced the international investigation and said the North does not have the type of submarines that supposedly carried out the attack. They also dismissed claims regarding writings on the torpedo and clarified that "when we put serial numbers on weapons, we engrave them with machines." South Korea's Yonhap News quoted South Korean officials as saying the North has about ten of the Yeono-class submarines. [8]
A member of the North Korean cabinet who defected to South Korea in 2011, said on 7 December 2012 that the crew of the North Korean submarine which sank Cheonan had been honored by the North Korean military and government. The defector, known by the alias "Ahn Cheol-nam", stated that the captain, co-captain, engineer, and boatswain of the mini-sub which sank Cheonan had been awarded "Hero of the DPRK" in October 2010. [9]
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a fish. The term torpedo originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called mines. From about 1900, torpedo has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device.
S-13 was a Stalinets-class submarine of the Soviet Navy. Her keel was laid down by Krasnoye Sormovo in Gorky on 19 October 1938. She was launched on 25 April 1939 and commissioned on 31 July 1941 in the Baltic Fleet, under the command of Captain Pavel Malantyenko. The submarine is best known for the 1945 sinking of Wilhelm Gustloff, a German military transport ship/converted cruise ship. With a career total of 44,701 GRT sunk or damaged, she is the highest-scoring Soviet submarine in history.
Submarine warfare is one of the four divisions of underwater warfare, the others being anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare and mine countermeasures.
A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched and recovered and which provide living accommodation for the crew and support staff.
USS Segundo (SS-398) was a Balao-class submarine, of the United States Navy named for the segundo, a cavalla fish of Caribbean waters.
I-29, code-named Matsu, was a B1 type submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy used during World War II on two secret missions with Germany. She was sunk while returning from the second mission.
I-19 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which damaged and destroyed several enemy ships during World War II while serving in the Imperial Japanese Navy. During the Guadalcanal Campaign, with a single torpedo salvo, the submarine sank the aircraft carrier USS Wasp and the destroyer USS O'Brien and damaged the battleship USS North Carolina.
German submarine U-124 was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during World War II. She operated in the Atlantic as part of the 2nd U-boat flotilla, both west of Scotland and east of the eastern US coast. She was also present off northern South America.
The Type 209 is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed exclusively for export by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Germany. The original variant was designed in the late 1960s. The class is exclusively designed for export market. Despite not being operated by the German Navy, five variants of the class have been successfully exported to 13 countries, with 61 submarines being built and commissioned between 1971 and 2008.
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The Republic of Korea Navy was founded on November 11, 1945 as Marine Defense Group after Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan. The ROK Navy is the oldest service within the ROK Armed Forces. In 2015, the South Korean navy celebrated its 70th anniversary.
The Pohang-class PCC is the low-end complement of the high-low mix domestic naval construction plan of the Republic of Korea Navy under the 1st Yulgok Project (1974-1986) for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. It was originally planned as a Batch II production of Donghae-class corvette, but many changes on overall design, notably applying the hull design of Ulsan-class frigate, reclassified the ship to its own class. The ship is designed for patrolling maritime border, including the Northern Limit Line, protecting the littoral zone, and combating the North Korean vessels.
Events in the year 2010 in South Korea.
The ROKS Cheonan sinking occurred on 26 March 2010, when Cheonan, a Pohang-class corvette of the Republic of Korea Navy, carrying 104 personnel, sank off the country's west coast near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 seamen. The cause of the sinking remains in dispute, although evidence points to North Korea.
ROKS Cheonan (PCC-772) was a Pohang-class corvette of the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), commissioned in 1989. On 26 March 2010, she broke in two and sank near the sea border with North Korea, killing 46 sailors. An investigation conducted by an international team of experts from South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Sweden concluded that Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo launched by a North Korean Yeono-class miniature submarine.
When the South Korea-led international investigation's report on the sinking was released on 20 May 2010 there was international condemnation of the North's actions. China was an exception as they simply termed the incident "unfortunate" and "urged stability on the peninsula." This was speculated to be China's concern for instability on the Korean peninsula. Christian Oliver stated in The Financial Times that South Korea needs to explain why its navy started shooting northwards immediately, thus risking starting a war, and give reassurance on the competence of predominantly conscript forces.
The Korean People's Army Naval Force or the Korean People's Navy (KPN), is the naval service branch of the Korean People's Army, which contains each branch of the North Korean armed forces.
The Torpedo Alley, or Torpedo Junction, off North Carolina, is one of the graveyards of the Atlantic Ocean, named for the high number of attacks on Allied shipping by German U-boats in World War II. Almost 400 ships were sunk, mostly during the Second Happy Time in 1942, and over 5,000 people were killed, many of whom were civilians and merchant marines. Torpedo Alley encompassed the area surrounding the Outer Banks, including Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras.
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