''Huangshan'' (570) is a

Type 054A frigate The Type 054A (NATO/ OSD Jiangkai II) is a Ship class, class of guided-missile frigate from the People's Republic of China. It is a development of the Type 054 frigate; compared to its predecessor, the Type 054A has medium-range air defense capa ...

of the

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

. She was commissioned on 13 May 2008 and is a member of the

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (STCN), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF) until 2018, is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Southern Theater Command. History In December 1949, the Fourth Fi ...

Development and design

The Type 054A carries

HQ-16 The HQ-16 (; NATO reporting name: CH-SA-16) is a Chinese medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). It is derived f ...

medium-range air defence missiles and anti-submarine missiles in a

vertical launching system A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mo ...

(VLS) system. The HQ-16 has a range of up to 50 km, with superior range and engagement angles to the Type 054's

HQ-7 The HQ-7 (; NATO reporting name: CH-SA-4) is a short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) from the People's Republic of China. It was reverse-engineered by the Changfeng Electromechanical Technology Design Institute from the French R-440 Crotale ...

. The Type 054A's VLS uses a hot launch method; a shared common exhaust system is sited between the two rows of rectangular launching tubes. The four

AK-630 The AK-630 is a Soviet Union, Soviet and Russian fully automatic naval, rotary cannon, close-in weapon system. The "630" designation refers to the weapon's six gun barrels and their 30 mm caliber. The system is mounted in an enclosed automatic ...

close-in weapon system A close-in weapon system (CIWS ) is a point-defense weapon system for detecting and destroying short-range incoming missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses, typically mounted on a naval ship. Nearly all classes of l ...

s (CIWS) of the Type 054 were replaced with two

Type 730 CIWS The Type 730 is a Chinese seven-barrelled 30 mm Gatling gun/rotary cannon CIWS. It has a PLA Navy designation H/PJ12. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar, and electro-optical tracking systems. The maximum ...

on the Type 054A. The autonomous Type 730 provides improved reaction time against close-in threats.

Construction and career

''Huangshan'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 28 April 2005 and launched on 18 March 2007 at the Huangpu Shipyard in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Commissioned on 13 May 2008. On April 2, 2009, ''Huangshan'' and

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

formed the second escort fleet of the Chinese Navy, which set sail from Zhanjiang City,

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, to perform escort missions in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

and Somali waters. This escort marked the entry of a new phase of orderly succession and normal operation of the Chinese Navy's escort operations. The escort lasted 142 days. ''Huangshan'' and others provided regional cover for 85 ships, successfully rescued 4 attacked foreign ships, and verified and driven away 129 suspicious ships. The formation returned to a military port in Zhanjiang City on August 21. On July 26, 2010, ''Huangshan'',

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

, and

Ningbo Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the Eas ...

conducted a live-firing exercise of multi-arms contract in a certain area of the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

under the organization of the

. The exercise was carried out in 3 sea areas and more than 18,000 square kilometers of sea area, and 71 missiles of 16 types were launched. It was evaluated as the most complete training elements, the most actual missiles, and the highest degree of information in the history of the PLA Navy at that time. The most complicated joint combat exercise in the electromagnetic environment. On November 9, 2012, Huangshan,

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, of whom 1,290,71 ...

, and Qinghaihu formed the 13th Chinese navy escort fleet, which set sail from Zhanjiang Port in Guangdong Province to the Gulf of Aden, Performing escort missions in the waters of Somalia. The escort lasted 196 days and nights. ''Huangshan'' and others completed 37 batches of 166 escort missions of Chinese and foreign ships, and verified and driven away suspicious targets at sea in 68 batches and 110 times. After completing the escort mission, the formation visited five countries including

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and returned to a military port in Zhanjiang on May 23, 2013. On October 18, 2013, ''Huangshan'' and

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

set sail to participate in the navy's "Mobile-5" open sea exercises, and went to the western Pacific waters to perform sea-to-air three-dimensional offensive and defensive exercises and joint anti-submarine warships task. The exercise lasted for 15 days and ended on November 1, 2013. All participating troops returned to the station one after another. On December 19, the South Sea Fleet consisting of ''Huangshan'',

Yuncheng Yuncheng () is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and ...

, and Weishanhu set sail from Zhanjiang City and proceeded to the Western Pacific and other waters. Exercises in subjects such as continuous maritime alert, counter-terrorism and counter-piracy, and joint search and rescue. On February 17, 2014, ''Huangshan'' and others performed the Syrian chemical weapons maritime escort mission to replace the force from a military port in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, and went to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

to replace

Yancheng Yancheng (), formerly known as Yandu, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern coastal Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai' ...

, which has completed three batches of Syrian chemical weapons maritime escort missions. After completing 13 escort missions with ships from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and other countries, ''Huangshan'' returned to a military port in Zhanjiang City on July 24 after completing the Syrian chemical weapons maritime escort mission. On December 29, 2014, ''Huangshan'' sailed to Indonesian waters to participate in the search and rescue operation of Indonesian AirAsia Flight 8501.

Gallery

File:Fleet in Nan Hai.jpg, ''Huangshan'' off Nanhai on 16 August 2007. File:CNS Huangshan (FFG-570).jpg, ''Huangshan'' underway on 23 December 2013. File:YJ-83.jpg, ''Huangshan'''s

YJ-83 The YJ-83 (; NATO reporting name: CSS-N-8 Saccade) is a Chinese subsonic anti-ship cruise missile. It is manufactured by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Third Academy. Development The YJ-83 uses microprocessors and a st ...

on 16 May 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huangshan 2007 ships Ships built in China Type 054 frigates