The Type 636 and its successor Type 636A

hydrographic survey ship Hydrographics may refer to: *Hydrography, the measurement of physical characteristics of waters and marginal land *Hydrographics (printing), a printing technique for three-dimensional objects * Hydrographic Department, UK agency for providing hydr ...

s is type of Chinese survey and research vessel designed to replace earlier Type 625 and Type 635 research vessels, and is 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Type 636 & 636A has received

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform manne ...

Shupang class.

Type 636

Type 636 hydrographic survey ship and its successor Type 636A are both designed by of the 708th Institute of

China State Shipbuilding Corporation The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is a Chinese shipbuilding conglomerate. Description CSSC is one of the top 10 defence groups in China. It consists of various shipyards, equipment manufacturers, research institutes and shipb ...

(CSSC), which is also more commonly known a
China Shipbuilding and Oceanic Engineering Design Academy (中国船舶及海洋工程设计研究)
nowadays. Special attention was given to vibration reduction measures and the internal noise generated by the ship itself was much lower than other ships of similar size. The ship was built by

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 and entered service in August 1998. On November 16, 2011, it was transferred to

. Specification: *Length (m): 129.82 *Beam (m): 17 *Depth (m): 8.1 *Cruise speed ( kn): 15 *Top speed (kn): 18 *Endurance (day): 60 *Range ( nmi): 15000 *Displacement ( t): 5872 *Max wind scale resistance: 12

Type 636A

Type 636A is the successor of earlier Type 636. Construction of the first ship of Type 636A began at

Shipyard in May 2003 and there are more than two dozen surveying systems installed on board. Originally named as Ocean (Haiyang, 海洋) 20, but subsequently changed to

Zhu Kezhen Coching Chu (; March 7, 1890 – February 7, 1974) was a Chinese geologist and meteorologist. Born in Shangyu, Zhejiang, Chu went to United States for his college education in 1910. He graduated from the College of Agriculture, University of ...

. The second ship of Type 636A was originally named as Ocean (Haiyang, 海洋) 22, but subsequently changed to

Qian Sanqiang Qian Sanqiang (; October 16, 1913 – June 28, 1992), also known as Tsien San-Tsiang, was a Chinese nuclear physicist and among the leading scientists of the Two Bombs, One Satellite program. Due to his central role in the development of China' ...

. Specification:Type 636A
/ref>* *Length (m): 129.28 *Beam (m): 17 *Depth (m): 8.1 *Cruise speed (kn): 15 *Top speed (kn): 17.5 *Endurance (day): 60 *Range (nmi): 15000 @ 15 kn *Displacement (t): 5883 *Crew: 134

Ships

Type 636 and 636A ships are named as contemporary Chinese scientists.

References

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