''Yuncheng'' (571) is a

Type 054A frigate The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a class of guided-missile frigate from the People's Republic of China. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate; compared to its predecessor, the Type 054A has medium-range air defense capability in th ...

of 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 ...

. She was commissioned in December 2009.

Development and design

The Type 054A carries

HQ-16 The HQ-16 () is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) from the People's Republic of China. It is derived from earlier versions of the Russian Buk missile system. Development Development began in 2005, and was reportedly assisted by the Alm ...

medium-range air defence missiles and anti-submarine missiles in a

vertical launching system A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...

(VLS) system. The HQ-16 has a range of up to 50 km, with superior range and engagement angles to the Type 054's

HQ-7 The HQ-7 is a short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) from 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 List of countries and dependencies by populati ...

. The Type 054A's VLS uses a hot launch method; a shared common exhaust system is sited between the two rows of rectangular launching tubes. The four

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and dir ...

close-in weapon systems A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

(CIWS) of the Type 054 were replaced with two

Type 730 CIWS The Type 730 is a Chinese seven-barrelled 30 mm Gatling gun/Rotary cannon CIWS. It has a PLA Navy designation H/PJ12. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar, and electro-optical tracking systems. The maximum rat ...

on the Type 054A. The autonomous Type 730 provides improved reaction time against close-in threats.

Construction and career

''Yuncheng'' was launched on 8 February 2009 at the

Huangpu Shipyard Huangpu, also formerly romanized Whangpoo or Whang-Po, may refer to: * Huangpu District, Shanghai, China ** Huangpu River, in Shanghai, China * Huangpu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China ** Huangpu Military Academy, in Guangzhou, China * Pazhou ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Commissioned in December 2009. On November 2, 2011, ''Yuncheng'' and

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...

formed the tenth navy escort fleet from Zhanjiang City,

Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

to perform escort missions in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

and the waters of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. The escort lasted 186 days, with a total voyage of 98,180 nautical miles, and completed 40 batches of 240 Chinese and foreign ships. On June 7, 2012, ''Yuncheng'' returned to Zhanjiang Military Port. On October 22, 2012, ''Yuncheng'',

and

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

crossed the waters south of

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

and went to the western Pacific waters for routine training. On 19 December 2013, the

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the South China Sea under the Southern Theater Command. It is headquartered in Zhanjiang, G ...

consisting of

Huangshan Huangshan (),Bernstein, pp. 125–127. literally meaning the Yellow Mountain(s), is a mountain range in southern Anhui Province in eastern China. It was originally called “Yishan”, and it was renamed because of a legend that Emperor Xuanyu ...

, ''Yuncheng'', and Weishanhu set sail from Zhanjiang City and proceeded to the Western Pacific and other waters. Exercises in subjects such as continuous maritime alert, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy, and joint search and rescue. In May 2014, the

China National Offshore Oil Corporation China National Offshore Oil Corporation, or CNOOC Group (Chinese: 中国海洋石油总公司 Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó Háiyáng Shíyóu Zǒnggōngsī''), is one of the largest national oil companies in China, and the third-largest national oil c ...

's drilling platform Offshore Oil 981 conducted drilling operations in the Xisha waters. On May 13, ''Yuncheng'' arrived in the sea area where the drilling platform was located, driving away the Vietnamese coast guard ship that was interfering with the operation. On August 1, ''Yuncheng'', Changbai Shan and Chaohu formed the eighteenth navy escort formation from a military port in Zhanjiang, and then went to the Gulf of Aden and Somalia.

Chaohu Chaohu () is a county-level city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Chao ...

alongside ''Yuncheng'' and Changbai Shan made a goodwill visit to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

on 30 January 2015.

Gallery

File:PLANS Yuncheng (FFG-571) 20150130(2).jpg, ''Yuncheng'' in Rotterdam on 30 January 2015. File:PLANS Yuncheng (FFG-571) 20150130(3).jpg, ''Yuncheng'' in Rotterdam on 30 January 2015. File:PLANS Yuncheng (FFG-571) 20150130(1).jpg, ''Yuncheng'' in Rotterdam on 30 January 2015. File:PLANS Yuncheng, Chao Lake and Changbai Mountain ported at Rotterdam Port.jpg,

, ''Yuncheng'' and Changbai Shan in Rotterdam on 26 January 2015. File:Yung Cheng , Chao Hu & Shangbaishan , Wilhelminakade Rotterdam. (16374919671).jpg,

, ''Yuncheng'' and Changbai Shan in Rotterdam on 26 January 2015. File:Z9C Chinese Navy (16391212735).jpg, ''Yuncheng'''s Harbin Z9C in Rotterdam on 26 January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuncheng 2009 ships Ships built in China Type 054 frigates