Royal Thai Navy gets custody of ‘HTMS Chang’, its new China-made warship
The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) on Wednesday organised a ceremony to take custody of its new landing platform dock, "HTMS Chang”, from China.
Navy chief of staff Admiral Thaloengsak Sirisawat ceremony presided over the function at Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding in Shanghai.
Thailand's third HTMS Chang replaces its second landing platform dock of the same name. The name of the warship is derived from an island in Trat province. The order was placed in September 2019.
The second HTMS Chang, also known as USS Lincoln County, was decommissioned in 2005, 43 years after the United States Navy transferred the ship to the Thai government on August 31, 1962.
The Thai Navy sank the second HTMS Chang at Hin Luk Bat diving site in Trat on November 28, 2012, under a project to recover marine resources there.
This move is also in line with the Navy’s 20-year strategy (2017-2036) to procure four landing platform docks to be used in operations, such as amphibious warfare, marine rescue and disaster relief.
“The Royal Thai Navy has to procure more landing platform docks in order to maximise operational efficiency," it said.
The third HTMS Chang, 213 metres long and 28 metres at the beam, has maximum displacement of 20,003 tonnes and a speed of 25 knots. The ship can tolerate choppy seas and can accommodate 600 officers. Built at a cost of 6.1 billion baht, the ship will be commissioned at Royal Thai Fleet in Chonburi province.
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