List Of Active People's Liberation Army Navy Ships
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ship types in service with 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) include
aircraft carriers An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a n ...
,
submarines A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely o ...
, (both nuclear and conventional),
amphibious transport dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operat ...
s, landing ships, tank, landing ships, medium,
destroyers In navy, naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a Naval fleet, fleet, convoy or Carrier battle group, battle group and defend them against powerful short range attack ...
,
frigates 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 ...
,
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s,
missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...
s,
submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...
s,
gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
s,
mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destr ...
s,
replenishment oiler 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. The ...
s and the various auxiliaries. All ships and submarines currently in commission with the Navy were built in China, with the exception of s, s and aircraft carrier , as these vessels originated from either
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
or
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
.


Ship naming conventions

Ships of PLAN are named per Naval Vessels Naming Regulation () that was first issued by the Central Military Commission (CMC) on November 3, 1978, and subsequently revised July 7, 1986. The convention for naming naval ships is as follows; * Aircraft carriers are named after provinces. * Nuclear-powered submarines are all named Changzheng (Long March) along with a number. * Destroyers and frigates are named after cities. * Smaller anti-submarine ships are named for counties. * Tank landing ships and dock landing ships carry the names of mountains. * Infantry landing ships are named for rivers. * Replenishment ships are named for lakes.


Active ships

There are approximately 500 vessels listed here that constitute the active fleet. Not included here are the various auxiliary ships that together number approximately 230. *
Aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s - 2 + (1 Fitting Out) *
Landing helicopter dock A landing helicopter dock (LHD) is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship which is capable of operating helicopters and has a well deck. The United States Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) use the term as a hull classification symbo ...
s - 3 *
Amphibious transport dock An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently operat ...
s - 8 * Landing ship tanks - 36 * Landing ship medium - 36 *
Ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...
s - 8 *
Nuclear attack submarine An SSN is a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine. ''SSN'' is the US Navy hull classification symbol for such vessels; the ''SS'' denotes a submarine and the ''N'' denotes nuclear power. The designation SSN is used for interoperabili ...
s - 12 *
Attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called ...
s - 58 *
Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s - 50 *
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 ...
s - 43 *
Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s - 72 *
Missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...
s - 107 *
Submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...
s - 26 *
Gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...
s - 17 *
Mine countermeasures vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destr ...
s - 36 *
Replenishment oiler 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. The ...
s - 16 *
Auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...
(''various'') - 233* * ''Figure includes both coastal and ocean-going auxiliaries, from tugboats to hospital ships. Not counted towards total number of active ships.'' The tables below list the various ships according to their class and date of commission. The newest class of ship is listed first, with proceeding classes listed afterwards, arranged in order of age. Column headings include: "Type" (i.e. Chinese class designation), the types "
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
designation", the ships "
Pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
" (or hull number), the ships name in English and Chinese (
Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
中文), ships "Displacement" in
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s, and the "Fleet" in which it serves (e.g.
North Sea Fleet The Northern Theater Command Navy (), or the North Sea Fleet (NSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, under the Northern Theater Command. In September 1950 the Qingdao Army Base was redesignated as a naval ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
). The "Status" column is colour coded, green indicates relatively new and modern classes in service, while red indicates obsolescence and being in the process of decommissioning as newer types are brought into service. A third colour, blue, specifically indicates a ship which is not yet in commission, but has been launched and is in the final stages of construction, or has been handed over for sea trials. Any ships with a status colour of blue is not yet counted towards the total number of active ships.


Submarines


Nuclear

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...
s

File:Jin (Type 094) Class Ballistic Missile Submarine.JPG, Type 094 (Jin class)


Conventional ballistic missile submarines


Nuclear attack submarine An SSN is a nuclear-powered general-purpose attack submarine. ''SSN'' is the US Navy hull classification symbol for such vessels; the ''SS'' denotes a submarine and the ''N'' denotes nuclear power. The designation SSN is used for interoperabili ...
s

File:Han class.jpg, Type 091 (Han class) File:Shang class SSN.svg, Profile of Type 093 (Shang class)


Conventional attack submarines

File:潜艇.JPG, Type 035 File:Chinese Kilo in service.jpg, PLAN Kilo-class File:Song-class Submarine 5.jpg, Type 039 (Song class) File:Chinese Type 093 submarine.jpg, Type 039A (Yuan class)


Surface ships


Principal Surface Combatants


Aircraft carriers

File:Aircraft Carrier Liaoning CV-16.jpg, Type 001 ''Liaoning'' File:停泊于大连港的001A.jpg, Type 002 ''Shandong''


Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s

File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - 20 Years of Cooperation with the Chinese Navy (5).jpg, Type 052 (Luhu class) File:Shenzhen (DDG 167).jpg, Type 051B (Luhai class) File:Taizhou2005Sankt-peterburg.jpg, Project 956EM (Sovremenny class) File:Guangzhou 168.jpg, Type 052B (Guangzhou/Luyang I Class) File:CNS Shijiazhuang (DDG-116).jpg, Type 051C (Luzhou class) File:CNS Haikou (DDG-171) in Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014.jpg, Type 052C (Luyang II class) File:CNS Kunming (DDG-172).jpg, Type 052D (Luyang III class) File:PLANS Nanchang (DDG-101) 20210427.jpg, Type 055 (Renhai class)


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 ...
s

File:053H1G-559.jpg, Type 053H1G (Jianghu V class) File:BNS OSMAN (F-18).JPEG, Type 053H1 (Jianghu II class) File:Xiangfan Jiangwei II Class Frigate.JPG, Type 053H3 (Jiangwei II Class) File:CNS Ma'anshan (FFG-525).jpg, Type 054 (Jiangkai I class) File:Jiangkai II (Type 054A) Class Frigate.JPG, Type 054A (Jiangkai II class)


Corvettes A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop ...

File:Type 056 corvette 583 Ganzhou.jpg, Type 056 (Jiangdao class) File: PLANS Huangshi (FSG-502) 20170815.jpg, Type 056A (Jiangdao class)


Coastal warfare vessels


Missile boats, submarine chasers and gunboats

File:Type 062-class gunboat, October 2014-1.jpg, Type 062 (Shanghai III class) File:駐港部隊艦艇大隊037II型-771導彈艦.JPG, Type 037II (Houjian class) File:Houbei (Type 022) Class Fast Attack Craft.JPG, Type 022 (Houbei class)


Amphibious warfare ships


Major amphibious warfare vessels

File:駐港部隊艦艇大隊 - 7593登陸艇.JPG, Type 074 (Yuhai Class) File:Two China PLA navy 073A landing ship.jpg, Type 073A (Yunshu Class) File:072A.jpg, Type 072A (Yuting III Class) File:Yuzhao (Type 071) Class Amphibious Ship.JPG, Type 071 (Yuzhao class)


Minor amphibious warfare crafts

List of active People's Liberation Army Navy landing craft File:Naval Museum 4 - panoramio.jpg, Type 722 II (Jingsha II class) File:Yunnan Class 067 general purpose landing craft.jpg, Type 067 (Yunnan clas)


Mine warfare vessel A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...
s

In addition to units in active service, PLAN also keeps a large number (up to several hundreds) of minesweepers in operational reserve, and regularly conducts minecountermeasure exercises. File:PLAN-081-805.jpg, Type 081 (Wochi Class)


Auxiliaries

Unlike warships of PLAN that are named per
Naval Vessels Naming Regulation The Naval Vessels Naming Regulation () is a regulation that governs the naming of vessels of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy. It was published by the PLAN on November 18, 1978, and was revised on July 10, 1986. Nomenclature The regula ...
which many PLAN auxiliaries do not follow, but instead, they are designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by a two or three-digit number. The first Chinese character denotes which Chinese fleet the ship is service with, with East (Dong, 东) for
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 ...
, North (Bei, 北) for
North Sea Fleet The Northern Theater Command Navy (), or the North Sea Fleet (NSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, under the Northern Theater Command. In September 1950 the Qingdao Army Base was redesignated as a naval ...
, and South (Nan, 南) for
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 ...
. The second Chinese character is for
hull classification The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...
, such as Barge (Bo, 驳) for
barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...
, Survey (Ce, 测) for
survey vessel A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...
, Oil (You, 油) for
oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...
, Repair (Xiu, 修) for
repair ship A repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to warships. Repair ships provide similar services to destroyer, submarine and seaplane tenders or depot ships, but may offer a broader range of repair capability incl ...
, Rescue (Jiu, 救) for rescue ship, Transport (Yun, 运) for transport &
cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
, Tuo (tug, 拖) for
tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
, Water (Shui, 水) for water tanker, etc. When auxiliaries are reassigned to a different fleet, their pennant number would change accordingly. Some PLAN naval auxiliaries perform multiple functions and thus are referenced multiple times differently under various hull classifications. Furthermore, when PLAN auxiliaries are tasked to perform certain civilian missions such as in support of civilian research or construction projects, they are sometimes temporarily assigned different pennant numbers for the duration of those missions, thus making the accurate assessment of PLAN auxiliary fleet rather difficult. In addition, some PLAN auxiliaries especially
research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
s are jointly funded by other civilian agencies of Chinese government, and frequently conduct missions for these civilian agencies/departments, just like the way
Protezione Civile The (Civil Protection), officially (Civil Protection Department), is the national body in Italy that deals with the prediction, prevention and management of emergency events. It was established in 1992 by , which was updated in 2012, and it is ...
funded Italian
San Giorgio-class amphibious transport dock The ''San Giorgio'' class are amphibious transport docks (LPD) built by Fincantieri for the Italian Navy. These ships can carry a battalion of troops, and up to 36 armored vehicles. The stern floodable dock can accommodate three landing craft. T ...
of the
Italian navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
, and thus also performs disaster relief missions in addition to military operations.When these jointly owned and/or funded PLAN naval auxiliaries are subject to civilian agencies/departments & perform missions for them, they are often assigned a different pennant number & name, just as in some cases of PLAN naval auxiliaries are sometimes assigned assigned different pennant numbers when performing certain civilian missions, thus making the accurate count of the PLAN auxiliary fleet even more complicated and difficult. Therefore, list provided here is seldom up-to-date. For a complete list of auxiliary vessels currently in service with 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 ...
please see the List of PLAN Auxiliaries.(''Note that it is a work in progress and often may not yet be complete.'')


Ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...
s


Buoy tender A buoy tender is a type of vessel used to maintain and replace navigational buoys. This term can also apply to an actual person who does this work. The United States Coast Guard uses buoy tenders to accomplish one of its primary missions of main ...
s


Cable layer A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cab ...
s


Cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...
s


Crane ship A crane vessel, crane ship or floating crane is a ship with a crane specialized in lifting heavy loads. The largest crane vessels are used for offshore construction. Conventional monohulls are used, but the largest crane vessels are often catam ...
s


Degaussing Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to redu ...
/deperming ships


Diving support vessel A diving support vessel is a ship that is used as a floating base for professional diving projects. Basic requirements are the ability to keep station accurately and reliably throughout a diving operation, often in close proximity to drilling or ...
s


Dredger Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
s


Engineering Ships


Environmental research ship Technical research ships were used by the United States Navy during the 1960s to gather intelligence by monitoring, recording and analyzing wireless electronic communications of nations in various parts of the world. At the time these ships were a ...
s


Fleet replenishment

File:PLANS_Hulun_Lake_(AOE-965)_20190801.jpg, Type 901 (Fuyu class) File:887 Nanhai Fleet PLAN.jpg, Type 903 (Qiandaohu-class) File:Defense.gov News Photo 970309-N-8421M-002.jpg, Type 908 (Fusu-class)


Floating pile drivers


General purpose

research ship A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...
s


Hospital Ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
s

File:People's Liberation Army (Navy) ship PLA(N) Peace Ark (T-AH 866) steams in close formation during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014.jpg, Type 920 ''"Peace Ark"''


Hydrographic

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the purpo ...
s


Icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...
s


Museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
s

Museum ships only include those owned by PLAN/
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
(PLA)/ Chinese Ministry of Defense (CMoD) and thus still on Chinese naval registry, but do not include ships stricken from Chinese naval registry, such as those sold/transferred to local governments and private hands.


Oceanographic research ship Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynami ...
s


Oceanographic surveillance ships


Personnel Transports

File:Xuxiake 88.jpg,
PLANS A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. ...
Go ahead No. 1 (Xu Xia Ke class) & Type 001 Liaoning


Range support &

target ship A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammuniti ...
s


Repair ship A repair ship is a naval auxiliary ship designed to provide maintenance support to warships. Repair ships provide similar services to destroyer, submarine and seaplane tenders or depot ships, but may offer a broader range of repair capability incl ...
s


Rescue and salvage ship Rescue and salvage ships (hull classification symbol ARS) are a type of military salvage tug. They are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of grou ...
s


Spy ship A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship. Spy ...
s

File:PLAN-814A.jpg, Type 814A (Dadie class) File:CN-Navy-854.jpg, Type 815 (Dongdiao class)


Submarine support ships


Submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of ind ...
s

Most submersibles, especially
bathyscaphe A bathyscaphe ( or ) is a free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic bathysphere design. The float is fi ...
s are civilian agencies owned but also carry out PLAN missions, while some are jointly owned/funded and operated by Chinese military and civilian agencies.


Tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...


Technical research ship Technical research ships were used by the United States Navy during the 1960s to gather intelligence by monitoring, recording and analyzing wireless electronic communications of nations in various parts of the world. At the time these ships were a ...
s


Torpedo trials craft Torpedo trials craft are primarily Auxiliary ship, naval auxiliaries used by navies for the New product development, development of new naval torpedoes and during practise firings. These craft are designed to track and monitor the torpedo and to b ...
s


Tracking ship A tracking ship, also called a missile range instrumentation ship or range ship, is a ship equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets. Since many missile ranges launch over ocean areas for ...
s


Training Ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
s

In addition to regular training ships, some retired warships are also converted as stationary training facilities at various military academies for active use, and thus remain on Chinese naval registry. File:Zheng He Pearl Harbor.jpg, Type 679 training ship ''"Zheng He"'' File:PLANS Qi Jiguanɡ 83 (ship, 2017) 20190621.jpg, Type 680 training ship ''"Qi Jiguang"''


Tugs


UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...
mothership A mother ship, mothership or mother-ship is a large vehicle that leads, serves, or carries other smaller vehicles. A mother ship may be a maritime ship, aircraft, or spacecraft. Examples include bombers converted to carry experimental airc ...
s


Unmanned surface vehicle Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), also known as unmanned surface vessels, autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) in some cases, uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), or colloquially drone ships, or robot boats, are boats or ships that operate on the ...
s (USV)

Just like most Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)s are micro-UAVs, majority of Chinese USVs are micro USVs. For better efficiency, most USVs used by PLAN are owned by Chinese civilian governmental agencies or private firms contracted by PLAN to perform various logistic tasks such as maintenance, surveying and research missions.


Unmanned underwater vehicle Unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV), sometimes known as underwater drones, are submersible vehicles that can operate underwater without a human occupant. These vehicles may be divided into two categories: remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROU ...
s (UUV)s

Many Chinese UUVs are either jointly owned and operated by
PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called ...
or owned by civilian agencies but tasked to carry out PLAN missions, and they are usually operated from Chinese ships flying civilian flags. Also, many PLAN logistic, scientific and contrustion projects are subcontacted out to Chinese civilian agencies and privatefirms that operate UUVs, and thus most UUVs used by PLAN are owned by Chinese civlian agencies and private firms. Just like most Chinese USVs are micro USVs, most Chinese UUVs are micro UUVs.


Autonomous underwater vehicle An autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is a robot that travels underwater without requiring input from an operator. AUVs constitute part of a larger group of undersea systems known as unmanned underwater vehicles, a classification that includes ...
s (AUV)s


Benthic lander Benthic landers are observational platforms that sit on the seabed or benthic zone to record physical, chemical or biological activity. The landers are autonomous and have deployment durations from a few days (for biological studies) to several y ...
s


Bottom crawler A bottom crawler is an underwater exploration and recovery vehicle. It is designed to sink to the bottom of a body of water, where it moves about using traction against the bottom with wheels or tracks. It is usually tethered to a surface ship ...
s


Hybrid UUVs (Autonomous remotely-operated vehicles, ARVs)


Remotely operated underwater vehicle A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''. Definition This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...
(ROUV)s


Underwater glider An underwater glider is a type of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) that employs variable-buoyancy propulsion instead of traditional propellers or thrusters. It employs variable buoyancy in a similar way to a profiling float, but unlike a flo ...
s


Wave glider Liquid Robotics is an American marine robotics corporation that designs, manufactures and sells the Wave Glider, a wave and solar powered unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The Wave Glider harvests energy from ocean waves for propulsion. With this ...
s


Weapon trials ships


Decommissioned ships

Decommissioned ships of PLAN only include those with every ship of the class has been struck from the Chinese naval registry, but do not include those classes with ships retired from frontline service and converted to auxiliaries, and thus still commissioned and thus remain on the Chinese naval registry.


Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
s

*
Soviet M-class submarine The M-class submarines, also ''Malyutka'' class (russian: Малютка; ''baby'' or ''little one''), were a class of small, single-, or 1½-hulled submarines built in the Soviet Union and used during World War II. The submarines were built in ...
s: 4 units include Pennant # 201 thru 204, respectively named as National Defense (Guofang, 国防) # 21 thru 24, which in turn, were ex-Soviet submarines M-276 thru 279 respectively. *
Soviet S-class submarine The S-class or Srednyaya (, "medium") submarines were part of the Soviet Navy's underwater fleet during World War II. Unofficially nicknamed Stalinets (, "follower of Stalin"; not to be confused with the submarine L-class L-2 ''Stalinets'' of ...
s: 4 units retired in 1963, including Pennant # 401 thru 404, respectively named as New China (Xin Zhong Guo 新中国) # 11 thru 14, which in turn, were ex-Soviet submarines S-52, 52, 24, 25 respectively. * Type 033G Wuhan class medium submarine and Type 033G1 Wuhan-A class cruise missile attack submarine * Type 6633/033/ES5A/ES5B Romeo-class submarines *
Type 030 submarine Type 030 submarine was a mini submarine developed by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the mid 1960s, and only a single unit was built. However, before the first unit could be completed, the program was cancelled in the early 1970s, and ...
: never completed when cancelled in 1973 after construction begun in 1968. *
Type 032 midget submarine The Type 032 midget submarine and its experimental version Type 032-1 belongs to a family of midget sub developed by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the late 1950s, and it was one of the first submarine indigenously developed in the ...
: Converted to Type 032-1 prior to completion * Type 032-1 midget submarine: The only unit built was retired in the 1970s. *
Type 092 submarine The Type 092 (Chinese designation: 09- II; NATO reporting name: Xia class) submarine was the first nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) deployed by the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force. Background The first and only ...
: The sole unit of Type 092 nuclear powered ballistic submarine has been superseded by the much more advanced
Type 094 submarine The Type 094 (; Chinese designation: 09- IV; NATO reporting name: Jin class) is a class of ballistic missile submarine developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force. The Type 094 succeeds the Type 092 submarine and p ...
. * Type 6631 ballistic submarine: converted to Type 031 ballistic submarine in 1978. *
Whiskey-class submarine Whiskey-class submarines (known in the Soviet Union as List of ships of Russia by project number, Projects 613, 640, 644, and 665) are a class of diesel-electric attack submarines that the Soviet Union built in the early Cold War period. Design ...
s: 5 units transferred from former-USSR and 21 domestically built units as Type 6603/03, all 26 have been retired."03"型21艘
/ref>
/ref>


Principal Surface Combatants

*
PLANS A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. ...
Changbai &
Nanning Nanning (; ; za, Namzningz) is the capital and largest city by population of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. It is known as the "Green City" because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of ...
, that were ex- ROCS Gu'an & Coastal Defense No 7, which in turn, were ex- Imperial Japanese Navy Ship (IJNS) Oki & Manju, 2 Etorofu-class escort ships. Used by PLAN as
Coastal defence ship Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s (CDS) & retired in 1982 & 1979 respectively. *PLANS
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
, No 48, No 49,
Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
,
Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...
&
Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...
, that were ex-ROCS Jie(接) 12, ex-Soviet CKP-48 corvette, ex-Soviet CKP-49 corvette, ex-ROCS
Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...
, ex-ROCS
Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
, ex-ROCS Jie(接) 14, which in turn, were respectively IJNS No 118, No 142, No 76, No 194, No 14 & No 198 of
Type D escort ship The were a class of escort ships in the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The Japanese called them "Type D" coast defence ships, and they were the sixth class of ''Kaibōkan'' (''Kai'' = sea, ocean, ''Bo'' = defence, ''K ...
. Used by PLAN as CDS & retired in 1975, 1983, 1983, 1975 (sunk as a target), 1956 & 1975 respectively. *PLANS
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
, a
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
of
ROCN The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
of same name, which was ex-. Defected to PLA on February 25, 1949 and sunk by RoCAF in the following month. *PLANS
Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...
, Huaiyang (ship),
Yancheng Yancheng () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, People's Republic of China. As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai'an to the west, ...
&
Zunyi Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...
, all of them were Ruijin-class armed merchantman respectively converted from ex- Hoary stock, ex-Golden fragrant flower (金香花), ex-
Clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...
Flower & ex-
Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...
, all of which were cargo ships of US coastal freighter Design 330D. *PLANS
Ji'an Ji'an () is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China while bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 4,469,176, of ...
&
Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...
, which were ex-ROCS Ji'an &
Huang'an Hong'an County (), formerly named Huang'an County (; Hwangan), located to the north of Wuhan, is a county in Huanggang, Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Hong'an is known as the "County of Generals" in that more than 200 (or 79 with the ...
, which in turn, were IJNS No 85 & 81 of
Type C escort ship The were a class of escort ships in the service of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The Japanese called them "Type C" ocean defense ships, and they were the fifth class of ''Kaibōkan'' (''Kai'' = sea, ocean, ''Bo'' = defense, ''K ...
s, Both were used by PLAN as CDS, with the former defected to PLA on April 23, 1949 and subsequently sunk by RoCAF on April 28, 1949, and the latter converted to acoustic research ship in 1966 after retired from the frontline service, and finally retired in 1980. *PLANS
Kaifeng Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
, re-armed cargo ship Xiang De (祥德) converted from ex-, a . Retired in 1989. *PLANS
Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo t ...
, re-armed cargo ship He Le (和乐) converted from ex-. Retired in 1972. *PLANS
Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
, re-armed cargo ship Xiang Xing (祥兴) converted from ex-. Retired in 1982. *PLANS Ruijin &
Xingguo Xingguo County () is a county in south central Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of and located in the north of the prefecture-level city of Ganzhou, with a total area of . Its population was 719,830 at ...
, 2 Ruijin-class armed merchantmen converted from ex-Jiang Tong (江通) & ex-Jiang Da (江达), 2 cargo ships of US coastal freighter Design 381. The first unit was the first ship in PLAN named “Ruijin”, & sunk by RoCAF
P-47 The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...
s in 1954. *PLANS '' Ruijin'', a CDS that was ex-ROCS ''
Hui'an () is a county under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Quanzhou, Fujian, People's Republic of China. It is situated in the middle of the Fujian coast, between Quanzhou and Meizhou Bay. The county has a population of 921,794, as of ...
'', which in turn, was ex-IJNS Shisaka, an . Second PLAN ship named as ''Ruijin'', used by PLAN as CDS & retired in 1990. * Type 6601/01/65/053H/053H2/053H2G frigates * Type 051D/051DT/051Z/051G/051G1/051G2 destroyers


Coastal & riverine warfare vessels

* Beihai class gunboats: approximately two dozen built, all retired. * Huangpu class gunboats: including two 42-ton class (pennant # H846 & H847), eight 43-ton class, & 26 Type 52 gunboats. *PLANS Fu River, a gunboat that was ex-ROCS Jiang Xi (江犀), which in turn, was ex-
Japanese gunboat Sumida (1939) was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1940s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Background ''Sumida'' was the second of two vessels in the river gunbo ...
. *PLANS
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 ...
, re-armed cargo ship Yuan Pei (元培) converted from ex-. Retired in 1974. *PLANS gunboat No 3-522, which were ex-ROCS ''Wufeng'' (舞凤), which in turn, were ex-IJNS ''Maiko'' (舞子), which in turn, was NRP ''
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
'', finally retired in 1968. *PLANS Min River, a gunboat that was ex-ROCS
Changde Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi City, Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent ...
, which in turn, was ex-
Japanese gunboat Seta was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, part of the 11th Gunboat ''Sentai'', that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1920s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Background ''Seta'' was the lead vess ...
. *PLANS
Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...
, a gunboat that was ex-ROCS
Changzhi Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Administrat ...
, which in turn, was ex- Japanese gunboat Uji (1940). Retired in 1979. *PLANS
Nen River The Nen River or Nenjiang (), or Nonni () is a river in Northeast China. The Nen River flows through the northern part of Heilongjiang Province and the northeastern section of Inner Mongolia, some parts of the river forming the border between the ...
, a gunboat that was ex-ROCS
Yingde Yingde ( postal: Yingtak; ) is a historical city in the north of Guangdong Province, China. The city is on the Bei River, a tributary of the Pearl River. Administratively, it is part of the Qingyuan prefecture-level city. The principal varietie ...
, which in turn, was ex-
HMS Falcon (1931) HMS ''Falcon'' was a river gunboat of the Royal Navy built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in 1931 for the Yangtze Patrol. The main armament of the gunboat was a 3.7-inch howitzer, and the secondary armament was a QF 6 pounder Nordenfelt. For air de ...
. *PLANS
Nu River , ''Mae Nam Salawin'' ( , name_etymology = , image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar , map ...
, a gunboat that was ex-ROCS Yingshan, which in turn, was ex- HMS Gannet (1927). *PLANS October & Vanguard, which were respectively ex- ROCS gunboat Guangguo (光国) & Gaoming (高明), which in turn, were IJNS
No.1-class auxiliary submarine chaser The was a class of submarine chasers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. 200 vessels were built under the Maru Kyū Programme (Ship # 500–599) and the Maru Sen Programme (Ship # 2001–2100). Background In 193 ...
s No 220 & 223 respectively. *PLANS
Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
, a gunboat that was ex-ROCN Yong'an, which in turn, was ex- Japanese gunboat Futami. *PLANS Sea Whale (Hai Jing, 海鲸), ex-ROCS No 101, an
E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...
defected to PLA on April 23, 1949, converted to a training boat in 1951, retired in the 1960s. *PLANS Wu River, gunboat that was ex-ROCS Yong Ping (永平), which in turn, was ex-
Japanese gunboat Atami was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, part of the 11th Gunboat Sentai, that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1930s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After World War II, the ship entered service with the Repub ...
. *PLANS Xiang Jiang (湘江), a gunboat that was ex-ROCS Yong Ji (永济), which in turn, was ex-
Japanese gunboat Toba (meaning "bird wing") was a river gunboat of the Imperial Japanese Navy, part of the 11th Gunboat ''Sentai'', that operated on the Yangtze River in China during the 1930s, and during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Background ''To ...
. *PLANS
Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...
, ex-ROCS Yong Ji (永绩), a
Yongfeng-class gunboat The ''Yongfeng'' class were early-20th century gunboats built for the Chinese navy. They were enlarged sea-going versions of the ''Kiang''- and '' Chu''-class gunboats. The first ships, '' Yongfeng'' and ''Yongxiang'', were built in Japan by Kaw ...
. Sunk on June 19, 1965 as a target during AShM test. *PLANS
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, ex-ROCN Minquan, retired to a
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
on August 1, 1978, scrapped in July 1981.Because in February 1952,
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
was on board for four days and three nights inspecting PLAN, a replica has built & displayed at Chinese naval 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 ...
. *PLANS Yichuan, ex-ROCS Chu Tong (楚同), a Chutai-class gunboat. Sunk in 1959 as a target in an AShM test. *PLANS Yong Sui (永绥), ex-ROCS gunboat defected to PLA on April 23, 1949, and sunk five months later on September 23, 1949 by bombs dropped by RoCAF B-25s. * Project 122bis submarine chasers with pennant # 611 to 616, respectively named as
Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...
, Jiaozhou,
Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...
, Tongzhou,
Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east o ...
& Taizhou, which were ex-Soviet BO-379/380/393/395/396/397 respectively. * Project 123K (P-4 class) torpedo boats: several dozen transferred from former-USSR. * Project 183T (P-8 class) torpedo boats: 1 unit transferred from former-USSR. *Project 201M SO-1 class submarine chaser: No 471 transferred from former-USSR to PLAN. * Project 205 (Osa I class) missile boats: 7 units transferred from former-USSR. * Type 027/027II/027IIB torpedo boats: include 1 hydrofoil equipped Type 027, 1 Type 027II with different steel used in construction, & 1 Type 027IIB entered service in January 1984. * Type 0101 gunboat *
Type 0105 gunboat Type 0105 gunboat was a type of gunboat developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the late 1950s. In 1958, PLAN demanded the need of more powerful gunboats and ordered the design to be carried out by individual fleets/bas ...
s: 4 units total, all retired * Type 0108 gunboat: a single unit built & retired *
Type 0109 gunboat Type 0109 gunboat was a type of gunboat developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the late 1950s, and has since retired. In 1958, PLAN commander-in-chief of East Sea Fleet Vice admiral Tao Yong (陶勇) ordered Colonel Ma ...
s: 10 units total, all retired * Type 0110 gunboats: 3 units built, all retired *
Type 0112 gunboat The Type 0112 gunboat was an experimental hydrofoil developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the mid-1960s. Only a single unit was built and it has since retired from PLAN. The Type 0112 gunboat was built in Shanghai b ...
: the single hydrofoil equipped gunboat has retired * Type 6602/02/7102II torpedo boats: including 24 Type 6602 & 63 Type 02 that included steel hulled Type 6702 & 7102II. *Type 6604 & 04
submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...
s: domestically built ex-Soviet Project 123bis, slightly modified Chinese version totaling 18, with pennant # 601 to 606, 631 to 636, & 651 to 656. *Type 6621
missile boat A missile boat or missile cutter is a small, fast warship armed with anti-ship missiles. Being smaller than other warships such as destroyers and frigates, missile boats are popular with nations interested in forming a navy at lower cost. They a ...
: 122 units total, Chinese versions of Project 205 missile boat, all retired by June 2007. *Type 6623 & 023 missile boats: Chinese version of Project 183R missile boats: 8 Type 6623 built with former-USSR supplied parts, 2 more indigenously built by China itself. *Type 6624 missile boats: steel hulled Type 6623. A unit of Type 024, which is a development of Type 6624 with mast can be fold down for anchoring in bunkers, is kept as a museum ship. * Type 6625/025/026/026II/R704 torpedo boats: all models retired by 2014. * Yulin-class gunboats


Amphibious warfare ships

*
LCI(L) The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during the Second World War. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault s ...
: captured from
RoCN The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World Wa ...
, & has since retired * LCT Mk 5 & Mk 6: captured from RoCN & both have since tired * LCU 1600 series: captured from RoCN & has since retired * LST-542 class: captured from RoCN & has since retired * Songling LCAC has retired * Type 066/066K/066A Yuzhai class LCM: all have retired *
Type 072 landing ship The Type 072 (NATO reporting name: Yukan) is a class of tank landing ship in the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Seven were built and began entering service by the early-1980s. They replaced American-built LSTs f ...
: has retired * Type 073 & Type 073II Yudao class landing ships: both have retired * Type 079I & Type 079II Yulian class landing ships: both have retired * Type 55 LCM has retired * Type 271I & Type 271II LCUs: both have retired * Type 363 & 363A LCM both have retired * Type 711 LCAC has retired * Type 716-I Dagu A class LCAC has retired * Type 716-II Dagu B class LCAC has retired * Type 722-I Jinsha I class LCAC has retired


Mine warfare vessel A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...
s

*PLANS
minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
No 800, ex-Soviet Minelayer No 50, which in turn, was ex-IJNS Katashima, a
Sokuten-class auxiliary minelayer (1913) The was a class of Auxiliary vessel, auxiliary minelayers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during the 1910s and World War II. They were called the ''Sokuten'' class from their nameship. They were also called the ''Toshima'' class aft ...
, retired in the early 1980s. * Project 254 (T43 class) sea-going minesweeper: all units have retired * Type 05 sea-going minesweeper: all units have retired * Type 057K Lianyun class gulf minesweeper: all units have retired * Type 058 riverine minesweeper: all 4 units have retired * Type 062 Fushun class minesweeper: all 20 units have retired * Type 918 Wolei class minelayer retired in 2012 & was transferred to China Coast Guard (CSG), becoming CSG cutter # 1212. * Type 6605 sea-going minesweeper: all 4 units have retired * Type 6610 sea-going minesweeper: all 4 units have retired *
Type 7102 minesweeper Type 7102 is a Chinese minesweeper developed for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and by the early 2010s, it has already been retired from active service from PLAN. Type 7102 is designed to supplement or replace earlier Type 058, which de ...
: The single unit built has since retired


Naval auxiliaries

* Dandao class cargo ship cargo ship: all units have retired *
Danlin-class cargo ship The Danlin-class cargo ship is a class of Chinese cargo ship that is in service with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Danlin-class cargo ships are the armed version of its unarmed sister ship in civilian service, and both entered service bet ...
: all units have retired *
Galați-class cargo ship The Galati-class cargo ship (as designated by NATO) is a is a class of cargo ship of the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy. Two were converted in the early-1970s from nine ships built in the 1960s at the Santieral Shipyar ...
: all units have retired * Leizhou-class tanker: all units have retired * PLANS Autumn Wind (Qiu-Feng, or 秋风 in Chinese) degaussing/deperming ship converted from
minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...
has retired *PLANS Bei-Tuo 710: the 3rd & last unit of
Type 830 tug The Tuzhong-class patrol ship (as designated by NATO) is a is a class of oceangoing rescue and salvage ship in the People's Republic of China's China Coast Guard (CCG). Four were built at the Zhonghua Shipyard, and entered service with the Peopl ...
has been transferred to
China Marine Surveillance China Marine Surveillance (CMS; ) was a maritime surveillance agency of China. Patrol vessels from China Marine Surveillance are commonly deployed to locations in the South China Sea and East China Sea where China has territorial disputes over ...
(CMS), becoming CMS cutter # 110. * PLANS Degaussing/Deperming 1 (Xiao-Ci 1, or消磁 1 in Chinese) degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS Degaussing/Deperming 951 (Xiao-Ci 951, or 消磁 951) degaussing/deperming ship has retired *PLANS East Buoy (Dong-Biao, 东标 in Chinese) 263: This Type 744 buoy tender entered service in 1980 & has been transferred to civilian agency on August 1, 2015. * PLANS Mount Tai: The first Chinese submarine tender PLANS Mt Tai has retired in 1988. *PLANS Nan-Lan (南缆) 233 of Type 991 cable layer, retired & replaced by a Dong-Lan 885-class cable layer with the same pennant number/name. * PLANS No. 323 degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS No. 629 degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS No. 731 degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS No. 744 degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS Panlong (蟠龙) degaussing/deperming ship converted from minesweeper, which in turn, was converted from
large infantry landing craft The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during the Second World War. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault ...
has retired * PLANS Sea Fishing 16 (Hai-Yu 16, 海渔 16 in Chinese) degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS Sea Magnetism 802 (Hai-Ci 海磁 802 in Chinese) degaussing/deperming ship has retired * PLANS Zhangdian (张店) degaussing/deperming ship converted from minesweeper, which in turn, was converted from
large infantry landing craft The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) were several classes of landing craft used to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches during the Second World War. They were developed in response to a British request for seagoing amphibious assault ...
has retired * Qiongsha class troop ship Nan Yun 830 & 831 have been retired & replaced by new ships of Darong class with the same pennant number. * Chinese research ship Xiangyanghong 16: Collided with a Cypriot
chemical tanker A chemical tanker is a type of tanker ship designed to transport chemicals in bulk. As defined in MARPOL Annex II, chemical tanker means a ship constructed or adapted for carrying in bulk any liquid product listed in chapter 17 of the Internat ...
on May 2, 1993 and sunk, killing 3 crew members. * Shuguang class ocean surveillance ships : 2 Shuguang class with pennant # Beidiao (北调) 994 and Beidiao 998 have retired. * Type 64 demolition boat: all units have retired * Type 071/071A/071G Yanha class icebreakers: The sole unit Type 071 with Pennant # 722 retired on Jun 7, 2013. Type 071A was upgraded to Type 071G during midlife upgrade, and transferred to Chinese Coast Guard in 2013 to become an icebreaking tug. * Type 113 naval trawler *
Type 210 icebreaker Type 210 icebreaker with NATO reporting name Yanbing (延冰) class is the second generation icebreaker indigenously developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to replace Type 071/071A/071G Yanha class icebreakers, and itself ...
(Yanbing class): The sole unit with Pennant # 723 has been transferred to Chinese Coast Guard on November 20, 2012. * Type 308 demolition boat: all units have retired * Type 308II demolition boat: all units have retired *
Type 595 ocean surveillance ship Type 595 ocean surveillance ship is the first purposely designed and purposely built ocean surveillance ship developed in China for its People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Designed to replace earlier Shuguang class, Type 595 itself has been repl ...
: 2 Type 595 AGOS Dongdiao (东调)223 Xiang-yang-hong (向阳红) No 4 and Nan-diao (南调) 485 Xiang-Yang-Hong No 6 have retired. * Type 601 degaussing/deperming ship: The single unit built (Hai-Ci 951, or 海磁 in Chinese, meaning Sea Magnetism 951) has retired * Type 614I & 614II weather ships, 614III oceanographic research ships: All units are either retired or transferred to Chinese Coast Guard. *
Type 625 research vessel Type 625 oceanographic research ship is a series of oceanographic research ship developed by China for its People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The series consisted of three models, A, B & C, but A & B are usually grouped together as one because C ...
: All units are either retired or transferred to civilian agencies. * Type 626 Fuzhou-class tanker: all
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
class tankers have been retired by the early 2020s. * Type 632 Fulin-class tanker: all Fulin class tankers have been retired by the early 2020s. * Type 636 hydrographic survey ship: The sole unit of Type 636 was transferred to Chinese Coast Guard on December 11, 2012. * Type 701 roll-on/roll-off ship: After initially assigned to PLAN for extremely short period of time, the 1st unit was reassigned to PLAGF soon afterward, & all subsequent Type 701s have gone to PLAGF directly. * Type 744 buoy tender has been retired on Aug 1, 2015 & transferred to civilian service. * Type 801 naval trawler: All units have retired * Type 810 target boat: all units have retired *
Type 813 spy ship Type 813 spy ship is the first purpose-built, indigenously designed spy ship entering service with the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Type 813 is the result of the urgent need of specialized spy ship for intelligence gathering missions in ...
: Transferred to
Chinese Coast Guard China Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the People's Armed Police of China. It is currently the world's largest coast guard. Function The CCG is known to perform mostl ...
and converted to PRCCGS # 3469 cutter. *Type 890 cable layers: all 4 units have been transferred to
PLAGF The People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF; ) is the land-based service branch of the People's Liberation Army and the largest and oldest branch of the entire Chinese armed forces. The PLAGF can trace its lineage from 1927 as the Chine ...
. * Type 905 replenishment tanker: 4 units total, with # 881
Hongze Lake Hongze Lake or Lake Hungtse () is the fourth largest freshwater lake in China, in Jiangsu Province, China and is encompassed by the prefecture-level cities Suqian (Sihong County and Siyang County) and Huai'an (Xuyi County and Hongze County). La ...
, # 882
Poyang Lake Poyang Lake (, Gan: Po-yong U), located in Jiujiang, is the largest freshwater lake in China. The lake is fed by the Gan, Xin, and Xiu rivers, which connect to the Yangtze through a channel. The area of Poyang Lake fluctuates dramatically be ...
retired in 2018 and 2020 respectively, # 950 retired and sold to civilian as oil tanker Hailang in 1989. # 871 sold to Pakistan in 1987, becoming
PNS Nasr PNS ''Nasr'' (A47) is a Type 905 replenishment oiler of the Pakistan Navy. The oiler was constructed in the People's Republic of China by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company and entered service in 1987. History ''Nasr'' was ordered by Pakist ...
. *
Type 922 rescue and salvage ship Type 922 rescue and salvage ship is a series of rescue and salvage ships developed by China for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and after decades of service they still remain active in other Chinese governmental establishments. Type 922 ...
: the single unit built was transferred to Chinese Coast Guard and became Chinese Coast Guard cutter # 3411. * Type 985 buoy tenders: all units were transferred from PLAN to
Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China The Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China () is an agency responsible for railway, road, air and water transportation regulations in China. It is a constituent department of the State Council. History The MOT's origins date ...
(MOT) in the early 1980s when maritime navigational responsibility was transferred from the former to the latter. * Type 991I cable layer: the sole unit has been transferred to civilian agency. * Type 994 buoy tenders: all units were transferred from PLAN to MOT in the early 1980s when maritime navigational responsibility was transferred from the former to the latter. * Xiang-Yang-Hong 5 ocenographic research ship has retired in 1993. *
Yanding-class transport Yanding-class transport (AP) is the first transport built in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). A total of 4 ships were completed by Wuchang Shipyard, and all of them were based on fishing trawl ...
: Transport of this class were derived from
fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate Trawling, fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing ...
s, & all 4 units including Dong-Yun (东运) 456, Dong-Yun (东运) 520, Dong-Yun (东运) 523, Dong-Yun (东运) 666 have retired. * Yanfang class degaussing/deperming ship: Both units have retired * Yerka class degaussing/deperming ship: Both units have retired


See also

*
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...
*
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 ...
*
People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force The People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force is the surface warfare branch of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), consisting of all surface vessels in operational service with the PLAN. The PLAN Surface Force operates 661 ships ...
- Further details on the surface ships of the PLAN * People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force - Further details on the submarines of the PLAN * Naval weaponry of the People's Liberation Army Navy * List of active People's Liberation Army Navy landing craft - For details on the landing craft of the PLAN


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading

* Congressional Research Service
China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress
Ronald O'Rourke (Specialist in Naval Affairs). Published 23 December 2014


External links


Navy 360: A comprehensive overview of PLAN naval ships, both past and present (in Chinese)
(haijun360.com/)

(globalsecurity.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Active Chinese Navy Ships People's Liberation Army Navy, : Ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarines of the People's Liberation Army Navy Lists of currently active military vehicles, China Lists of ships by country, China Chinese military-related lists, Ships