HTMS Chakri Naruebet (
Thai จักรีนฤเบศร, meaning "In honour of the
Chakri Dynasty"
[1]) is the flagship of the
Royal Thai Navy (RTN), and Thailand's first and only
aircraft carrier. Based on the
Spanish Navy's
Principe de Asturias-class design and constructed by Spanish shipbuilder
Bazán,
Chakri Naruebet was ordered in 1992, launched in 1996, and commissioned into the RTN in 1997.
The carrier is equipped with an air group of
V/STOL aircraft and helicopters, and was intended for patrols and force projection in Thai waters, disaster relief, and amphibious warfare support. However, a lack of funding brought on by the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis means that the carrier has spent much of her career docked at the
Sattahip naval base. The carrier has been deployed on several
disaster relief operations, although her other departures from port consist primarily of a single training day per month, and transportation of the
Royal Family of Thailand, leading to claims that the ship is merely an oversized
royal yacht.
Design
When
Typhoon Gay hit Thailand in 1989, the
Royal Thai Navy, as the main unit responsible for search and rescue missions, found that its ships and aircraft were unable to withstand the rough weather at sea.
[3] Moreover, the Royal Thai Navy needed a new, high-technology ship to modernize its fleet.
[3]
The original plan was to acquire a 7,800 ton vessel from
Bremer Vulcan, but the Thai government cancelled the contract on 22 July 1991.
[2] A new contract for a larger warship to be constructed at
Bazán's shipyard in
Ferrol, Spain, and was signed by the Thai and Spanish governments on 27 March 1992.
[2] The proposed vessel was based on the design of the
Spanish Navy aircraft carrier
Principe de Asturias, which in turn was based on the
United States Navy's
Sea Control Ship concept.
[4][5]
Chakri Naruebet (top) underway with the United States Navy
supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk, showing the size difference between the two ships.
Chakri Naruebet is the smallest aircraft carrier in operation in the world. She
displaces 11,486 tons at full load.
[1] The carrier is 164.1 metres (538 ft) long
between perpendiculars, and 182.65 metres (599.2 ft)
overall.
[1] She is 22.5 metres (74 ft) wide at the waterline, with a maximum
beam of 30.5 metres (100 ft), and a draught of 6.12 metres (20.1 ft).
[1] The warship has a ship's company of 62 officers, 393 sailors, and 146 aircrew.
[1] Up to 675 personnel can be transported; commonly soldiers of the
Royal Thai Marine Corps.
[1][6]
Chakri Naruebet is propelled by a
combined diesel or gas (CODOG) system.
[1] Each of the two, five-bladed propellers is connected to a Bazán-MTU 16V1163 TB83
diesel engine (providing 5,600 brake horsepower (4,200 kW), used for cruising speed), and a
General Electric LM2500 gas turbine (providing 22,125 shaft horsepower (16,499 kW), used to reach top speed for short periods).
[1] Chakri Naruebet has a maximum speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph), although she can only reach 17.2 knots (31.9 km/h; 19.8 mph) with the diesels alone.
[1] She has a maximum range of 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) with a constant speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), and 7,150 nautical miles (13,240 km; 8,230 mi) at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).
[1]
Armament and aircraft
Chakri Naruebet is fitted with two 0.5-inch machine guns, and three Matra Sadral sextuple surface-to-air missile launchers firing
Mistral missiles.
[2][6] The missile launchers were installed in 2001.
[2] The vessel is also
fitted for but not with an 8-cell Mark 41
Vertical launch system for
Sea Sparrow missiles, and four
Phalanx close-in weapon systems.
[5]
The carrier's standard air group consists of six to eight
AV-8S Matador V/STOL aircraft (an export version of the
Harrier acquired secondhand from the
Spanish Navy) and four to six
S-70B Seahawk helicopters.
[1][4][6] By 1999, only one Matador was operable.
[7] Chakri Naruebet is also capable of carrying up to fourteen additional helicopters; a mix of
Sikorsky Sea King,
Sikorsky S-76, and
CH-47 Chinook.
[1] There is only enough hangar space for ten aircraft.
[2][6]
The
flight deck measures 174.6 by 27.5 metres (573 by 90 ft).
[2] A 12°
ski-jump is fitted to assist the Matadors in taking off.
[2] There are two aircraft lifts, each capable of lifting 20 tons.
[2]
Sensors and countermeasures
The sensor suite of
Chakri Narebet consists of a Hughes SPS-52C air search radar on the E/F band, and two 2 x Kelvin-Hughes 1007 navigational radars.
[2] There are provisions to install an SPS-64 surface search radar and a hull-mounted sonar, but neither has been fitted as of 2008.
[2][6] Fire control facilities are also yet to be fitted.
[2]
The carrier is equipped with four SBROC decoy launchers, and an SLQ-32 towed decoy
[6]
Construction
Work on the Thai carrier commenced in October 1993, although it was not until 12 July 1994 that the hull was laid down.
[2][5] Chakri Naruebet was launched on 20 January 1996
[5] by
Queen Sirikit.
Sea trials were conducted from October 1996 to January 1997, the latter part of which was in coordination with the Spanish Navy.
[2][5] This was followed by aviation trials at
Rota, Spain.
[2] The carrier was handed over on 27 March 1997, when she was commissioned into the RTN.
[1][2] She arrived in Thai waters at the start of August 1997, and formally entered service on 10 August.
[5]
Chakri Naruebet cost US$336 million to build.
[7]
Role and operational history
Chakri Naruebet is the first aircraft carrier to be operated by a
South East Asian nation.
[5] She is assigned to the
Third Naval Area Command, and her intended duties include operational support of the RTN's amphibious warfare forces, patrols and force projection around Thailand's coastline and
economic exclusion zone,
disaster relief and humanitarian missions, and search-and-rescue operations.
[1][2][4][5][7] However, at the time the carrier entered service, the
1997 Asian Financial Crisis prevented the necessary funding to operate the ship from being available.
[5][7] The limited defensive armament compounded the problem; consequently,
Chakri Naruebet is usually only operational for a single day per month for training, with the rest of the time spent alongside as a "part-time tourist attraction".
[1][5][7] The ship rarely leaves the proximity of the
Sattahip naval base, and when she does, it is usually to transport and host the
Royal Family of Thailand.
[1][5] Naval commentators consider
Chakri Naruebet to be less an aircraft carrier and more the world's most expensive
royal yacht, while the Thai media have nicknamed the ship "Thai-tanic", and consider her to be a
white elephant.
[5][7]
Stern view of
Chakri Naruebet Between 4 and 7 November 1997,
Chakri Naruebet participated in disaster relief operations following the passage of
Tropical Storm Linda across the
Gulf of Thailand and the
Kra Isthmus.
[8] The carrier's main task was to search for and assist any fishing vessels affected by the storm.
[8]
Flooding in the
Songkhla Province resulted in the carrier's mobilisation in late November 2000.
[8] Chakri Naruebet was anchored at an island marina off Songkhla, and used as a base for helicopters and small boats transporting food, supplies, and wounded.
[8]
In January 2003,
anti-Thai riots were sparked in
Phnom Penh by incorrect news reports of a claim by a Thai actress that the
Angkor Wat temple complex belonged to Thailand, not Cambodia.
Chakri Naruebet was sent to help with any evacuation of Thai citizens from Cambodia.
[clarification needed][8]
Following an
undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean,
tsunamis struck multiple regions around the Indian Ocean, including the
Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. The personnel of
Chakri Naruebet were part of a 760-strong response by the Thai military to the disaster.
[8] This task force was involved in search-and-rescue around
Phuket and the
Phi Phi Islands, treatment of wounded and handling of dead, and repair work to schools and government facilities.
[8]
During the August 2005 filming of
Rescue Dawn, a dramatised
biographical film of US Navy pilot
Dieter Dengler and his capture during the Vietnam War, the flight deck of
Chakri Naruebet was used to represent the carrier
USS Ranger.
[citation needed]
In 2010, it was involved in flood relief.
[9]
