HTMS CHAKRI NARUEBET | จักรีนฤเบศร :
Southeast Asia’s Only Aircraft Carrier
The Chakri Naruebet is an aircraft/helicopter carrier of the Royal Thai Navy. It is the one and only in Southeast Asia and the smallest serving aircraft carrier in the world. It holds the distinction of the most technologically advanced vessel in the region.
Though an aircraft carrier in an Armed Forces may depict offensive warfare, the Chakri Naruebet was purchased mainly to modernize the Royal Thai Navy and for surveillance for Thailand’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In fact, the anti-aircraft missile systems were never installed and the Chakri Naruebet is rarely put to sea. Starting up its engine alone costs US$4,000 already.
In time of war (which I don’t think will happen), the vessel is the Flagship of the Royal Thai Navy. It will be sent for air and surface defense missions and anti-submarine warfare. It can carry 6 Harriers and 4 Seahawks at the full speed of 26.2 knots.
This prestigious vessel was delivered brand new to Thailand in 1997 (at a cost of US$175 million) by Spanish shipbuilders Izar from Ferrol, Spain. The design was based on the Spanish carrier "Principe de Asturias".
The Chakri Naruebet’s size and power can withstand rough weather at sea. It was used for search and rescue when the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004 and other disaster reliefs. This is why the ship is numbered – “911”.
The name "Chakri Naruebet" means “The Protector of the Chakri Dynasty” given by His Majesty the King of Thailand. HTMS means “His Thai Majesty’s Ship” used for the Royal Thai Navy’s vessels only.
Though an aircraft carrier in an Armed Forces may depict offensive warfare, the Chakri Naruebet was purchased mainly to modernize the Royal Thai Navy and for surveillance for Thailand’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In fact, the anti-aircraft missile systems were never installed and the Chakri Naruebet is rarely put to sea. Starting up its engine alone costs US$4,000 already. In time of war (which I don’t think will happen), the vessel is the Flagship of the Royal Thai Navy. It will be sent for air and surface defense missions and anti-submarine warfare. It can carry 6 Harriers and 4 Seahawks at the full speed of 26.2 knots.
This prestigious vessel was delivered brand new to Thailand in 1997 (at a cost of US$175 million) by Spanish shipbuilders Izar from Ferrol, Spain. The design was based on the Spanish carrier "Principe de Asturias".The Chakri Naruebet’s size and power can withstand rough weather at sea. It was used for search and rescue when the tsunami hit Thailand in 2004 and other disaster reliefs. This is why the ship is numbered – “911”.
The name "Chakri Naruebet" means “The Protector of the Chakri Dynasty” given by His Majesty the King of Thailand. HTMS means “His Thai Majesty’s Ship” used for the Royal Thai Navy’s vessels only.
Treasure of Southeast Asia.
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18 Comments:
this post got me excited! i hope you post more entries like this! maybe warfare from vietnam, indonesia, malaysia and singapore. am not interested with what my country had to offer so amazing info about those abovementioned countries would be wonderful!
the vessel was valued at US$167M? was it a little cheap for such an amazing vessel?
chakri sounds like a nice name for a kid.
amazing. i didnt know there was only one aircraft carrier in ASEAN. and to think, every time i pass by San Diego, i am not fascinated by the several carriers present. now i will be at awe!
hukbong dagat, get one already!
MABUHAY!
@matt,
are you from riverside?
this comment of mine is not realted to the topic.. i just need a translation of this..
ดีคับเราชื่อบี
อยู่แถวดินแดงนายละอยากทำไรกับเรานุกๆๆทิ้งเบอไว้นะ
HELP anyone? hehehe
Dean Heinrich
yeah, i'm from riverside. =]
how'd you know?
are you from antipolo?
i grew up there. =]
Wow! Nice! And to think that not even China has one!
Hi there! First visit here. Nice blog.
@enrique
thank God China doesn't have any coz if they have one, we're doomed. world domination in an instant. ^_^
nice..
heyya!check this out:
JON Avila and alexandra de rossi
they are biseans too...
they're hot filipino stars.
@danyhael
Actually, China HAD some, but they were decommissioned long ago. Even if they had some, I doubt they would use it so much, let alone dominating the world.
...and even if China wants to conquer the world by force, I seriously think that they have a pretty good shot on doing that with their current military assets - I mean, what's stopping them? Massive army - check. Nuclear capabilities - check. They even build their own air-superiority fighters (The Shenyang). Even USA is rather scared of China these days - China is very hush-hush and tight-lipped on their military projects and GOD KNOWS they HAVE the money. Who knows what they're currently building these days. *shudder*
Actually, I doubt that non-warring states have much practical use of the aircraft carrier - even Thailand - the main reason they bought this ship is for search-and-rescue purposes after a massive typhoon hit them in the 80s. It's more like a status symbol to have aircraft carriers.
...with the exception of the USA, of course. They have to have lots and lots of unimaginably expensive aircraft carriers mainly for showing off to other countries that they are to be feared.
(and it's useful during their wars, too)
@enrique,
mate, i think they bought it to protect themselves from china. ^_^
or maybe...
"hey, remember us? we're also one of the axis powers too." ^_^
Firstly, I've been quiet for a long time about this, buuuut I can't stand it anymore - My name is Erique, not Enrique (I don't blame you, danyhael - maybe I should've chosen Enrique as my nick - it's more common. Even Pisanu call me Enrique.)LOL
Oh RIGHT - Thailand WAS a minor axis. And if you consider the Japanese occupation (including Japanese puppet states), most of southeast Asia is Axis as well...
lol. lo siento erique. hahahaha.
including the philippines (the puppet state)? hmm... well i didn't know about it though...
@ Erique and Danyhael...hey guys, the Japanese wasn't colonizers. Let's be clear on that (but maybe they did colonize Manchuria).
Here's the REAL DEAL...
...the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia TO FREE them from European colonizers. It was one of the earliest form of Asian puristic patriotism. And they were almost 75% successful.
They annexed Thailand because of our location -- right in the middle of SE Asia.
And Erique -- thanks for correcting me. At first I thought u wanted a Latino name, it just occured to me now that it might be "Erick" in French? Yeah, "Erique"! =)
Wow.....now we have the most advanced airforce (singapore), the powerful navy (thailand), and army...( i must say Indonesia hehe). In case of emergency, SEA nations cant react quickly and take a severe punitive action to the enemy. But, who's so crazy to attack any of our nations? Since the mother of all wars (USA) gets economic influenza, i dun think there's any.
@Pisanu:
Yes...my real name is Erik, and Erique is just a 'Frenchified' version, LOL
And about your comment on Japan...geez you have no idea how much I wanted to comment on that, but I hate starting a historical and political debate over here, so let me just put it this way:
- I never said that they colonized Indonesia, but they did occupy us. There are differences, but in this case, it's very subtle - the difference is almost effectively nonexistent in reality.
- Japan DID set out to liberate Asia from European rule, but they also had hidden agendas as well, including exploiting Indonesia's natural resources and Indonesian slaves to support their war campaigns for a greater cause of ultimately occupying all of Asia.
- To all Indonesians, the presence of Japan in 3.5 short years is much, much worse than the 350 years of Dutch rule - people were literally reduced to animals under Japanese rule. This has created a bitter memory of Japanese occupation in Indonesia, and to most Indonesians, Japan was, in fact, a 'penjajah' (COLONIZER).
- The fact that the Japanese rule is so unbearable is the very reason why Indonesians finally struggle towards independence (and achieved it).
@erique and pisanu,
i would really love to agree about Japan. i mean, i adore that country since i learned how to breathe (in fact i look like naruto -not the fishcake goddammit) but what happened in ww2 was really a terrible nightmare.
so the Thai Navy dream come true.. congrats to them. i wish our (Phil Navy) must modernized and end the WWII age of our navy
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