Type 073 landing ship

Requirement of the Type 073-class landing ship was finalized in May 1965, and design work by Shanghai-based 708th Research Institute completed just 4 months later in September 1965.

Due to political turmoil in China at the time, namely, Cultural Revolution, it was not until almost three years later in August 1969 when the ship was launched.

In 1970 more tests were conducted with more than 7,000 km (3,800 nmi; 4,300 mi) logged, and the longest trip was from Chongqing to Dalian.

[1] Shortcomings of Type 073I exposed in trials caused a crush program to rework and redesign at Dalian Shipyard, but due to political turmoil in China at the time, it was not sufficient to correct the problem completely.

As the mass production plan for Type 073II was cancelled due to reliability problem of its engine, Shipyard # 9308 begun to modify the remaining two units that were already being built, which was successfully completed in September 1985.

These later units are slightly larger in displacement at 2,000 tons, and more advanced equipment, mainly in electronics and on board machinery.