Taiwan’s First Upgraded And Modified Catamaran Corvette Started Sea Trial

Isa Khan · May 9, 2021

The second ship of the Republic of China (ROC) Navy’s Tuo Chiang class corvette, Ta Chiang (塔江，PGG-619) was spotted conducting sea trial on May 3.

Tso-Juei Hsu 09 May 2021
Taiwan's upgraded Tuo Chiang-class corvette, "Ta Chiang", started sea trial on May 3.

On March 9, 2021, a Taiwanese military magazine reported that a 76mm gun and 3D radar system are installed to the second Tuo Chiang-class corvette, Ta Chiang.

On April 21, an independent journalist based in Yilan, (where the shipbuilder Lungteh Shipbuilding is located) reported that Ta Chiang came out from the shipyard, and a STIR (Signal Tracking and Illumination Radar) fire control radar was installed in the top of the bridge of the ship.

On May 3, Ta Chiang was spotted conducting sea trial for the first time by the Taiwanese military magazine and the independent journalist. According to the reports, a captain of a local fishing ship operating near the water where Ta Chiang conducted trial on the day, said that the warship sailed at an extremely high speed: “It looked like a car moving at 120kms/h speed on the land if you watch it at a near distance”.

According to Lungteh Shipbuilding, The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes have a length of 60.4 meters, displacement of 685 tons, a range of 1,800 nautical miles, and a maximum speed of 43 knots.