Despite the arrival of new ships and other naval assets,
there are no plans yet to decommission the BRP Rajah Humabon (PF-11), the
Philippine Navy's oldest operational warship.
"As of this time, there are no plans to decommission
her yet," PN public affairs office chief Cmdr. Lued Lincuna told the PNA.
As of this writing, the World War II era destroyer-escort
has gallantly served the PN for 36 years.
BRP Rajah Humabon is currently assigned to the Manila-Cavite
area of operations.
Lincuna said that the engineering, weapons and navigation
systems of the ship are still in good conditions.
Sources said that the reluctance of the Navy to decommission
its aging vessels can be attributed to its need of more hulls to conducts its
various missions.
The PN is now engaged in acquiring newer and more capable
ships for its fleet.
In line with this, the Department of National Defense (DND)
is bidding out a contract for two missile-armed frigates worth PhP18 billion.
As of this posting, only four shipbuilders have successfully
passed the first stage of the bidding for the PhP 18-billion frigate project.
These are Navantia Sepi (RTR Ventures) of Spain
These involve the inspection of company eligibility
documents.
Three other shipbuilding firms joined the bidding but the
DND declared their documents to be deficient.
These companies, identified as Garden Reach Shipbuilders
& Engineers Ltd. of India
Specifications of these ships include capability to conduct
air-to-air warfare (AAW), anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-submarine warfare
(ASW), and electronic warfare (EW).
Aside from this, these naval vessels should be able to do
extended maritime patrol with an embarked helicopter and operating up to Sea
State 6.
It must also have a range of 4,500 nautical miles at 15
knots, endurance of 30 days in tropical condition, and capable of running up to
25 knots of continuous speed.
Navigation equipment of the two ships, at a minimum, must
consist of two navigation radars; GPS; depth sounding set; and vessel tracking
system compatible to PN's existing system.
The frigates' weapon system, at a minimum, should consist of
a 76-mm gun; stabilized secondary gun; four .50-caliber machine guns;
surface-to-surface missile launchers; surface-to-air missile launching system;
and anti-submarine torpedoes.
Prior to the arrival of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-15)
in 2011 and BRP Ramon Alcaraz in 2013, the BRP Rajah Humabon together with the
three Jacinto-class patrol vessels (formerly the Royal Navy's Peacock class
patrol ships) served as the backbone of the PN and acted as its flagship.
BRP Rajah Humabon started life as the US Navy destroyer
escort, the USS Atherton (DE-169), in 1943.
She was mostly assigned at the Atlantic theater doing
patrols and anti-submarine missions.
The USS Atherton was credited with having destroyed a German
U-boat, the U-853 off the coast of Rhode
Island
She served in the Pacific theater in the middle of 1945
until she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on Dec. 10 of the same year.
She was transferred to the Japanese government as JDS
Hatsuhi (DE-263) on June 14, 1955.
Together with her sistership JDS Asahi (DE-262), they became
one of the first warships of the newly organized Japan Maritime Self-Defense
Forces.
As newer ships became available to the JMSDF, both ships
were decommissioned and returned to the US Navy on June 1975.
After remaining laid-up in Japan
She was then renamed as the RPS Rajah Humabon (PS-78), and
was towed to South Korea
Since then, she has remained in service with the PN for 34
years as of this writing, sustained by periodic overhauls and upgrades.
BRP Rajah Humabon is armed with three Mark 22 3"/50
caliber guns, the ship's primary weapons, which has a range of up to 14,600
yards (13,400 meters) and are also capable of being used as limited
anti-aircraft weapon.
The guns were directed by a Mark 52 gun fire control system
with a Mark 41 rangefinder, but this appears to be non-operational.
She also carries a total of three twin Mark 1 Bofors L/60 40
mm anti-aircraft guns directed individually by Mark 51 gun fire control system,
six Mark 4 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, and four M2 Browning .50 caliber machine
guns.
The BRP Rajah Humabon is powered by two EMD 16-645E7
turbo-blown diesel engines with a combined power of around 6,140 bhp (4,580 kW)
driving two propellers.
The main engines can propel the 1,620-ton (full load) ship
at a maximum speed of around 18 knots (33 kilometers per hour).
It has a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,110 kilometers)
at a speed of 14 knots (26 kilometers per hour.
It replaced the original four EMD 16-278A diesel engines
during the ship's overhaul in 1996.
The ship is equipped with a Raytheon AN/SPS-64(V)11 short
range surface search and navigation radar and a Furuno navigation radar,
replacing the SPS-5 surface search radar and the RCA/GE Mark 26 navigation
radar.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=10&sid=&nid=10&rid=762540
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