Type 7102 is a Chinese minesweeper developed for the
People's Liberation Army Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army.
The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese ...
(PLAN), 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 despite its successful development, failed to enter service in large numbers. The reason Type 058 did not enter large production is due to its construction material, which was the manganese-aluminium based low-magnetic steel, was extremely difficult to process because the limitation of Chinese industrial and technical capability at the time.
As a result, an alternative was sought and it was decided to develop a
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
-hulled minesweeper, which was designated as Type 7102.
Construction begun in May 1972 at
Wuhu
Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'anshan ...
Shipyard (芜湖造船厂), the predecessor of th
Wuhu Xinlian Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (芜湖新联造船有限公司) and after two and half a year, the boat was launched in December 1974.
[ From April through September 1975, both riverine and sea trials were completed at the ]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 ...
River.[ The minesweeper was formally handed over to PLAN in November 1975, but only a single unit was built, and has since retired from active service in the Chinese navy.][
]
References
{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy, state=uncollapsed
Minesweepers of the People's Liberation Army Navy