''Yingtan'' (531) was the sole Type 053K (

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

: Jiangdong)

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

constructed by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

for the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...

(PLAN). She was equipped with

HQ-61 The HQ-6, also known as LY-60, is a family of Chinese air defense missiles developed by the Shanghai Academy of Science and Technology, largely based on the Chinese PL-11 and Italian Selenia (now as Leonardo S.p.A.) Aspide missile. Developme ...

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...

s (SAM) and the

Type 381 radar The Type 381 ( NATO reporting name: Rice Screen) is a 3D G-band air search radar developed by the People's Republic of China. It was the first modern air search radar fitted to a People's Liberation Army Navy warship, the Type 053K frigate ''Ying ...

, making her the first PLAN ship equipped with either

s or modern air search

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

. ''Yingtan'' formally entered service in 1974, but was only named on

1 August Events Pre-1600 * 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. *AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under ...

1986. She participated in the

Johnson South Reef Skirmish The Johnson South Reef Skirmish was an altercation that took place on 14 March 1988 between Chinese and Vietnamese forces over who would control the Johnson South Reef in the Union Banks region of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Bac ...

in 1988. The frigate retired in 1994 and became a museum ship at the Chinese Navy Museum in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

. A sister ship was being constructed at the Qiuxin Shipyard by 1979 but was not completed.

Gallery

File:“鹰潭号”053K型护卫舰（舷号531）青岛海军博物馆 - panoramio.jpg, The forward HQ-61 SAM launcher. File:Naval Museum 2 - panoramio.jpg, The rear HQ-61 SAM launcher. File:Naval Museum 2015 - panoramio.jpg, The forward superstructure with the Sun Visor 8 fire control radar atop the bridge.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yingtan 1971 ships Type 053 frigates Ships built in China Museum ships in China Frigates of the Cold War