Vietnam CSB 8020 ship is ready to return home

On foreign military websites, the latest images of Vietnam's CSB 8020 ship as of October 4, 2017 have appeared.

Currently, Vietnam's CSB 8020 ship and its crew are being trained in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Recently, the ship welcomed the Vietnamese Ambassador to the United States, Mr. Pham Quang Vinh, to visit.

Ambassador Pham Quang Vinh visits the crew of Coast Guard ship 8020 anchored in Hawaii.

A panoramic image of the CSB 8020 ship did not appear during the above visit, but a clear photo of it was recently obtained on October 4, 2017.

Vietnam's CSB 8020 ship as of October 4, 2017.

From the outside, the ship has been given a new coat of paint, indicating that the repair process has been completed and it is ready to sail back to Vietnam. If so, the time frame for us to officially receive the ship at the end of this year as planned will come true.

Another notable detail is that the ship's number is only 20, not 8020 as initially reported.

Patrol boat CSB 8020 when it was USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC 722) of the United States Coast Guard.

CSB 8020 was originally the Hamilton-class Coast Guard cutter USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC 722) built at Avondale Shipyard, officially commissioned on March 10, 1969 and just retired on April 18, 2017.

The ship has a full load displacement of 3,250 tons; length of 115 m; width of 13 m; draft of 4.6 m; crew of 160 (including 20 officers and 140 crew members).

The ship is equipped with a combined propulsion system consisting of 2 diesel engines and 2 gas turbine engines, providing a maximum speed of 29 nautical miles/h (53.7 km/h), a range of 14,000 nautical miles (22,531 km), and a continuous sea stay of 45 days.

The original ship's armament included a 2D AN/SPS-40 air reconnaissance radar, a 76.2 mm Oto Breda naval gun, a 20 mm Phalanx CIWS close-in defense system, a 25 mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon, a 12.7 mm M2 Browning heavy machine gun and a 7.62 mm M240 light machine gun.

However, based on the photo above, only the gunboat Oto Breda and its fire control radar were retained.

It is expected that after WHEC 722, the Vietnam Coast Guard may receive several more Hamilton-class patrol boats from the US Coast Guard.

According to Baodatviet