Type 053 frigate

The Type 053 frigates were a family of Chinese ships that served with the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force, and a small number of foreign navies. The Type 053 was developed from the Soviet Riga-class frigates after the Sino–Soviet split.

The designation of ships and subclasses is somewhat confusing. Chinese nomenclature temporarily changed during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and some subclasses gained different NATO reporting names.

This article covers the entire Type 053 family except for the final two subclasses, the Type 053H2G and Type 053H3 frigates.

History

Replicating the Riga and the Type 065

In the 1950s, the Soviets provided China with four kits for Riga-class frigates and four completed Gnevny-class destroyers. These entered PLAN service as the Type 01 Chengdu-class and the Type 07 Anshan-class respectively. The Riga kits were assembled by the Huangpu Shipyard in Guangzhou, and the Hudong Shipyard in Shanghai, from 1955 to 1958. These ships formed the PLAN's backbone in the 1950s and 1960s.