052C/052D Class Destroyers
- Thread starter Jeff Head
- Start date
At Dalian shipyard, you can see the following launches from the same dock
10 May 2019. 2x Type-052D
29 Dec 2019. 1x Type-52D and 1 x Type-055
So you could say 6 months for a pair of Type-052D to be laid down and launched.
If they concentrate solely on Type-052D, that would be 4 per year from this single dock.
Then there is Jiangnan Shipyard as well.
Sadly most of the PLAN warships haven't been reported the accurate dates when they had the first steel cut or keel laid down. And in many cases the modules were first built in the workhouses distant away then moved to the shipyard.
Any time when you were confident with the type of a warship being assembled on the shipyard, maybe it's one year or less from her launching ceremony.
But are you sure those ships took the same spot? weren't there like 4 hulls at the same time, in various stages of construction, within that huge dock?
I dunno, 6 months from being laid down to launch sounds a bit too fast. But i'd certainly appreciate if someone actually had timestamped photos of new construction 052d being moved into the dock after that same spot was freed by a launched ship.
I dunno, 6 months from being laid down to launch sounds a bit too fast. But i'd certainly appreciate if someone actually had timestamped photos of new construction 052d being moved into the dock after that same spot was freed by a launched ship.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
No way could even China make 052Ds in 6 months during peace time.
I think it’s more reasonable that the 6 months observed time is time from when modules are being joined to launch.
Much of the construction time would have been fabrication of the core modules. But because those are typically done in sheds, we don’t get any independently verifiable dates for how long that takes.
I think it’s more reasonable that the 6 months observed time is time from when modules are being joined to launch.
Much of the construction time would have been fabrication of the core modules. But because those are typically done in sheds, we don’t get any independently verifiable dates for how long that takes.
Okay, google earth helped. There's quite a few images of Dalian, a consistent set.
There's one pair of ships that's accurate to a month, as there's imagery the next month showing the dock is empty. So ships were laid down in September 2018 and launched in december 2019. Roughly 15 months.
There's another pair for which there's half decent imagery available, where first parts were observed laid down around march 2017. launch isn't visible on the GE, as it was between two updates, one in february and other in september 2018. But, we do have other photograps, showing laucnh of two 055 from Dalian in July 2018. So those are most likely those two ships. Again, 16 months from being laid down to launched.
But given that these latest images from dalian show a construction that hasn't started only recently but they show something that looks almost half finished, i'd say there's a high chance those two ships will be launched before the end of 2022.
And given that they're positioned in the second half of the dock, there's some chance dalian will repeat what they did before, with adding two more ships in the front.
Actually what dalian seems to have done previously is lay down two ships at the back, then laid down two more in the front. then started to build the front ones really slowly. In the meantime, the back two ships got launched and two more ships were laid down at the back. built fully at higher construction speed then launched. and only then did the two ships in the front get finished and launched.
There's one pair of ships that's accurate to a month, as there's imagery the next month showing the dock is empty. So ships were laid down in September 2018 and launched in december 2019. Roughly 15 months.
There's another pair for which there's half decent imagery available, where first parts were observed laid down around march 2017. launch isn't visible on the GE, as it was between two updates, one in february and other in september 2018. But, we do have other photograps, showing laucnh of two 055 from Dalian in July 2018. So those are most likely those two ships. Again, 16 months from being laid down to launched.
But given that these latest images from dalian show a construction that hasn't started only recently but they show something that looks almost half finished, i'd say there's a high chance those two ships will be launched before the end of 2022.
And given that they're positioned in the second half of the dock, there's some chance dalian will repeat what they did before, with adding two more ships in the front.
Actually what dalian seems to have done previously is lay down two ships at the back, then laid down two more in the front. then started to build the front ones really slowly. In the meantime, the back two ships got launched and two more ships were laid down at the back. built fully at higher construction speed then launched. and only then did the two ships in the front get finished and launched.
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Yes. The question was from laying down to launch, which corresponds to module assembly time.
There's likely past photos of these ships at Dalian on this thread.
If you look at the Arleigh Burkes, you can see some 9months timescales from laying down to launch.
However, it looks like 11months was previously pretty common, presumably because they programmed in a leisurely 1 year for each ship. The US shipyards only have a limited number of orders so they are not in a rush to get ships out. In comparison, Dalian and Jiangnan have full order books and can always find more commercial work.
You also have shorter working hours in the US and greater difficulty in recruiting skilled shipyard labour than in China.
There's an English audio documentary on Jiangnan shipyard below.
So if I understand correctly, they are assembling destroyer modules in pairs, which takes 15-16months.
And they had 2 sets of these going on.
So that would be an average of 3 destroyers per year.
Thinking about it, that would be a cheaper and more efficient way to do it, if you're looking for 3 destroyers per year. The assembly time is longer but you are working on 2 pairs of ships at any time (4 in total), so there's always something to work on.
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What are you comparing the width with?