Type 057K

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 ...

with NATO reporting name Lianyun (连云) class is a type of minesweeper of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) that is no longer in service after its retirement. Type 057K program begun in 1956 when PLAN first issued a requirement of gulf minesweeper. The 1st Ship Product Design Directorate of the Shipbuilding Industry Management Bureau of the 1st Machinery Ministry (一机部船舶工业管理局第一船舶产品设计室) was assigned the designer, and completed the design work in two years. However, due to political turmoil in China, namely, the Great Leap Forward, construction was delayed and it was not until December 12, 1962 when the first boat was finally completed by Qiuxin (求新) Shipyard, a division of

Jiangnan Shipyard Jiangnan Shipyard () is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd. Before 2009, the company was south of central Shanghai at ...

. Type 057K is a steel-hulled design based on

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate 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 nets th ...

and it became most numerous minesweepers in PLAN service. In 1972, Chinese premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...

personally authorized deployment of Type 057K to North Vietnam to sweep the mines laid by US, and successfully cleared five Mk 52 mines. Type 057K is designed to operate in the gulfs and rivers where larger sea-going minesweepers cannot operate effectively but despite large numbers built, all of them have been retired by the early 2010s after half a century of service. Specification: *Length (m): 40 *Beam (m): 8 *Draft (m): 3.5 *Displacement (t): < 200 *Speed (kn): 18 *Propulsion: 1

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

@ 400 hp *Armament: 1 twin 37 mm, 1 twin 14.5 mm machine gun

References

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