- Yes
- No
- Yes! both the Early and Late iterations of Yongjia!
- Yes! just the Early iteration of Yongjia!
- Yes! just the Late iteration of Yongjia!
- No to All!
Many centuries ago in the mythical era of… 2020… this was originally going to be a massive suggestion for the entirety of the Type 037 family of Corvettes and their sometimes confusingly named variants both foreign and domestic… however this is a subject that was even before the uniform ship suggestion rule, simply way, WAY, too large for a single suggestion, so this is going to be a whole series of suggestions eventually across the Chinese and Other sections, to give each class and national variant its own time to shine.
With that said, this is the third, and offshoot of the second of what might become at around a dozen suggestions:
Yongjia, sometime in the 2000s, as its lost its aft Type 66 57mm guns
DESIGN:
The Type 037ID is a unique, mid-level modification to the specifications and armaments of the Type 037I, done around the same time as the main Type 037, the first true iteration of the original Type 037, with the result being that this unique subvariant, named 永嘉 (Yongjia), pennant number 693, is almost always lumped right in, with relatively few sources even realizing that this is a different type of ship.
These aren’t just quality of life upgrades for the crew either- while there’s small things like changing the exhaust location from the back of the ship to to the ship sides and down by the waterline, and the understated improvement that was the bow and aft 57mm Type 66 turrets being placed an extra half-meter’s length of distance further away from the Type 69s and their beastly concussion; but the real improvements were the two that showed what would be the way forwards for the entire 037 family and their future roles:
one of the 4 upgraded engines was additionally fitted with a Turbocharger
and most importantly, removal of the Type-64 depth charge launcher (a copy of the BMB-2) and the CCS-59… which i think is the minelayer… google translate and mandarin don’t mix well… making this a Submarine Chaser that… can’t really do anything against a submersed submarine…
…
keep in mind this is prior to the Type 037G completely abandoning the pretense of a dedicated submarine hunter as a general purpose corvette.
|
|
the actual passage is from an archived haijun360 page seen below (and google translate was struggling badly)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140813090408/http://www.haijun360.com/news/LQJ/2011/611/1161115264I221E0DHIGE115K5980J.html
"In addition to the modification of the main engine, the 037ⅠD boat has also made improvements to the following items. These improvements are consistent with the improvements of the 037Ⅰ successor boat, including:
(1) The main engine exhaust method is changed to water side exhaust;
(2) The front 57mm and 30mm guns distance between the guns is 0.5 meters longer than that of the first 037I boat;
(3) The stern type-64 large-scale deep bomb launcher and the CCS-59 deep bomb throwing device are cancelled;
(4) Unitary air conditioners are installed in all the cabins of the boat and carried out. Residential modification, No. 3 soldier cabin is divided into bedroom and dining room and activity room;
(5) The kitchen adopts vaporization stove and stainless steel kitchen equipment;
(6) It is equipped with a fecal treatment device imported from the United States."
|
|
and the untranslated original paragraph:
037ⅠD艇除主机改装外，还对下列项目进行了改进，这些改进项目与037Ⅰ型后继艇的改进是一致的，包括：⑴主机排气方式改为水上舷侧排气；⑵前57炮与30炮间的距离比037Ⅰ首制艇加大0.5米；⑶取消艉部64式大型深弹发射炮和CCS-59式深弹投掷装置；⑷全艇居住舱室全部安装单元式空调器，并进行了居住性改装，3号士兵舱划分为卧室和餐厅兼活动室；⑸厨房采用汽化炉灶和不锈钢厨房设备；⑹装从美国引进的粪便处理装置一台。
|
|
all these changes, along with Yongjia itself being a unique modification of an only 4-member class to begin with, shows that this was definitely an experimental test bed, and its similarities in modifications history to the regular Type 037I lead ship Nanhui shows that these were both of particular interest to the PLAN, even if in the end most of these changes and improvements were not adopted in the follow up mass class of the Type 037IS.
HISTORY:
as the Type 037ID Yongjia was commissioned in 1988 and is from China, a country well known for its commitment to transparency; there’s isn’t much history of note aside from refits. shocker.
however what little is known about Yongjia- unlike the Type 037Is, Yongjia made it to; if not the present day; than near enough- the Navypedia article on the Type 037I states it was still in service as of 2019, but the frequently updated chinese wiki article on the 037 family states Yongjia as being retired.
and a comment originally made on the original 037I suggestion before its removal from the old forum when the non-uniform ships rule came in, a comment that always just stuck with me for whatever reason - saying that a local nickname for Yongjia specifically i think, was the “Yellow Sea Battleship”, which is a pretty good indicator of just where this ship likely spent most of its life, and how nasty its armament is.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Like Nanhui in the previous suggestion, Yongjia follows a highly similar path in its lifetime refits aside from its own unique upgrade
Displacement (normal):
478 long tons
Displacement (full load):
490 long tons
|
|
Length:
62.8 meters - the 037Is were design-wise just slightly lengthened 037s
Width:
7.2 meters
Draft:
2.24 meters
|
|
trying to find details on Yongjia’s powerplant is not easy, though i’m fairly certain that 037IÐÍ·´Ç±Í§ has the explanation as to why the 037ID is so much faster than the 037Is
an extra little tidbit: the Chinese name (12VE230ZC) of the 40Д diesel of which its a copy of, is basically just a literal abbreviation of its characteristics:
(12 cylinders, V-type engine, two-stroke cycle (E), cylinder diameter 230mm, supercharged (Z), marine main engine (C)
|
|
Propulsion: four 12VE230ZC-II diesel engines; the upgrade over a previous upgrade (the 12VE230ZC-I seen on the Type 037Is late in life) from the base model Type 037.
Additionally the primary engine was further outfitted with a BBC VTR254 Marine Turbocharger, turbosupercharging the engine.
along with the regular 12VE230ZC-II diesel engines, this provided 4 shafts with 2500 horsepower each, producing speeds of 31.5 knots.
“In 1987, a 12VE23OZC-II medium-speed high-power diesel engine was modified, with a power of more than 2,500 horsepower, which increased the total propulsion power and increased the boat’s speed by 2 knots.”
“In January 1986, the construction of the 037ⅠD boat (hull number 693) started. The trial delivery was completed on May 13, 1988, and the speed of the boat was increased to 31.5 knots. In view of the phenomenon of black smoke emitting from the main engine when starting up and accelerating under low operating conditions, Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory installed BBC’s VTR254 supercharger on the main engine and modified the external air source.”
|
|
Range: 1750 nautical miles at 18 knots - a large part of the benefit of lengthening the Type 037s allowed for more fuel, necessary for extended patrols in the South China Sea
|
|
Crew: 70-72
ARMAMENT:
the Type 037ID Yongjia has the same exact armament as Nanhui from the Type 037I suggestion, being refitted at the same time.
EARLY:
2×2 57mm L/70 Type 66 guns
2x1 twin 30mm/63 Type 69 rotary autocannons
4x1 250mm Type 62 (copy of RBU-1200) ASRLs - retained from the Type 037
and all right on the bow as seen here
Type 351 locally produced copy of the Reya (NATO reporting name: POTHEAD) navigation and surface search radar - retained from the Type 037
H/SJD-3 (mechanically improved Soviet Tamir-11) telescoping high frequency sonar array - retained from the refitted Type 037s.
Type 342 (NATO reporting name: “Round Ball”) radome encapsulated long-range air and surface search, surveillance, and early warning radar array.
|
|
at the same time as Nanhui, Yongjia had its aft Type 66 removed, being replaced by a direct copy of the French Thomson-Sintra SS-12/DIP-12 hull mounted Variable Depth Sonar, likely to supplement the limited range H/SJD-3.
|
|
LATE (AS OF 2000s):
1×2 57mm L/70 Type 66 guns - only on the bow
2x1 twin 30mm/63 Type 69 rotary autocannons - unchanged from 1987
4x1 250mm Type-62 ASRLs - unchanged from 1987
Sensor Suite:
Thomson-Sintra SS-12/DIP-12 hull mounted Variable Depth Sonar
Type 351 locally produced copy of the Reya (NATO reporting name: POTHEAD) navigation and surface search radar - retained from the Type 037
H/SJD-3 (mechanically improved Soviet Tamir-11) telescoping high frequency sonar array - retained from the refitted Type 037s.
Type 342 (NATO reporting name: “Round Ball”) radome encapsulated long-range air and surface search, surveillance, and early warning radar array.
SOURCES:
online:
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/037型反潜护卫艇#037IS型反潜护卫艇
http://www.navypedia.org/ships/china/ch_cf_688.htm
literary:
Conways All the Worlds Ships 1947-1995, PDF/DjVu page 73