Type 01 Chengdu-class - Origins
The Project 50 Riga class was a rather simplistic and straight forward design. With their basic capabilities, moderate size and ease of operation, they made perfect export vessels for smaller navies where such ships could easily fill the multi-purpose role, taking the place of large minesweepers and actual destroyers.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the start-up Chinese navy was poor and the ships it owned were mostly old Kuomintang ships that were seized, salvaged, and restored, as well as old ships from the United States and Japan. After repairing some of these navigable frigates, the Chinese Navy formed the first frigate fleet. These repaired frigates had weak firepower, extremely poor endurance and navigation performance, low sailing rates, difficult maintenance, and limited role in actual combat. Under this circumstance, China introduced the construction technology of the "Riga" class frigate from the Soviet Union in 1955 (that is, the "6601" frigate, the Soviet Union provided all the components and technical documents and was assembled and built by China), so that the Chinese Navy had a more practical frigate with strong combat capabilities.
On June 4, 1953, the Chinese and Soviet governments formally signed the "Agreement on the Provision of Naval Equipment and Warship Manufacturing to China with Technical Assistance" (referred to as the "June 4th Agreement"). On February 17, 1954, Xiao Jinguang , commander of the People's Liberation Army Navy, and Huang Jing, Minister of the First Machinery Industry signed the "Protocol for the Construction of Warships Transferred by the Soviet Union." Shanghai Hudong Shipyard built 4 Type 50 Riga-class frigates transferred by the Soviet Union , code-named "6601" (ie, Type 01 frigates). Its drawings, materials, equipment and weapons were provided by the Soviet Union. From 1955 to 1958, China constructed Type 01 frigates, and two sets of advanced parts were assembled and constructed by Hudong Shipyard. Later, according to the license agreement, the construction of 2 ships was continued.
Sun Liming, the director of Hudong Shipyard, led the work in accordance with the factory expansion plan approved by the Ministry and Bureau. The factory focused on the basic construction and the 01-type frigate (internal code: "01" products) preparations for construction, and adjusts and enriches the production organization according to "01" product construction requirements, formulates rules and regulations, All production links of the factory are on track. Qiu Fei was appointed as the "01" Chief Constructor.
On September 30, 1954, the first batch of technological information of the "01" ship arrived at the factory. The factory immediately organized translation, learning and digestion. In December 1954, two groups of 15 people went to study in the Soviet Union. And 37 people were sent to foreign factories to learn welding, weapons, steam turbines, boilers, electroplating, overhead cranes and other technologies. On February 13, 1955, the "01" product was built in the factory, the Soviet expert team leader and chief shipbuilder Sigwan Shijie arrived at the factory, and other Soviet experts also came to the factory. In the first batch of examinations and approvals, 140 people participated in the construction of the "01" ship, and Soviet experts gave professional lectures and provided on-the-job training for engineering technicians and skilled workers.
On February 17, 1955, the "01" first ship on the factory's temporary stakeout platform used the "Qirnov outer panel expansion method" to stake out, and the aluminum model was used to cut the material. On April 15, the hull was divided into sections. Manufacturing started. Constructed in a tower segment assembly process. The whole ship was divided into 9 craft stages and 86 craft groups. There are several process items for each process component, and the builder and production department drew up monthly production plans based on the workload of the process items and issue construction orders to the workshop. Each workshop reported to the factory according to the completed technological project to settle the product cost.
Section welding started, and the pass rate of X-ray films of the weld was less than 90%. In order to ensure the welding quality of the hull, the welding technicians from China and the Soviet Union analyzed it on the spot. For this purpose, first perform a grinding disc test, select an appropriate welding specification, and ensure the penetration depth as required. Use automatic seam indicator to resolve partial welding problems. Before welding, the welding seams were cleaned one by one, and the welding wire met the requirements for storage and use, thereby solving the problem of porosity. These measures increased the welding qualification rate to more than 98%.
The hull assembly used a frame. Production is performed in a mixed assembly group (set assembly, batching, tack welding, pyrotechnics, gas cutting, etc.). The hull, main and auxiliary machinery, electrical, weapons, and observation and communication equipment were successively completed according to construction progress indicators.
On April 28, 1956, the "01" first ship was launched on the newly built horizontal slide. The test and delivery work began. The factory appointed Zou Ziyu as the captain of the delivery team and Luo Qi as the deputy captain. The members of the delivery team were tested first and a certificate of compliance was issued. On June 15, 1956, the mooring test began. The test is carried out step by step, first cold test, then hot test; single machine test, and then system joint test. The mooring test ended on September 15, 1956.
On October 17, 1956, the sea trial began in Dinghai, Zhejiang Sea area. It lasted 70 days, went out of space for 24 days, sailed for 207 hours, and covered a range of 2,115 nautical miles. On December 25, 1956, the sea trial of the factory was completed. On January 22, 1957, the national sailing test of the "01" ship began. The ammunition required for the test and the ships it cooperated with were provided by the garrison representative. The National Acceptance Committee decided that all projects, except for the sonar station, would be carried out in the Dinghai waters.
On March 12, 1957, the "01" ship sailed to Lushun to conduct a sonar test. During the voyage, the ocean near Chengshanjiao on the Shandong peninsula coincided with the northern cold tide, the temperature was below -18°C, and gusts and winds were above 11. The hull shook up to 42 degrees. After the ship arrived at the Lushun Naval Base, after inspection, the entire ship was intact except for the warning radar antenna that had been deformed by the waves. Various machinery and instruments are operating normally. The hull structure also showed no signs of damage or permanent deformation. The design, production, acceptance and use are satisfactory.
The first ship of Type 01 frigate was launched from March 12th to 13th, 1957. On the way to Lushun, Liu Zongxu, the leader of the ship's delivery team, a marine engineer, and a Communist Party member, died unfortunately at sea. Soviet expert Lachionov (engineering engineer) described Liu Zongxiu as an excellent delivery engineer.
The sonar station completed the test in Lushun waters. On May 30, 1957, the national sailing test of the "01" ship was completed, sailing for 128 days and 21 days, sailing for 200 hours, and a range of 3,500 nautical miles. It was later delivered to the Navy and named the ship "Kunming".
There were 3 follow-up ships of Type 01 frigate, and the second one is the same as the first one. With the completion of the plant's infrastructure and expansion, the third and fourth ships will be built in three general sections on the berth, and the pre-installation and equipment installation and parallel operation of hull construction will be adopted. A total of 1161 technicians and producers participated in the construction of the "01" four frigates, and 75 Soviet station experts.
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