Type 917 torpedo retriever
Type 917 torpedo retriever is a type of Chinese torpedo retriever in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy. The program is one of the longest in PLAN, lasting from 1982 to 2007.
Design work of Type 917 begun in 1982 and was completed in the following year by the 708th Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, which is also more commonly known as nowadays. Work on two ships begun simultaneously in September 1983 and both were completed in 1990. The reason for such protracted construction was because the design included many high tech features that was brand new to China in the early 1980s, such as HD5L/D automatic control, hydraulic crane, centralized control of propulsion and centralized air conditioning. Once design proved to be successful, more units followed and nearly a dozen ships were eventually built in three different batches.
The production span of Type 917 torpedo retriever is over fifteen years long and numerous shipyards were involved in the construction, including Guangxi Guijiang Shipyard, Fujian Mawei Navy Yard, Shanghai Shenjia Shipyard, and Xiamen Shipyard. The third batch has propulsion upgrade to MTU 9L2027 diesel engine and increased speed to 15 kt. Type 917 series in PLAN service are designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by three-digit number. The second Chinese character is Yun, meaning transport in Chinese, because these ships are classified as transport. The first Chinese character denotes which fleet the ship is service with, with East for East Sea Fleet, North for North Sea Fleet, and South for South Sea Fleet. However, the pennant numbers may have changed due to the change of Chinese naval ships naming convention.
Specifications:
- Length : 63.68
- Beam : 9
- Draft : 2.8
- Standard displacement : 720
- Full displacement : 742.5
- Speed : 13
- Propulsion: 8300CZ diesel engines @ 100 hp x 2.
| Type | Pennant # | Builder | Commissioned | Status | Fleet |
| 917 | Bei-Yun 455 | Xiamen Shipyard | 1990 | Active | North Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Bei-Yun 529 | Xiamen Shipyard | 1990 | Active | North Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Nan-Yun 841 | Fujian Mawei Navy Yard | Mid 1990s | Active | South Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Dong-Yun 803 | Guijiang Shipyard | Nov 1998 | Active | East Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Bei-Yun 484 | Guijiang Shipyard | Dec 1998 | Active | North Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Bei-Yun 485 | Guijiang Shipyard | Late 1990s | Active | North Sea Fleet |
| 917 | Dong-Yun 758 | Shanghai Shenjia Shipyard | After 2000 | Active | East Sea Fleet |