Type 991 cablelayer
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Type 991
cable layer A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cab ...
is a family of Chinese cable layers first saw service in Chinese navy, and later on, additional units also entered service with Chinese civilian authorities.


Type 991I

Type 991 I is the first member of Type 991 series, and it is the first purposely designed cable layer / repair ship in China. Program begun in early 1961 when Chinese naval headquarter formally issued the order to 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 ...
, and the 708th Institute is also more commonly known as China Shipbuilding and Oceanic Engineering Design Academy
中国船舶及海洋工程设计研究
) nowadays. After extensive research, the 3rd Directorate of the 708th Institute (708所3室) begun design work in October 1963, but reviews revealed that there are some inadequacy in the design, so two new modified design was created in February 1964. The biggest change of the modified designs is that the original cable carrying capacity is limited to 155 tons in a single cargo hold compartment with cable length of 40 km at maximum. In the modified design, this is increased to 270 tons in two cargo hold compartments with cable length of 40 km at maximum. The diameter of the cable remained unchanged at 40 mm. On August 2, 1965, the 6th Ministry approved the design of Type 991. In March 1966, some final modification begun at Wuchang Shipyard, where the ship was planned to be built, and this final modification was completed in June 1966. However, Wuchang Shipyard did not built the ship, but instead, the ship was built in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
Shipyard, with work begun in 1967 and launched on June 7, 1969. On January 1, 1971, trials were successfully completed and the ship entered service in Chinese
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, G ...
with
pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
B230. Type 991I is equipped with10 ton (98.1 KN) EKM-20 cable laying machine that is indigenously designed in China. Specification: *Overall length (m): 54.6 *
Length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
(m): 48 *Waterline (m): 50 *Beam (m): 9 *Depth (m): 4.4 *Standard draft (m): 2.6 *Full load draft (m): 3.06 *Standard displacement (t): 691 *Full load displacement (t): 850 *Speed (k): 12 *Engine: 2 x 294 kW (400 hp) *Crew: 56 *Cable payload: 270 t of 40 mm cable, 70 km long


Type 991II

After Type 991I cable layer entered service, Chinese navy recommended upgrading the ship based on the experience gained from deployment, but in order to reach the new requirement, major modification of the ship is needed. Designers notified the Directorate of Communication of Chinese naval headquarter on November 12, 1971, and on March 19, 1972, Chinese naval headquarter notified the 7th Academy accordingly. On December 6, 1972, review of the design of Type 992II was completed, and additional requirement for further upgrade was issued, which was subsequently completed on July 10, 1973. In 1974, there was a change in priority because after more than two years of negotiation with Japan to purchase a cable layer for
Xisha Islands The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands () and the Hoang Sa Archipelago ( vi, Quần đảo Hoàng Sa, lit=Yellow Sand Archipelago), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. The archipelago includes about 130 small coral ...
, the deal was cancelled because the price tag of 25.6 million US dollars was too expensive and the 30 months it takes to complete was too simply slow. In addition, Ministry of Postal and Telecom also urgently needed a cable layer in order to meet the deadline of laying cable between China and Japan by the beginning of 1976. As a result, the first unit of Type 992II class was reassigned to civilian use for Ministry of Postal and Telecom, with further major modifications. The first ship of Type 991II class cable layer was laid down in 1975 and entered service in the same year. In June, 1977, the first Type 991II class cable layer for Chinese navy entered service and when program completed in 1983, a total of 6 completed. The ship 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 ...
as Youdian class (邮电, meaning postal and telecom in Chinese). Specification:Type 991II
/ref> *Overall length (m): 71.55 *
Length between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
(m): 66 *Waterline (m): 63 *Beam (m): 10.5 *Depth (m): 5.2 *Full load draft (m): 3.6 *Full load displacement (t): 1327 *Speed (k): 14 *Engine: 2 x 809 kW (1100 hp) *Cable payload: 400 t


Ships

All ships of Type 991 series cable layer are still active in the early 2010s after numerous upgrades, the latest which enables them to handle fiber optic cables (though their pennant numbers have changed due to the 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