Yung Yang (Agile) class mine countermeasures vessels
Yeongyang class ocean minesweepers built in the United States in the 1950s enterprising class ocean minesweepers. Originally during the Korean War,to counter the North Korean coast in a large number of laying mines designed and built, before the transfer to Taiwan's navy has conducted a large-scale modification,equipped with more advanced equipment. Yeongyang-class housing is divided into 3 layers, with high-quality wood hull is very strong and elastic.
Shipboard machinery and equipment use non-magnetic stainless steel, copper and other materials, the host of quieter, so the sound hull itself is very small magnetic and other physical characteristics. Yeongyang level is the maximum displacement of Taiwan's navy, the performance of more advanced, the only ocean-going mine-clearance capacity with the anti-mine ships.
These ex-US Navy ships were extensively overhauled following transfer. In the early 90s, Taiwan authorities had purchased four modernized mine hunters from Germany. On July 12, 1991, four "MWW50" mine hunters were formally put into service in Taiwan navy's Zuoying base, becoming a modern mine-sweeping force of Taiwan's navy.
These four mine hunters and another four US-made MSO ocean mine-sweepers together formed into the 236 combat force, placed under the jurisdiction of 192 sea fleet (mine fleet), which mainly undertake the task of clearing mines in the periphery of several key ports and sea traffic lines. These four mine hunters, designed and made by a German company, and sold at a cost of nearly 100 marks each, are the most advanced mine hunters of Taiwan's navy. The mine hunter is equipped with high-tech searching radar and active underwater sonar, what is most special of it is that it is equipped with a commonly called PB3 underwater processor, underwater surveillance and mine-sweeping action can be carried out by the remote-control method, thus dramatically raising mine-sweeping safety.
Taiwan's annual foreign ocean shipping volume approaches 200 million tons, the majority of which are undertaken by several important ports in Kaohsiung, Keelung, Hualien and Su'ao, so whether sea-routes are smooth or not is vitally important to Taiwan. The depth of water in Taiwan's surrounding sea areas ranges mostly between 50-60 meters, this makes it easy for the large-scale deployment of mines. Hualien and Su'ao ports in the eastern part of Taiwan, in particular, because they face the vast Pacific Ocean, it is fairly hard to impose blockade by forces, it is more possible for blockade by dense mine formation.
Over 97% of Taiwan’s annual exports are transported by sea, of which more than 60% are concentrated in Kaohsiung and Keelung, and 25% are in Taichung. Taiwan’s food and energy reserves can only last for 6 to 7 months. When our side does not control the air superiority over Taiwan, the Taiwan independence forces have the following methods to resist the blockade: (1) Mine clearance. (2) Organize large vessels to close and sail around the island along the coast and escort them. (3) Use Taiwan's east coast port for important cargo transportation. (4) Use small boats or barges to transfer from large ships anchored in the open sea. (5) Strengthen air transportation. (6) Carry out economic control, tighten consumption, etc. Among them, mine clearance of important ports at both ends of Taiwan Island is the most important, and the others are auxiliary means. Therefore, as long as the blockade is more than half a year, Taiwan's economy will surely collapse and Taiwan independence farce will also go bankrupt.
Taiwan’s navy is focused on anti-submarine and air defense, and its mine-clearance force is very weak. There are currently only 12 old and new minesweepers, of which 4 German-made MWV50-class minesweepers are short in age and advanced in performance; 4 American-made 950-ton ocean-going minesweepers were built in the mid-1950s and have been retrofitted many times and equipped with special SQQ14 Sonar. There are also 4 old ships built during World War II. These minesweepers are equipped with electromagnetic, acoustic, and cutting minesweepers, which can effectively deal with old-fashioned anchor mines, but are less effective against sinking mines with anti-sweeping capabilities. The more advanced method is the German "Penguin" B3 mine-killing device, which can directly destroy the mines, but the operation efficiency is low. At present, Taiwan is pursuing the strategy of "big east and small west", and minesweepers are mainly concentrated in Zuoying. During the war, it is not easy for these minesweepers to maintain the normal use of the military port, and there is not much power to take care of the commercial port.
Taiwan’s existing military helicopters are not suitable for minesweeping purposes. The MH-53E Sea Dragon minesweeping helicopter that Taiwan is about to introduce from the United States is very advanced. This helicopter is mainly used to deal with shallow water mines. Its towed minesweeper is effective for triggering, sound, and electromagnetic fuzes. Mines are more efficient, and the speed of minesweeping is more than twice that of minesweeping ships, but its acoustic, magnetic, and cutting minesweepers are not effective against water pressure fuze sinking mines. The Taiwan Navy is also exploring the feasibility of using ground-effect boats for mine clearance.
Taiwan’s shipbuilding industry is very developed, and its optical and electronic industries have also made great progress. The ability to manufacture small minesweeping ships is very strong. However, Taiwan has always been in a state of raising a large number of troops on a small island, and has to adopt a "precise case". Reducing the size of the army, strengthening air defense and anti-potential capacity is still too much, and there is no time to take into account the demining ability. It may not be too late to build ships and train temporarily during wartime.
The reserve force that can be mobilized in Taiwan is about 10,000 fishing boats of various kinds. In addition to transportation, reconnaissance, and patrol, a large part of them will be used for mine clearance. Although these fishing boats are large in number, they lack professional training. The noise and magnetic fields of the boats are not suitable for minesweeping purposes. Even if they are "death squads," their fluid dynamics cannot fool modern mines.
On the whole, Taiwan’s own mine-sweeping force could not lift a maritime blockade.
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