Taiwan commissions first locally built amphibious assault ship

Taiwanese navy soldiers walk by Yushan during its handover ceremony in Kaohsiung City on 30 September 2022. The ship was commissioned on 19 June 2023. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

The Republic of China Navy (RoCN) has commissioned its first locally built landing platform dock (LPD)-like amphibious assault ship.

The vessel, ROCS Yushan, was commissioned on 19 June at a ceremony in Kaohsiung City; various Taiwanese media outlets reported on the same day with images from the event. Neither the RoCN nor the Taiwanese Ministry of National Defense had responded to queries from Janes at the time of publication.

Yushan was ordered from Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBC Corporation under a TWD4.635 billion (USD150.46 million) contract signed in April 2018. The contract to build the vessel was awarded to CSBC in April 2018, and it was launched by the shipbuilder in April 2021.

The vessel has an overall length of 153 m, an overall beam of 23 m, and a standard displacement of about 10,000 tonnes.

Yushan is armed with a 76 mm naval gun in the primary position. Short-range defence against hostile aircraft and precision-guided munitions are provided by two Raytheon Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS) turrets, and one of each is located in the fore and aft sections. For point defence, the ship is armed with 12.7 mm machine guns.

It can accommodate a crew complement of 190 and will be capable of transporting up to 250 marines and 233 additional fully armed troops. The vessel will also be capable of carrying up to four 16 m-long landing craft mechanised (LCM) vessels, or up to two 36 m-long landing craft utility (LCU) vessels in its well dock.