The Type 068 and Type 069 (

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 ...

: Yuch'in or Yuqin) are classes of

landing craft mechanized The landing craft mechanized (LCM) is a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults. Variants There was no ...

(LCM) of 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 most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

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). They may be based on the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

T-4 landing craft, or smaller versions of the

Type 067 landing craft The Type 067 ( NATO reporting name: Yunnan) is a class of utility landing craft (LCU) of 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 most populous co ...

with shorter tank and longer poop decks. The Type 068 and Type 069 were mainly designed to transport cargo and personnel respectively. The landing craft were built at

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

from 1962 to 1972. A few modified Type 069s were built at

Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...

for

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

in the 1990s.

Operators

; Bangladesh bought six of the landing craft from China. Two Type 069s were fitted as inshore survey craft and entered service in 1983. Four Type 068s were delivered in 1986. The

1991 Bangladesh cyclone The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone was among the deadliest tropical cyclones on record. Forming out of a large area of convection over the Bay of Bengal on April 24, the tropical cyclone initially developed gradually while meandering over the sout ...

severely damaged two Type 068s, one of which was scrapped. ; ; Tanzania bought two modified Type 069s for logistics support. They were launched from the Kailing Shipyard and delivered in 1995. They have greater molded depth for increased cargo capacity, air conditioning and improved steering.

References

Sources

* * {{Ship classes of the Chinese Navy Amphibious warfare vessel classes Amphibious warfare vessels of the People's Liberation Army Navy