''Qiandaohu'' (886) is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of the Type 903

replenishment ship A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

of the People's Liberation Army Navy.

Development and design

Type 903 integrated supply ship (NATO called Fuchi-class supply ship) is a new large-scale integrated supply ship of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, designed by Zhang Wende. The later improved model is called 903A. The difference with 903 is that the displacement has increased from 20,530 tons to 23,000 tons. All 9 ships have been built and are in service. The ship is a new generation of large-scale ocean-going integrated supply ship in China. Its supply equipment has been greatly improved compared to the earlier Type 905 integrated supply ship. It can be used for supply operations in horizontal, vertical, vertical, and sideways. It has two sides, three directions, and four stations. At the same time, the replenishment capability can complete fleet replenishment tasks in more complex situations. And the speed is higher than that of the Qinghaihu built with merchant ships as the standard, with a maximum speed of 20 knots, which can accompany fleet operations. The commissioning of this class of supply ship indicates that the People's Liberation Army Navy has a stable ocean-going combat capability, and this was proved in the subsequent Somalia escort missions. The 903 type integrated supply ship used some Russian equipment in the early stage, and later it was fully localized. This type of supply ship has undergone a comprehensive upgrade of electronic equipment, and has high formation communication capabilities, automatic statistics of materials, and the ability to report to formation command ships. In the late 1990s, China’s integrated supply ship Similan built for the

Thai Navy The Royal Thai Navy ( Abrv: RTN, ทร.; th, กองทัพเรือไทย, ) is the naval warfare force of Thailand. Established in 1906, it was modernised by the Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse (1880–1923) who is known as ...

's light aircraft carrier formation is generally considered to be an attempt by China to build a modern integrated supply ship. In the following years, China has learned experience and lessons. Improved on the basis of the Similan, and finally the Type 903 integrated supply ship was designed and finalized by the

China State Shipbuilding Corporation The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is a Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate. Description CSSC is one of the top 10 defence groups in China. It consists of various shipyards, equipment manufacturers, research institutes and shipb ...

Construction and career

She was launched on 21 July 2003 at

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 ...

and commissioned on 30 April 2004 into the

East Sea Fleet The Eastern Theater Command Navy (), or East Sea Fleet (ESF; ), is one of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the East China Sea under the Eastern Theater Command. It was the first naval force formed by the Peopl ...

. ''Qiandaohu'' participated in RIMPAC 2014. On 3 April 2015, , , and ''Qiandaohu'' formed the twentieth escort fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy and set sail from a military port in

Zhoushan City Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of ...

, Zhejiang Province, and went to 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 Somali waters to take over The nineteenth batch of escort formations performed escort missions. On 7 November 2015, ''Jinan'', ''Qiandaohu'' and ''Yiyang'' held a six-hour joint exercise with the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. This was the first Sino-U.S. joint force in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. The exercise was conducted in the Atlantic waters southeast of Mayport,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The US Navy ships involved in the exercise were , and . On 30 September, she made a goodwill visit to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Gallery

File:People's Liberation Army (Navy) ship PLA(N) Qiandaohu (AO 886) (foreground) and Republic of Korea Navy ship ROKS Wang Geon (DDH 978) steam in close formation during Rim o.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' and ROKS Wang Geon on 25 July 2014. File:PLA(N) Qian Daohu and Haikou conducting RAS during RIMPAC 2014.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' 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 ...

during

RIMPAC RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held i ...

on 12 July 2014. File:PLA(N) Qiandachu MIOEX, RIMPAC 2014.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' during

on 21 July 2014. File:Rear Adm.Gilles Couturier 140723-N-QG393-053 .jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' during

on 23 July 2014. File:People's Republic of China, People's Liberation Army (Navy) ship Qiandaohu (AO 886) during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' during

on 28 July 2014. File:People's Liberation Army (Navy) ship PLA(N) Qiandaohu (AO 886) steams in close formation during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' during

on 28 July 2014. File:PLANS Qiandaohu (AO-886).jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' on 12 December 2014. File:PLANS Qiandao Lake (AFS-886) 20151103 2.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' in Mayport on 3 November 2015. File:PLANS Qiandao Lake (AFS-886) 20151103.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' in Mayport on 3 November 2015. File:Chinese Naval ship 886.JPG, ''Qiandaohu'' in

on 30 September 2015. File:PLANS Qiandao Lake (AFS-886) 20200529.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' on 29 May 2020. File:PLANS Qiandao Lake (AFS-886) 20200622.jpg, ''Qiandaohu'' on 22 June 2020.

External links

Sinodefence.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qiandaohu 2003 ships Qiandaohu-class replenishment ships Ships built in China