Haixiu 121 class tug is a class of naval auxiliary ship 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 ...

(PLAN). The class is named after the first unit commissioned, and only a single unit of this class is known to be in active service. The designation Haixiu 121 is unique in that it is different from the usual Chinese naming convention for ships in military service. Ordinarily, auxiliary ships in PLAN service are designated by a combination of two or more Chinese characters followed by three-digit number. The first Chinese character denotes which fleet the ship belongs to—East () for East Sea Fleet, North () 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 () for South Sea Fleet. The second indicates the function the ship performs, usually for tugboats. Haixiu 121 is a tug, but is designated a repair ship ). The pennant numbers may have changed due to a change of Chinese naval ships naming convention.

References

{{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy, state=uncollapsed Auxiliary ships of the People's Liberation Army Navy Auxiliary tugboat classes