The third Batch-1 3000t submarine was christened as Shin Chae-ho, followed by the first Dosan Ahn Chang-ho in 2018 and the second Ahn Moo in 2020. Like the previous two submarines, KSS Shin Chae-ho was also built indigenously based on Korean technology. The contract was first signed in 2016. The first two submarines were built by DSME.
Shin Chae-ho is the same Dosan Ahn Chang-ho-class that recently succeeded several SLBM launch tests, being capable of carrying 6 VLS launchers. After the launching ceremony of Shin Chae-ho, the Korean military officially acknowledged the fact that the class is able to load SLBMs.
The third Batch-1 submarine has the length of 83.5m, width of 9.6m, with the maximum speed of 20 knots (37 km/h), and around 50 crews. It features air-independent propulsion (AIP) system that enables the submarine to operate under the sea for weeks without snorkeling.
The ROK Navy christened its submarines by naming after historic figures who contributed to overcoming national maritime security crises, until the end of KSS-1 project (209-class submarines). For names of KSS-3 submarines, the Navy uses figures who contributed to Korean independence movements and the national growth after the liberation in 1945. The christening ceremony decided to call the third KSS Batch-1 submarine as Shin Chae-ho, who was a nationalist historian, a journalist, and an independence activist against the Japanese imperialism. The daughter-in-law and the great-grandson Ms. Deok-nam Lee and Mr. Jeong-yoon Shin attended the launching ceremony.
The ROK Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Seok-jong Boo said in his congratulatory remark:
“The importance of sea lines of communication (SLOC) lays in the vision of “Maritime Power Korea”, and building naval capabilities to ensure smooth activities at sea is a matter of national survival. I look forward that KSS Shin Chae-ho would play its role to the best as a key part of our Navy.”
The ROK Navy also commented:
“Launching of Shin Chae-ho is meaningful in the sense that we have now acquired another shipyard that can build the best diesel submarines in the world. Our capability to build submarines has been internationally recognized once more as HHI successfully built this submarine and the previous KSS Dosan Ahn Chang-ho and KSS Ahn Moo.”
The Vice Admiral Yong-kyu Jeon, also known as the Head of KSS Project Group of the DAPA showed high expectations, “KSS Shin Chae-ho that inherited Shin’s spirit of independence movement with a pen will now play a major role in our national security, by effectively responding to omnidirectional security threats based on the strategic weapons system that possesses security deterrence ability.”
KSS Shin Chae-ho will go through the period of sea trial and is scheduled to be delivered to the ROK Navy in 2024, when would be deployed at sea.
