Type 62 Shanghai-class coastal ASW patrol craft

The Shanghai-class boats are small, fairly primitive coastal patrol craft. Because the boat was officially finalized and mass-produced in 1962, it is commonly known as the 62-type high-speed gunboat. The design number is the 0111 high-speed artillery escort boat, which is called the "Shanghai" class gunboat in the West. During the Cold War, China has built a total of about 391 62-type gunboats, of which about 93 are exported abroad.

In the 1950s, although the Chinese People's Liberation Army had already used the old equipment in the hands of the Taiwan Strait to the extreme, it was difficult to hit the Kuomintang Navy because of the gap between firepower and speed. During the initial period of the People's Navy, the East China Sea frontline navy relied on some small ships to win one victory after another in the battles of the Tomen Mountains, the night attack on the Taiping, the liberation of a river, and the bombardment of the Golden Gate. However, some of the original ships, such as the 55-A gunboat built in the mid-to-late 1950s, have significantly improved tactical technical performance than the first-generation gunboat 53. However, at this time, the Kuomintang Navy has also been supported by the United States. Great development, with dozens of ships such as destroyers and frigates. These ships have large displacement, strong firepower and fast speed. In addition, there are still a number of fast special agents that often invade and harass the Chinese coast.

In contrast, the speed of the 55-A gunboat is still low, the firepower is not strong enough, the wind resistance is poor, and it is not possible to cooperate with the torpedo speedboat. It is necessary to design and manufacture a new high-speed escort boat. The senior leaders of the Chinese Navy realized that not only the equipment gap, but also the construction of large warships for economic and technical reasons, a small, high-speed, fire-powered small high-speed ship was put on the agenda of the construction of the Chinese navy.

Since the establishment of the mainland Navy, a large number of Huangpu-class (053) and Shantou-class (055) gunboats (known as the escort boat in the mainland) have been equipped in the early days. However, it is difficult to meet the demand for naval warfare regardless of the displacement, endurance and speed. The mainland used the domestic use in the late 1950s. The technology and equipment available (especially for turbines and weapons) to develop a larger, faster and newer generation of escort gunboats. In this case, the research and development of each unit was carried out separately, and the research and development were carried out in parallel.

In 1958, the Chinese Navy proposed the construction of a number of high-speed escort boats that could work with torpedo boats. Under the situation of "Great Leap Forward" at that time, the naval fleets and bases independently developed a variety of escort boats, such as the "0109" type of the East China Sea Fleet, the "0105" type of the Lushun base, the "0108" type of the Qingdao base, and the South China Sea Fleet. The "0110" type has accumulated a certain amount of experience.

The design of the 0105 type (built 3 ships) was launched in the Luda area, the 0108 type design (built one ship) was launched in the Qingdao area, and the 0109 type was built in the Shanghai area (a total of 10 ships were built). ), while the Guangzhou area is Type 0110 (a total of 3 ships are built). The displacement of these ships is between 100 and 150 tons. The length is 33.5~43.5m, the width is 5.2~5.95m, the depth is 3.1m, and the speed is 27~. 30 knots, endurance 650~1000 nautical miles (18.5~16.3), the main engine is four M-50F-3 diesel engines, armed with a 57mm fast gun, a 37mm fast gun and two 14.5mm machine guns, or two double 37mm speed gun, two 14.5mm machine guns, or a double-mounted 37mm speed gun, two double-mounted 25mm guns and other configurations.

The mainland navy held a escort boat design conference in Qingdao, selecting one of the four models 0105, 0108, 0109 and 0111 (0110 was unable to cross the Taiwan Strait and was the first to exit), and the mass production was finalized. In this meeting, the four types of escort boats were on display. Then, the Navy equipment department absorbed the characteristics of these designs and launched the 0111 gunboat (it is said that it also refers to the design of the 6604 submarine provided by the Soviet Union in the "Sixth and Fourth" agreements between China and the Soviet Union).

The 62-type high-speed escort boat was held in Shanghai in April 1959. The General Staff, the Navy, and the various fleets all sent people to participate in the "High-speed Guard Boat Design and Construction Site Experience Exchange Meeting". According to the design plan provided by the Navy and related institutes, September 1959 the product of the construction drawings was completed by Dalian Shipyard. This type of boat drew on the characteristics of the escort boats developed by the respective fleet bases (0105 boats in Lushun, 0108 boats in Qingdao, 0109 boats in Shanghai, and 0110 boats in Guangzhou). Finally, the mainland navy chose the Model 0111, and then made many modifications, including reducing the weight of the hull to 115 tons, changing the cabin configuration, and replacing the main armor with two 66-type double-fit 57mm 77-speed guns from the prototype. Into two 61-type 37mm 63-fold machine guns (replaced by the 76 type in the 1970s), changing the deck outdoor shape, etc., this program is called 0111 A; the reason for the replacement of the 57mm artillery is that its technology is not yet mature, resulting in Unstable performance and high failure rate.

It has become a small navy favorite in the navy. The new boat was named "0111" escort boat. The first prototype "0111" test boat was built at the Dalian Shipyard in 1960. It was completed in 1961 and was put into trial operation. It was commissioned on November 23 of the same year. Its full displacement is about 125~130 tons.

In December 1962, the first batch of three 0111 A-type boats was started at the Dalian Shipyard and completed in September 1963. The trial was launched in October of the same year. The sea speed was more than 30 knots during the test. After the test was completed, these three 01111 boats were delivered to a foreign buyer. The 011 was finally approved by the State Council Military Products Stereotype Committee in 1963, and was given the official model of 062 (although the displacement has been reduced to 115 tons, the mainland Navy still calls it 125 tons), and the West is called Shanghai class.

In addition to the two 37mm main guns, the 0111 model is equipped with two 61-type double-mounted 25mm 60-fold cannons, which are on the deck behind the bridge (both 25mm cannons due to the small cockpit width). Both can be turned to the bow of the ship for shooting at the same time); there are two deep-water bomb launchers at the stern, which can carry up to 8 deep-water bombs. In addition, there are mine rails that can carry 6 mines, so the boat can also conduct such missions, and mine-blocking. A small sonar at the bottom of the ship is used to detect submarines. This class ship is also equipped with a smoke screen generator, which can provide cover effect during battle.

The 0111 type boat adopted the round stern type hull design. Although the resistance is larger than that of the sharp stern type, the wave resistance is better, the seaworthiness is better, and the stability is better. The stability of the 0111 type is quite good. The initial steady center of gravity is only 0.7m high from the waterline. According to the operational experience of the mainland navy, this type of boat sometimes tilts to the extent that the person is half lying on the bulkhead during the storm, but still it is easy to support the boat. The Model 0111 is designed to tolerate two compartments from entering the water without sinking.

In 1964, some 0111 boats were fitted with the Army's 56-type double-mounted 75mm recoilless gun in front of the 37mm gun. The 82mm mortar was installed behind the 37mm gun, which was used without recoil. In attacking enemy ships, mortars are mainly used to throw flares at night; in addition, some 0111 models are also equipped with large searchlights in service to search for enemy agent boats that attempt to infiltrate the shores overnight.

In addition to its own use, the mainland has also built a large number of Shanghai-level export or military aid, mainly for the Middle East, Africa and other countries: North Vietnam received 8 ships in May 1966; Tanzania received 7 ships from 1970 to 1971, and In 1992, it won two more ships; Guinea received six ships in 1971 and the other two in North Korea and Pakistan in the same year; in 1972, Sri Lanka received five ships, and in 1991 it received five more; Bangladesh in 1980-1982 Received 6 ships (two more in 1995), while Albania also received 6 ships; in 1984 four ships were delivered to Egypt, three were delivered to the Congo; Tunisia received three in 1994. In addition, Romania obtained the authorization and transfer technology from the mainland in 1973, and produced 25 to 27 ships of its own class. Other countries that have obtained Shanghai-level include Cameroon (2 ships), Cambodian Village (4 ships), Sierra Leone (3 ships), and Say (4 ships).