The Type 074 landing ship (NATO reporting name: Yuhai-class) is a class of landing ship medium (LSM) of the People's Liberation Army Navy. They were built at Wuhu Shipyard of Wuhu, Anhui from 1995 to 2000. Although entering service in the mid-1990s, the origin of Type 074 dates to almost three decades earlier in the mid-1960s, and Type 074 is the result of experience learned from around half a dozen models earlier.
Background The preceding Type 079 landing ship suffers from inherit design flaws so that in order to achieve ease of production, it could be mass-produced, the hull shape was a very simply flat bottom design, and this is not good for sailing in poor weathers. As a result, PLAN issued a request of upgrade of the Type 079 in the 1990s. However, as study progressed, it was discovered that in order to reach the requirement, major redesign is needed, and the cost would be prohibitive. The only alternative was to enlarge the successful design of the older Type 271 landing ships, hence Type 074 was borne as a cross between the Type 079 and the Type 271, with the upgraded equipment of the former installed on an enlarged hull of the latter.
Design
This class of landing ship is capable of making oceanic voyages in moderate sea states. They are used for tactical beach lodgement, and can carry up to 100 tonnes of cargo. Indicative maximum loads include either 2 main battle tanks, or 6 light amphibious tanks, or 350 fully equipped troops. The ships of this class are fitted with three Type 61 25mm AAA guns|Type 61 dual-25mm antiaircraft artillery guns. Some units are also fitted with Type 81H 122mm multiple rocket launchers. Although on board equipment of Type 074 is derived from that of Type 079, advancement in Chinese technological and industrial capability enabled the adaptation of automation, which significantly reduced the number of crew needed almost by a half, down to 56 from the original 109 of Type 079.074 type (Yuhai) landing ship, haijun360.com
Displacement: 800 tonnes (full) Length: 58.4 m Beam: 10.4 m Draft: 2.7 m Speed: 18 kt Propulsion: 2 MAN AG diesel engines or its Chinese copy @ 4,900 hp with 2 shafts Complement: 56 Lift capacity: 2 main battle tanks plus 250 troops Armament: Two 25 mm guns (II x 1) Radar: One I-band navigational radar
Ships of the class Pennant NumberBuilderStatus3111Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3113Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3115Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3116Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3117Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3229Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3244Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service7593Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuDecommissioned7594Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuDecommissioned7595Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuDecommissioned3357Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3358Wuhu Shipyard, WuhuIn Service3369In Service https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/23460732/2022_plan_recognition_poster_unclassified.pdf, Office of Naval Intelligence
Operators
- 2 in service. - Estimated to be around 12 in active service. - 1 in service. - unknown in service.
Type 074A Yubei-class landing ship
The Type 074A Yubei-class landing ship features a totally different design to the base Type 074. It has a wave-piercing catamaran hull among other changes. Eight are in active service.074A type catamaran landing craft Universal (in Chinese), haijun360.comType 074A, worldwarships.com
See also People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force
References
External links Yuhai (Type 074) (worldwarships.com)