Sohn Won-Il, the first of South Korea's new German-designed, air-independent propulsion capable, Type 214 submarines, was commissioned into service in December 2007. Shown here in the foreground with the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) during that carrier's recent visit to South Korea, Sohn Won-Il was built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. Two sisters are expected in service by 2010 and up to six additional units may be purchased for delivery by 2018. Named for Admiral Sohn Won-Il, a former South Korean Chief of Naval Operations, this new class of submarines joins nine German Type 209 submarines, which entered service between 1993 and 2001. Planning is also well underway on the domestically designed KSS-III submarine program, the first unit of which is expected to enter service in 2021.
On 15 October 2007 the sole remaining Balsam-class seagoing buoy tender, the USCGC Gentian (WLB-290, later WIX290), pictured here in 1994 while traversing the icy Potomac River, was transferred to the Colombian Navy where she has been renamed San Andres. Laid down in October 1941, two months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Gentian was built by Duluth Iron and Shipbuilding Company, in Duluth, Minnesota, and commissioned in November 1943. In 1999 the Gentian was recommissioned as the Caribbean Support Tender-a multi-national venture to foster cooperation and improve the operational capabilities of Caribbean maritime services-and set sail with a new U.S. Coast Guard and multi-national crew. In this new role her black hull was repainted white. During nearly a decade as the support tender, the 180-foot vessel's 100,000pound cargo capacity and 10-ton lift capability proved vital for materiel delivery and disaster relief operations throughout the region. By transferring the vessel to Colombia, the U.S. Coast Guard reportedly saves $450,000 in ship disposal costs while Colombia gains a new support asset for use in counter-drug and security operations. Colombia plans to install nearly $900,000 in navigation and communications equipment aboard San Andres.
Italy launched its second of two Project Horizon guided-missile destroyers on 23 October 2007. Shown here just prior to launch, the new 6,000-ton warship, Caio Duilio, was built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and is expected in service by 2009. Known as the Orizzonte program in Italy, the Franco-Italian project includes production of two destroyers, Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio, for Italy and two nearly identical units, Forbin and Chevalier Paul, to serve with the French fleet. Although both countries hoped to build additional units, cost restrictions limited the purchase to four ships. All are fitted with a highly advanced air-defense system that combines the EMPAR radar with Aster-15 and -30 surface-to-air missiles. The primary difference between the two nations' destroyers is their antiship weaponry, each opting for home-built missiles-the Italians using the Teseo and the French carrying Exocet.