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| People's Liberation Army Navy |
While the Chinese Navy had had more than 110 submarines in service in the mid-1980s, the total number of submarines believed to be in serviceable condition went down from 63 in 1990 to 48 in 1995. The PLAN has retired all of its Whiskey class submarines and most its Romeo-class submarines, built using Soviet designs that were based on the German Type-21 U- boat of 1944. Construction of their replacements -- the "Ming-class" (which is actually a remodeled R-model) and Song-class submarines -- is proceeding at the rate of about one a year.
Specifications
Builder Wuhan SY, Guangzhou SY, Jiangnan SY, Huladao SY Propulsion diesel electric Length 251 feet / 76.6 meters Beam 22 feet / 6.7 meters Draft 16.2 feet / 5 meters Displacement 1,710 tons Endurance Speed 13 knots Crew 51 Armament 8 21 inch torpedo tubes Construction At least 84 were built between 1960 and 1984, with some three dozen remaining extant by the late 1990s. 
