The Tuzhong-class patrol ship (as designated by NATO) is a is a

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of oceangoing

rescue and salvage ship Rescue and salvage ships (hull classification symbol ARS) are a type of military salvage tug. They are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of gro ...

in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

China Coast Guard China Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the People's Armed Police of China. It is currently the world's largest coast guard. Function The CCG is known to perform mostl ...

(CCG). Four were built at the Zhonghua Shipyard, and entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in the late-1970s. In 2009, each of the three fleets had one and the fourth was in reserve. In 2012, three were transferred to

China Marine Surveillance China Marine Surveillance (CMS; ) was a maritime surveillance agency of China. Patrol vessels from China Marine Surveillance are commonly deployed to locations in the South China Sea and East China Sea where China has territorial disputes ove ...

and from there to the CCG. The Tuzhongs have a 35-ton capacity towing winch. In PLAN service, ''T 710'' was fitted with a

Type 352 radar The Rangout (NATO reporting name: Square Tie) is a Soviet naval radar. It was used by small ships for navigation, air and surface search, and target acquisition for the P-15 Termit anti-ship missile. The People's Republic of China China, ...

, possibly for cruise missile tests.

Ships of the class

References

Sources

* * *{{cite book , last=Wertheim , first=Eric , title=The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems , date=2013 , edition=16 , publisher=Naval Institute Press , location=Annapolis, Maryland , isbn= 978-1591149545 Patrol vessels of the People's Republic of China Patrol ship classes