page_title: Republic of Korea Navy
section_title: Building up the fleet
hierarchical_section_title: Republic of Korea Navy / History / Building up the fleet
caption_attribution_description: English: Korean Marines prepare defensive positions near Tuy Hoa.
context_page_description: The Republic of Korea Navy, also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy includes the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which functions as a branch of the Navy. The ROK Navy has about 70,000 regular personnel including 29,000 Republic of Korea Marines. There are about 150 commissioned ships with the ROK Navy. The naval aviation force consists of about 70 fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. The ROK Marine Corps has about 300 tracked vehicles including assault amphibious vehicles.
  The Republic of Korea Navy was established as the Marine Defense Group on November 11, 1945 after Korea was liberated from the Empire of Japan on August 15, 1945. Since the Korean War, the South Korean navy had concentrated its efforts on building naval forces to counteract hostilities of North Korea. As South Korea's economy grew, the ROK Navy was able to locally build larger and better equipped fleets to deter aggression, to protect the sea lines of communication, and to support the nation's foreign policy.
context_section_description: After the Korean War, the ROK Navy built up its surface fleet with World War II-era warships loaned from the U.S. Navy. From 1955 to 1960, the ROK Navy acquired 42 ex-USN warships including two Cannon-class destroyer escorts. In May 1963, the ROK Navy acquired its first destroyer, ROKS Chungmu (DD 91), a Fletcher-class destroyer. Starting from 1972, nine former USN Allen M. Sumner-class and Gearing-class destroyers were transferred and added to the ROK Fleet inventory.
  During the Vietnam War, the ROK Navy dispatched the Naval Transport Group ("Seagull"), and the Republic of Korea Marine Corps sent the 2nd Marine Brigade ("Blue Dragon") to South Vietnam. In April 1975, just before the Fall of Saigon, two ROKN LSTs evacuated about 1,300 South Vietnamese and South Koreans from South Vietnam to South Korea.
  On July 30, 1960, ROKS Gangwon (DE 72), formerly USS Sutton (DE-771), sank the North Korean navy patrol craft PBS 371 off the coast of Geojin. On January 19, 1967, ROKS Dangpo (PCE 56), the former USS Marfa, was sunk by North Korean coastal artillery north of the demarcation line off the east coast of Korea. In June 1970, a Navy broadcast vessel (I 2) was captured and abducted by North Korean patrol craft in the vicinity of Yeonpyeong Islands in the West Sea (Yellow Sea).
  On February 22, 1974, a Navy harbor tug (YTL 30) capsized off Tongyeong, resulting in death of 153 Navy, Coast Guard recruits and 6 sailors.
caption: ROK Marines prepare defensive positions near Tuy Hòa in S. Vietnam circa 1965
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