On Tuesday, the second of China’s Type 075 LHDs took to the seas for the first time. Photos posted on Sina Weibo showed the 40,000-ton warship - part helicopter carrier, part amphibious assault dock - being escorted by tugboats out of Shanghai’s Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard and into the open seas.
As expected, the second Type 075 LHD went out to its first sea trial today.
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) December 22, 2020
(Images via Temstar/SDF) pic.twitter.com/uTsBrOoZAG
Le 2e de classe du porte-hélicoptères d’assaut Type 075 a débuté ses essais à la mer ce matin. pic.twitter.com/ZN65ZNZwXM
— East Pendulum (@HenriKenhmann) December 22, 2020
In April, the warship caught fire in the drydock as it neared completion. However, the damage was not serious, and it was launched a few weeks later. A US amphibious assault ship that also caught fire in 2020 was not so lucky: the US Navy announced the decision to scrap the USS Bonhomme Richard late last month, judging that repairs from the four-day fire would roughly equal the cost of building a new ship.
Seems as if the second Type 075 LHD is ready for its first sea trial later today or tomorrow. Quite interesting, the first 075 was 航船H23轮.
— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) December 21, 2020
(Images via @燃烧的哈尔科夫 from Weibo) pic.twitter.com/s493GygxwN
The first Type 075 was recently spotted undergoing sea trials in the South China Sea, having been launched about eight months before the second Type 075.
In July, Sputnik reported on a proposal by the 708 Institute, a design bureau for China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), suggesting a modified version of the Type 075 with an electromagnetic catapult on the flight deck for launching fixed-wing drones. However, nothing has come of the proposed Type 076 as of yet. Instead, Hudong-Zhonghua is completing a third Type 075, with five more planned in the class, and is building a Type 071 amphibious transport dock for Thailand and a Type 054A frigate for Pakistan.
