The origin of the Type 792 naval trawler can be traced back to the Type 8101 naval trawler, which is one of the follow–on types of the Type 8105 naval trawler.[1] Due to the insufficient speed of Type 801, the Chinese navy needed a more powerful ship when performing intelligence gathering missions, and thus selected the 600 horsepower Type 8101 fishing trawler that was developed in 1975.[1] [5] Along with Type 8105 naval trawler, Type 8101 naval trawler has been produced in higher numbers than their predecessors,[1] [6] and both had been equipped with rudimentary COMINT gears in addition to handheld cameras.[1] [7] Specification:[1] [8]
Before Chinese economic reform, it was relatively easy for the PLAN to command private vessels for military use in emergencies when everything was government-owned in a planned economy, but this has become increasingly difficult to do after the reform due to private ownership. However, PLAN has to keep a very large number of auxiliary minesweepers to prepare for war, and as a result, when Type 8105 and earlier Type 113, Type 801 naval trawlers had retired from their intelligence gathering role, they were converted to auxiliary minesweepers and placed in operational reserve of PLAN.[9] In addition, environmental problems have caused constant geological/geographical/hydrographical changes in Chinese waters, hence creating huge survey requirement, thus a number of these retired spy ships have also been converted to survey vessels to meet the extremely heavy hydrographic survey requirement.[10]
In late June 1979, Type 8101 naval trawler along with Type 8105 naval trawler participated in the shadowing former-Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk task force in the South China Sea, a mission failed because the slow speed of both types meant that they could not keep up with the targets even when targets were sailing at cruise speed.[1] [6] As a result, both Type 8101 and 8105 have to be deployed in-place on sea lanes to wait for their intended targets to pass, like their predecessors when performing intelligence gathering duties.
Based on the feedback from civilian customers, the developer of the Type 8101 trawler greatly enhanced the design to improve the operability in heavy seas, resulting in a faster Type 8154 trawler completed in 1981.[11] However, deployment in PLAN hands revealed that the 12.2 kt speed is simply too slow to shadow targeted foreign fleet at cruise speed. As a result, those Type 8154 trawlers that entered PLAN service were upgraded with 800 hp to reach a speed of 15.5 kt, and eventually, 960 hp engine to reach 16 kt speed.[1] [12] Some Type 8154 are also equipped with satellite communication antenna for long range missions.[12] Specification:[1] [11]
Due to its large size, unlike its retired predecessors that were only converted to hydrographic survey vessels and auxiliary minesweepers, when Type 8154 retired from intelligence gathering missions, it was also converted to auxiliary minelayers[9] and ambulance ships[12] in addition to the usual minesweeper and survey ships.[1] [12] [9] [10] Some of retired Chinese naval Type 8154 trawlers were also transferred to PLA ground force to continue their intelligence gathering mission.[1] [13]
A decade after Type 8154 entered service, its successor Type 792 naval trawler entered the Chinese navy service.[1] Due to automation, the larger Type 792 requires a lesser crew to man it.[1] [14] Design began in 1983, and passed acceptance certification in 1989.[15] Unlike its predecessors that begun as a fishing trawler and then converted to the naval trawler, Type 792 was sole designed as a naval trawler, to begin with, and it was only later when the fishing version appeared.[1] Specification:[11] [16]
In comparison to its predecessors that served their intelligence-gathering role for several decades, some of Type 792 have already been converted to auxiliary minesweepers[9] and placed in operational reserve relatively early due to the availability of larger spy ships.
PLAN has begun to retire Type 8101 and 8154 from front-line spy missions, and convert them to perform mine warfare and hydrographic survey missions.[10] Type 792 in active intelligence gathering missions have been identified, but there are also additional units performing mine warfare and hydrographic survey missions.
| Type | NATO designation | Pennant No. | Name (English) | Name (Han 中文) | Commissioned | Displacement | Fleet | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FT-14 AIT class | Zhan-Yu 819 | Zhanjiang Fishing 819 | 湛渔 819 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | |||
| Zhan-Yu 820 | Zhanjiang Fishing 820 | 湛渔 820 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhan-Yu 821 | Zhanjiang Fishing 821 | 湛渔 821 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhan-Yu 822 | Zhanjiang Fishing 822 | 湛渔 822 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhe-Hai-Yu 626 | Zhejiang Haining Fishing 626 | 浙海渔 626 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhe-Hai-Yu 627 | Zhejiang Haining Fishing 627 | 浙海渔 627 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhe-Hai-Yu 628 | Zhejiang Haining Fishing 628 | 浙海渔 628 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Zhe-Hai-Yu 629 | Zhejiang Haining Fishing 629 | 浙海渔 629 | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Various | Various | Various | 1989 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Various | Various | Various | 1981 onward | All fleets | Active | ||||
| Type 8101 naval trawler | ? | Various | Various | Various | 1981 onward | All fleets | Active |
