Ruijin-class armed merchantman
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force |
| Preceded by: | |
| Succeeded by: | Type 6601 frigate |
| Planned: | 6 |
| Building: | 6 |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Active: | 0 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 5 |
| History | |
 United States
| |
| Completed: | During World War II |
| Acquired: | During World War II |
| Commissioned: | During World War II |
| Decommissioned: | After World War II |
| In service: | World War II |
| Out of service: | After World War II |
| Fate: | Sold to Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation after World War II |
 Republic of China
| |
| Name: | See main text |
| Namesake: | See main text |
| Acquired: | After World War II |
| Fate: | Converted to armed merchantman by PLAN |
 China
| |
| Name: | See main text |
| Namesake: | After Chinese cities |
| Acquired: | early 1950s |
| Fate: | retired in 1960s |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Armed merchantman |
| Displacement: | 560 long tons (570 t) |
| Length: | 180 ft (55 m) |
| Beam: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Propulsion: | 500 hp (370 kW) from 2 General Motors Cleveland Division 6-278A 6-cyl V6 diesel engines x 2 |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 100+ |
| Armament: |
|
Ruijin class armed merchantman is a class of Chinese armed merchantmen of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in its infancy, and participated in several battles against ships of the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) in the early 1950s. These ships are also frequently referred to as gunboats by Chinese.
At its infancy, when first established in 1950, PLAN severely lacked large warships needed to defend the coastal regions which had been taken from the Republic of China at the end of Chinese Civil War. Deployment of former Republic of China Navy (RoCN) ships such Yongfeng-class gunboat and Minquan class gunboat captured by PLAN in open water proved to be rather unsatisfactory, because these ships were originally built for riverine patrols, and thus were ill-suited for operations at the sea. To meet the urgent need of sea-going warships, a decision was made to strengthen the newly established PLAN with armed merchantmen by converting some of the cargo ships in good condition.[1] A total of six cargo ships from China Merchants Steam Navigation Company were selected for the conversion, all of which were American coastal freighter from the World War II era. These ships were sold to China Merchants Steam Navigation Company after the war. They are Design 427 (officially Vessel, Supply, Aircraft Repair, Diesel, Steel, 180') light cargo ships (AKL). All ships were assigned to the Eastern China Military Region Navy (ECMRN, 华东军区海军), the predecessor of East Sea Fleet.
The main armament of Ruijin class consisted of either two or three 3"/50 caliber guns and an M101 howitzer. It's worthy of note that most of the US 3-inch guns are not those left behind by ROCN when they retreated from mainland China, but instead, they were transferred to China from the former Soviet Union, who received them from the US during World War II. Because PLAN had already been using US 3-inch guns captured during the Chinese Civil War, the same guns in Soviet hands were provided to simplify logistics. The secondary armament of Ruijin class consisted of Japanese and German guns Chinese communist force during the Chinese Civil War, including a pair of twin 3.7 cm Flak 18/36/37/43 guns, and two pairs of twin Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Guns. The lead ship of this class was lost to aerial attack by four ROCAF P-47s on May 18, 1954, and the rest of this class retired in the 1960s as domestically Chinese built frigates entered PLAN service.[1]
| PLAN name | ROCN name | Launched | Commissioned | Retired | Status | Fleet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruijin | Jiangtong (江通) | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | May 18, 1954 | Sunk | ECMRN |
| Xingguo | Jiangda (江达) | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | 1960s | Retired | ECMRN |
| Zunyi | Dezhou | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | 1960s | Retired | ECMRN |
| Handan | Hoary stock flower | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | 1960s | Retired | ECMRN |
| Huaiyang | Golden fragrant flower | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | 1960s | Retired | ECMRN |
| Yancheng | Clove flower | Early 1950s | Early 1950s | 1960s | Retired | ECMRN |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ruijin class armed merchantman". Archived from the original on September 23, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2015. Unknown parameter
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