''Qinghaihu'' is a

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

of 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 Chines ...

(PLAN).

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

sold the incomplete ship in 1992 to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, where it was completed and commissioned in 1996. In Chinese service, the ship was previously known as ''Nancang'' (953). The ship's class has the

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 man ...

Fuso.

Design

The superstructure is modified with a deckhouse forward of the bridge and a working area built over the fuel cargo tanks. The stern is

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

ed for the helicopter pad; a small hangar is also installed. There are four fuel and two solid store transfer stations. Refueling may be conducted from the stern.

History

The ship was laid down in January 1989 by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

at the Kherson Shipyard as ''Vladimir Peregudov''. In 1992, China bought the incomplete ship from Ukraine for $10 million. According to Zhang Gang, chief designer of the replenishment oiler , the purchase was made after the Chinese effort to design a new replenishment ship - ultimately the Type 903 replenishment ship - was delayed due to cost; the PLAN requirement was for one large replenishment per fleet, and it only had two

Type 905 replenishment oiler The Type 905 ( NATO reporting name: ''Fuqing'') is a class of replenishment oiler (AOR) built for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) by the People's Republic of China (PRC). They were the first ships built to perform underway replenishment ...

s. The ship sailed nearly complete to

Dalian Dalian () is a major sub-provincial port city in Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is Liaoning's second largest city (after the provincial capital Shenyang) and the third-most populous city of Northeast China. Located on ...

, China in 1993, and completed by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company. She was commissioned into the PLAN in 1996 and assigned to the

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the South China Sea under the Southern Theater Command. It is headquartered in Zhanjiang, ...

References

Sources

* * * {{DISPLAYTITLE:Chinese ship ''Qinghaihu'' Fusu-class replenishment ships Auxiliary replenishment ship classes

Design

History

See also

References

Sources