SinoDefence Forum

King_Comm

It appears that 888 has entered service, I have found these pictures on china.com, what I find weird is that she doesn't have the large rigs like 886 and 887, with no hangar, and she carries 4 barge like thingies.

philbob

That is a nice ship, she looks a little smaller then 886 and 887

plawolf

They sacrificed the hanger for rear main gun, and gave up cranes for the ability to carry up to six speedboats? Does not look like any replenish ship I have ever seen. In fact, it looks more like a coast gaurd OSPV

bd popeye

True to a point. This is an replenishment ship. It does have re-fueling stations and transfer stations for replenishment at sea. I do not understand why the PLAN decided they did not need a hangar. . That I do not understand.

Those boat booms are a curious matter. What's the need? For amphibious operations??

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jackbh

Could the hanger be inside the hall of the ship instead of on deck?

There are some larger war ship with design like this with the hanger in the hall of the ship.

The Russian nuclear battlecruisers are designed like that.

King_Comm

The boat 888 carries don't look like speed boats or landing crafts, and look at the tyres on their sides, they look more like barges or tug boats, maybe they are used to ferry supplies? Resupply Chinese controlled islands in south China sea?

crobato

I think she already came into service late last year. The ship is nowhere near the shipyard that made her. If you look at the waters and the background, she's in Hainan with the South Seas Fleet.

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duskylim

Dear Sirs:

I agree with King Comm and Crobato, this vessel is not an underway replenishment ship for other warships but a base resupply ship, for the various island bases China is now operating.

In between the the falls for the ship's boats, there seems to be a post-crane on either beam if I'm not mistaken. Looks like the boats are first lowered into the water then loaded with supplies from the post-crane. The piers on Chinese island bases should have corresponding cranes too or it would be a bitch unloading heavy cargo from these boats in a heavy sea.

Though she doesn't seem to have a hanger, the after flight deck looks like it can accommodate the largest helicopters operated by China (Z-8?).

Also aren't those refueling rigs at the foot of the after twin 37 mm AA gun pedestal? There also seem to be port and starboard AAA machine-guns on top of the after superstructure just ahead of the main gun mount.

Beneath the flight deck, the semi-open extension to the main deck clearly can accommodate both personnel and bulky items, albeit slightly exposed to the weather. I wonder if there is an elevator between it and the flight deck?

Given the construction of a vessel like this, it looks like the Chinese plan to occupy the islands in the South China Sea for a long time to come.

Regards,

Dusky Lim

crobato

The Chinese held islands have air strips in them. There is no need to have a ship resupply these islands. The islands can be supplied by aircraft or helicopter. Even if you use a ship to resupply these islands, a ship the size of a small trawler can reach those islands directly from the mainland coast.

The small tugboats are too small to ferry supplies without making multiple trips. I suspect they're meant to help partially resupply submarines.

Definitely a resupply ship because the pennant has the designation "8" at the beginning, which is reserved for ships of this purpose.

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joshuatree

According to sinodefence itself, the ship's main purpose is resupply these islands. Perhaps it's just more economically feasible to resupply the islands with a ship of larger capacity?

crobato

No not with a warship like this. This ship is a considerable expenditure considering the islands can be supplied from any cargo ship or even a trawler. Not to mention there is barely anyone in those islands, and if you have a more significant population, it is just better to deliver things through a regular container.

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adeptitus

The ship was probably built to replace the Dayun Class:
Type 904 (Dayun Class) Transport Ship - SinoDefence.com

They transferred one of the Dayun class ships to Fishery law enforcement agency, so they built a replacement for it. Both classes have aft helo decks but no hanger.

bigstick61

It makes more sense to resupply islands via ship. It does cost less, as strange as that may seem to some. That is why 95% of goods are transported by ship and not by other means. This ship seems made for this role. If the islands could support large facilities with cranes for moving containers, they probably would have built a container ship for this purpose.

joshuatree

I concur, regular containers would be the most economical and standardized but these islands don't have any port facilities anywhere near capable of offloading containers. That would explain the extra boat cranes on the 888. And who knows, maybe they are planning for a larger presence on the islands?

crobato

Go take a look at the islands. This is Woody Island. Note the air strip is the one dominating the feature of this island. They didn't build this airstrip for nothing.

At the side of the island there is a ship. If this is a resupply ship, they don't need the 888 when they already have one. Note the whole ship can park right there on the side and there is no need for the little boats to go down to the island. It looks like to me any bulk carrier can do the job.

Attached Images

	woody.jpg (89.5 KB, 91 views)
	woody1.jpg (57.3 KB, 104 views)

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