056 class FFL/corvette

Hmmm.... the picture shows that the newer right hand vessel is higher partly because she is sitting higher in the water (higher freeboard - more lightly loaded). But it also reveals that the new bridge superstructure is really higher than that in the older model.

The main mast, fire-control radar and air search radar are also higher in the new vessel. The higher mounts will allow them to search-and-track a bit farther aways.

Correct me if I am wrong but it seems the covering around the sides of the new ship's superstructure has a slight inwards cant, perhaps aiding to a certain extent the stealthy properties and covering up the large collection of sensors and devices on the older models roof.

Sadly the overall effect makes it look that the ship inherited Tyra Banks forehead, doesn't look as nice as the older model, and perhaps may not have as good seakeeping qualities, all that topweight would make her roll more.

The East China Sea fleet of the PLAN conducted a live fire exercise of the new Type 056 frigate, Quanzhou, 588, on Jan 20, 2015



They are rapidly folding these new vessels into their training exercises.

a moment ago I found these cool pictures in

Seems that type 056 is a exporting success. The Argentinian navy is going to buy 4 OPV's from China called the Malvinas class based on Nigeria's P81N corvettes which in turn is related to the Type 056. After export orders from Bangladesh and Nigeria now Argentina.

I must say that while those ships are probably the most advanced in their class compared to the 'outside world' they're ugly as hell.

Two storey block standing out of the water. And ugly.

Sorry.

Actually, I think they are pretty good looking.

Decent stealth characteristics, and, aside from the higher landing deck aft, fairly low to the water.

hmm, is there any drawback of having high landing deck?

antiterror13 said:

hmm, is there any drawback of having high landing deck?

Click to expand...

No room for a full sized hanger without making the after superstructure higher as well.

Safety comes first. Landing aboard a warship with less than 2 meters of freeboard surely causes a headache to the pilots who have to land on the pad few meters wide and long in any conditions above a still sea with almost no wind. It's easier aboard Arleigh Burke class with much more seaworthiness than a small Type 056 vessel. Korean Incheon class with a pad around 2 meters above the sea level must be a nightmare for any pilot to land and makes those fairly big warships unusable on the high seas or bad weather conditions (for me those warhips look like they're going to be broken in half if the lenght of the wave is big enough). In September of 2013 a tragic accident happened aboard USS William P. Lawrence. That's surely not a a thing you should ignore!

This thing makes Type 056 vessels ugly for me as I stated before with their 'original' silhouette of having the stern at the same level as the bow. PLAN surely would like to see those in the high seas beyond the first island chain (and it happened already a few times) but that's impossible for those ships to operate in the case of war there. But it's much easier for PLAN pilots to do their work in the best conditions that a 90 meters long hull could provide. PLAN is just learning how harsh the waters of the northern Pacific are with probably more than one sailor with broken bones but a real nightmare is to keep up with European navies for which it's normal business to sail in the much worse waters of north Atlantic. US battleships designed for the calm Pacific waters didn't pass the test of those waters during WWII days compared to, for example, British or German standards of the day.

That's a wise decission from Chinese engineers and those who accept the plans in the navy but not a great example of shipbuilding with 'class' (like for examlpe Type 071 surely is - it looks great and does it's work - one of the best looking warships in the world for me!)