HTMS Chakri Naruebet

HTMS Chakri Naruebet , underway in the Gulf of Thailand during Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Exercise 2001.
History
Thailand
Name:	HTMS Chakri Naruebet
Namesake:	"In honour of the Chakri Dynasty"
Ordered:	27 March 1992
Builder:	Bazán, Ferrol, Spain
Cost:	US$336 million
Laid down:	12 July 1994
Launched:	20 January 1996
Commissioned:	27 March 1997
Homeport:	Sattahip
Identification:	CVH-911
Motto:	Rule The Sky, Rule The Sea, Chakri Naruebet. (ครองเวหา ครองนที จักรีนฤเบศร)
Status:	in active service, as of 2015[update]
Badge:
General characteristics
Type:	V/STOL carrier
Displacement:	11,486 tons full load
Length:	182.65 m (599.2 ft) (overall) 174.1 m (571 ft) (flight deck) 164.1 metres (538 ft) (between perpendiculars)
Beam:	22.5 m (74 ft) (waterline) 30.5 m (100 ft) maximum
Draught:	6.12 m (20.1 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × GE LM2500 gas turbines providing 22,125 shp (16,499 kW) 2 × Bazán-MTU 16V1163 TB83 diesel engines providing 5,600 bhp (4,200 kW) 2 × shafts with 5-bladed propellers
Speed:	25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) (maximum) 17.2 knots (31.9 km/h; 19.8 mph) (cruising)
Range:	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) 7,150 nautical miles (13,240 km; 8,230 mi) at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Troops:	Up to 675
Complement:	62 officers 393 sailors 146 aircrew
Sensors and processing systems:	Hughes SPS-52C air search radar, E/F band 2 × Kelvin-Hughes 1007 navigational radars
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Decoys: 4 × SRBOC decoy launchers SLQ-32 towed decoy
Armament:	2 × 0.5-inch machine guns 3 × sextuple Sadral launchers for Mistral surface-to-air missiles
Aircraft carried:	9 AV-8S Matadors (retired 2006) 6 Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters 2(+4) MH-60S Knighthawk Up to 14 additional helicopters when required
Aviation facilities:	174.6-by-27.5-metre (573 by 90 ft) flight deck 12° ski-jump Hangar space for 10 aircraft
Notes:	Equipment fitted for but not with is listed in the article

HTMS Chakri Naruebet (Thai: จักรีนฤเบศร, meaning "In honour of the Chakri Dynasty") is the flagship of the Royal Thai Navy (RTN), and Thailand's first and only aircraft carrier. Based on the Spanish Navy's Príncipe de Asturias design and constructed by Spanish shipbuilder Bazán, Chakri Naruebet was ordered in 1992, launched in 1996, and commissioned into the RTN in 1997.

The aircraft carrier is designed to operate an air group of V/STOL fighter aircraft and helicopters, and is fitted with a ski-jump. Initial intentions were to operate a mixed air group of Matador V/STOL aircraft and Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopters. However, by 1999, only one Matador was operational, and the entire V/STOL fleet was removed from service in 2006. Although Chakri Naruebet was intended for patrols and force projection in Thai waters, a lack of funding brought on by the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis meant the carrier has spent much of her career docked at the Sattahip naval base.

Chakri Naruebet has been deployed on several disaster relief operations, including in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and in response to separate flooding incidents in late 2010 and early 2011. Other than disaster relief, the carrier's few other departures from port are for a single training day per month, and transportation of the Royal Family of Thailand, leading to claims by some naval commentators that the ship is merely an oversized royal yacht.