Pohang is nameship of the Pohang-class general purpose corvettes built for the Republic of Korea Navy. She is named after the city of Pohang in the province of North Gyeongsang. She was built by Daehan Shipbuilding Corporation (Now Hanjin Heavy Industries) in Busan. Construction began on 4 May 1982, she was launched on 7 February 1984, and commissioned on 18 December 1984.
The Pohang class corvettes displaced 1178 tons. The Flight II vessels (of which Pohang is one) were fitted with one 76mm OTO Melara gun, two twin 30mm guns, two Exocet SSMs, two triple Mk32 ASW torpedo tubes, and two depth charge racks. From 2000 limited air-defense was also provided by Mistral SAMs They had a two-shaft CODOG propulsion system, with an LM2500 gas turbine, and two MTU diesels giving a maximum speed of 32 knots. 24 Pohang class corvettes were built, and while they have largely been withdrawn from Korean service, a number have been transferred as military aid to the Philippines, Peru, Colombia, Egypt, Vietnam and Indonesia.
For many years, the Pohang-class corvettes formed the backbone of the ROKN littoral fleet, primarily tasked with coastal patrol and maritime border enforcement. Pohang is credited with conducting over 2,500 combat and patrol missions over 8,951 days. In 1986 Pohang sank an armed North Korean vessel when it ignored warnings after crossing the Northern Limit Line in the East Sea/Sea of Japan.
On 24 June 1987 a sisterhood relationship was established between ROKS Pohang, and Pohang City.
Of Pohang’s 21 Captains, four subsequently became admirals, including two who became operational commanders (i.e. Vice Admirals) - Yun Yeon (2nd captain) and Park Jung-hwa (6th captain).
During her service, Pohang was awarded 21 Unit Citations, 6 Commander’s Commendations and 2 Minister of Defence Commendations.
Pohang decommissioned at Jinhae on 30 June 2009, and on 12 June 2010 opened to the public as a museum ship at the Pohang Ship Experience Center, in the city of Pohang.
Image and write-up courtesy of David Chessum
