The name of the 7th new escort ship is Cheonanham

Moon Attends West Sea Defense Day Ceremony and Announces
Navy Finalizes Ship Naming at Naming Committee Meeting

President Moon Jae-in delivers a commemorative speech at the 6th West Sea Defense Day ceremony held on the afternoon of the 26th at the Cheonjabong and Nojeokbong ships of the Navy 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] The Cheonanham will be revived as a new-class frigate.

President Moon Jae-in said on the 26th, "The Navy decided yesterday to name the new-class frigate that will patrol the West Sea from 2023 as ‘Cheonanham’," adding, "It will be brilliantly revived, embodying the fighting spirit of the ‘Cheonanham’ heroes and surviving soldiers."

President Moon made this statement while attending the ‘West Sea Defense Day’ commemorative ceremony held at the Navy 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek in the afternoon, mourning the West Sea defense warriors who gave their lives protecting the homeland at sea.

This measure is reported to have been directed by former Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo, who actively accepted the wishes of the Cheonanham bereaved families and related organizations to review the naming of the Cheonanham.

In the past, patrol ships were named after small and medium-sized cities such as Cheonanham, Jinhaeham, Gunsanham, and Donghaeham, but as patrol ships were phased out and frigates were constructed, the new-class frigates were named accordingly.

The Navy constructed 2,800-ton new-class frigates named Daeguham, Gyeonggiham, Seoulham, and Gangwonham respectively. At the end of 2018, it also signed a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to build the 6th and 7th new-class frigates.

To decide the ship names, the Navy held a Naming Committee meeting on the 25th and finally decided to name the 6th frigate Pohangham and the 7th frigate Cheonanham.

A Navy official said, “The 7th ship named Cheonanham will be deployed to the 2nd Fleet to carry on the spirit of the 46 Cheonanham heroes who died defending the West Sea NLL and to reaffirm the determination to not tolerate any provocations.”

In particular, the frigate (Batch-II) named Cheonanham is 122 meters long and has a maximum speed of 30 knots (55 km/h). It carries a crew of 120 and is equipped with a 5-inch naval gun, light torpedoes, long-range anti-submarine torpedoes, anti-ship guided missiles, anti-ship missile defense guided missiles, and a 20mm close-in weapon system.

The naming of Cheonanham was requested to the military by the Cheonanham Bereaved Families Association in 2018 and the Cheonanham Foundation in 2019. Former Deputy Minister of National Defense Lee Yong-geol also met with the Cheonan Citizen Countermeasures Committee in Cheonan, Chungnam, and received a petition urging the reconstruction of Cheonanham along with the ‘Cheonanham Reconstruction Pan-Citizen Signature Petition.’

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.