ROKS Gyeongbuk (FF-956)

For other ships with the same name, see ROKS Gyeongbuk.

ROKS Gyeongbuk (FF-956) is the fifth ship of the Ulsan-class frigate in the Republic of Korea Navy. She is named after the province, Gyeongbuk.

ROKS Gyeongbuk in San Diego on 1 June 1992
History
South Korea
Name	Gyeongbuk (경북)
Namesake	Gyeongbuk
Builder	Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Launched	15 January 1986
Commissioned	30 May 1986
Recommissioned	24 December 2019
Identification	Hull number: FF-956
Status	Decommissioned
General characteristics
Class & type	Ulsan-class frigate
Displacement	1,500 tonnes (1,476 long tons) light 2,215 tonnes (2,180 long tons) full load
Length	103.7 m (340 ft 3 in)
Beam	12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Draught	3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	CODOG 2 x General Electric LM-2500 2 x MTU 12V 956 TB82
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	186 (16 officers)
Sensors & processing systems	Signaal DA-08 air surveillance radar AN/SPS-10C navigation radar ST-1802 fire control radar Signaal PHS-32 hull-mounted sonar TB-261K towed sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	ULQ-11K ESM/ECM suite 2 x Mark 36 SRBOC 6-tubed chaff/flare launcher 2 x 15-tube SLQ-261 torpedo acoustic countermeasures
Armament	8 × Harpoon (2 quadruple launchers) anti-ship missile 6 × 324 mm (12.8 in) Blue Shark torpedo (2 triple tubes) 2 × Otobreda 76 mm (3 in)/62 cal. gun 3 × Otobreda 40 mm (1.6 in)/70 cal. (2 twin) compact CIWS

Development

Main article: Ulsan-class frigate

In the early 1990s, the Korean government plan for the construction of next generation coastal ships named Frigate 2000 was scrapped due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. But the decommissioning of the Gearing-class destroyers and the aging fleet of Ulsan-class frigates, the plan was revived as the Future Frigate eXperimental, also known as FFX in the early 2000s.

10 ships were launched and commissioned from 1980 to 1993. They have 3 different variants which consists of Flight I, Flight II and Flight III.^[1]

Construction and career

ROKS Gyeongbuk was launched on 15 January 1986 by Daewoo Shipbuilding and commissioned on 30 May 1986.

She was decommissioned on 24 December 2019 and expected to be used as in training exercises.^[2]