The Yuan Wang-class of tracking ships () are used for tracking and support of satellite and

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

s by the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is important to note that the class is not a single class of identical design, but instead, a group of different designs grouped under the same series that share the same name. Detailed specifications for every ship have not been released by the PLASSF. ''Yuan Wang 1'' and ''Yuan Wang 2'' are thought to have a

displacement tonnage The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

of around 21,000

tons Tons can refer to: * Tons River, a major river in India * Tamsa River, locally called Tons in its lower parts (Allahabad district, Uttar pradesh, India). * the plural of ton, a unit of mass, force, volume, energy or power :* short ton, 2,000 poun ...

when fully loaded, with a crew of about 470 and a length of about . Their propulsion is from one

Sulzer Ltd. Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. (Gebrüder Sulzer) in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly traded company w ...

diesel engine, with a top speed of 20 knots (37 km/h). The class was first proposed by

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Zhou Enlai in 1965, and the idea was personally approved by Mao Zedong in 1968. The first two ships of the class, ''Yuan Wang 1'' and ''Yuan Wang 2'', were built at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and put to sea on 31 August 1977 and 1 September 1978 respectively. The general designer of this class is . For the first time, this gave the PRC the ability to track launches and satellites that were not over their territory. The first survey mission of the two ships was during May 1980. After being used for tracking of the launches of indigenously developed communications satellites, ''Yuan Wang 1'' and ''Yuan Wang 2'' underwent overhauls in 1986, so they could be used for supporting international satellite launches by the PRC. Two further ships of the class have been built. The first was ''Yuan Wang 3'', which was commissioned on 20 October 1995. The ''Yuan Wang 4'' tracking ship was constructed by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and delivered to the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General on 18 July 1999. It had been converted from the previously used ''

Xiang Yang Hong Xiang Yang Hong () are a class of Chinese oceanographic survey and research ships. These were among China's first ocean survey vessels. Fleet list * Xiang Yang Hong 01 * Xiang Yang Hong 03 — built 2016 * Xiang Yang Hong 05 * Xiang Yang Hong ...

10'' scientific survey ship. Another two Yuan Wang-class vessels were launched in Shanghai in early 2007. Pictures of ''Yuan Wang 6'' were published, and both ''Yuan Wang 5'' and the newly commissioned ship were on duty for the Shenzhou 7 mission. During the Shenzhou spacecraft flights, the four ships were positioned as follows: *''Yuan Wang 1'' in the Yellow Sea *''Yuan Wang 2'' about 1500 km (about 900 statute miles) southwest of

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*''Yuan Wang 3'' off the Namibian coast *''Yuan Wang 4'' off the coast of Western Australia in the Indian Ocean

Fleet list

* Yuan Wang 1 - 1977 * Yuan Wang 2 - 1978 * Yuan Wang 3 - 1995 * Yuan Wang 4 - 1999 * Yuan Wang 5 - 2007 * Yuan Wang 6 - 2007 * Yuan Wang 7 - 2016 * Yuan Wang 21 - Long March 5 transport ship * Yuan Wang 22 - Long March 5 transport ship

Type 718

Type 718 tracking ship is the very first design of Yuanwang series, and it consists of two ships, Yuan Wang 1 and Yuan Wang 2, both of which have since retired in the early 2010s. Type 718 can attain speeds of 20 kn.

Yuan Wang 3

Yuan Wang 3 is the second generation tracking ship of Yuan Wang series, and it can attain speeds up to 20 kt, with a range of 18,000 nautical miles and a cruising speed of 18 kt.

Yuan Wang 4

Yuan Wang 4 was converted from Type 643 research vessel Xiangyanghong 10 (向阳红10), which was originally designed in February 1971, with construction begun in July 1975, and entered service in October 1979. Conversion was completed in August 1998, and the ship is capable of carrying a Changhe Z-8. Conversion work included more than four hundred projects in four major categories. Powered by 9000 hp diesel engines, Yuan Wang 4 has an endurance of 100 days and could reach a speed of up to 20 kn, with a range of 18,000 nautical miles cruising at 18 kn. While in Jiangyin port at 5:10 AM on 5 August 2007, Yuan Wang 4 was hit by a coal carrier Harbor Sea 666 (Gang Hai 666, 港海 666), which caused a massive fire started at the point of collision at 4th fuel tank. The fire was put out after four hours without any casualties, but the equipment on board was severely damaged beyond repair. As a result, Yuan Wang 4 was subsequently converted to a target ship for

DF-21 The Dong-Feng 21 (DF-21; NATO reporting name CSS-5 - Dong-Feng () is a two-stage, solid-fuel rocket, single-warhead medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) in the Dong Feng series developed by China Changfeng Mechanics and Electronics Technology A ...

ballistic antiship missile to simulate an aircraft carrier target as it entered Jiangyin Shipyard on 15 April 2010 for repair, and eventually destroyed in the latter half of 2010.

Yuan Wang 5

Yuan Wang 5 is the third generation tracking ship of Yuan Wang series, and entered service on 29 September 2007. Loaded with electronic tracking gear, the Yuan Wang 5 has been called a "spy ship". Built by Jiangnan Shipyard, Yuan Wang 5 has a displacement of 25,000 tones, and is designed to withstand winds up to

Beaufort scale The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...

12, and perform duties in sea state 6. It has a carrying capacity of 11,000 tons DWT and its draught is reported to be 8.2 meters. Its

length overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

(LOA) is 222 meters and its width is 25.2 meters. Its home port is Jiangyin on the Yangtze. The general designer of both Yuan Wang 5 and 6 was Mr. Huang Wei (黄蔚), the general engineer of the 708th Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC).

Yuan Wang 6

Yuan Wang 6, like its sister ship Yuan Wang 5, is also a third generation tracking ship of Yuan Wang series. Designed by the 708th Research Institute, construction begun in April 2006, and the ship was launched on March 16, 2007. The ship entered service on April 12, 2008, and become fully operational in July 2008. Yuan Wang 6 utilizes fiber optic for its information system on board, and the electricity generated by the ship is enough to supply a city of 300,000. Specification: *Length (m): 222.2 *Width (m): 25.2 *Displacement (t): 24,966 *Accommodation: 400

Yuan Wang 7

Yuan Wang 7 was constructed by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and is said to be able to operate for 100 days at sea. The China Satellite Maritime Tracking and Control Department has said the vessel will be used for maritime tracking of the Shenzhou 11 manned space mission, and the

Tiangong 2 Tiangong-2 () was a Chinese space laboratory and part of the Project 921-2 space station program. Tiangong-2 was launched on 15 September 2016. It was deorbited as planned on 19 July 2019. Tiangong-2 was neither designed nor planned to be a ...

space laboratory, using three large dish antennae some 10–12 meters in diameter. It was commissioned on 19 July 2016.China commissions space tracking ship as new station readied
SpaceDaily.com, 19 July 2016 * Length (m): 220 * Width (m): tbc * Height (m): 40m * Displacement (t): 25,000

Yuan Wang 21

The Yuan Wang 21 is a cargo ship designed by the 708th Research Institute specially to transport rockets such as the Long March 5; construction began on 1 April 2012, and it was launched on 29 November 2012. Yuan Wang 21 entered service on 6 May 2013. Specification: *Length (m): 130 *Width (m): 19 *Draft (m): 5.8 *Displacement (t): 9080

Yuan Wang 22

Yuan Wang 22 is also a cargo ship designed specially to transport rockets such as Long March 5, and it is also built by Jiangnan Shipyard, the same builder of earlier Yuan Wang 21. Yuan Wang 22 might be a sister ship of Yuan Wang 21, but this cannot be confirmed yet, because detailed information / specification of Yuan Wang 22 has not been released by official Chinese governmental sources yet (as of 2014). Yuan Wang 22 was launched on 24 January 2013. Yuan Wang 22
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References

External links

Global Security

SinoDefence.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yuan Wang Class Tracking Ship Auxiliary ships of the People's Republic of China Maritime vessels related to spaceflight

Fleet list

Type 718

Yuan Wang 3

Yuan Wang 4

Yuan Wang 5

Yuan Wang 6

Yuan Wang 7

Yuan Wang 21

Yuan Wang 22

See also

French Navy

Indian Navy

Soviet Navy / Russian Navy

United States Navy

References

External links