List of active People's Liberation Army Navy ships
List of active People's Liberation Army Navy ships is a list of ships currently in active service with the People's Liberation Army Navy. There are approximately 496 ships listed in the tables below that constitute active ships, but this figure does not include the 232 various auxiliary vessels of the PLAN. A summary of ship types in service with the PLAN include two aircraft carriers, amphibious transport docks, landing ship tanks, landing ship medium, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, missile boats, submarine chasers, gunboats, mine countermeasures vessels, replenishment oilers and various auxiliaries. In addition, there are also nuclear and conventional submarines presently in service. All ships and submarines currently in commission with the People's Liberation Army Navy were built in China, with the exception of the s, s and the aircraft carrier. Those vessels were either imported from, or originated from Russia or Ukraine. The convention for naming naval ships is as follows: Aircraft carriers are named after provinces. Nuclear-powered submarines are all named Changzheng and number. Destroyers and frigates are named after cities. Smaller anti-submarine ships are named for counties. Tank landing ships and dock landing ships carry the names of mountains. Infantry landing ships are named for rivers. Replenishment ships are named for lakes.
*Figure includes both coastal and ocean-going auxiliaries, from tugboats to hospital ships. Not counted towards total number of active ships. The tables below list the various ships according to their class and date of commission. The newest class of ship is listed first, with proceeding classes listed afterwards, arranged in order of age. Column headings include: "Type", the types "NATO designation", the ships "Pennant number", the ships name in English and Chinese, ships "Displacement" in tonnes, and the "Fleet" in which it serves. The "Status" column is colour coded, green indicates relatively new and modern classes in service, while red indicates obsolescence and being in the process of decommissioning as newer types are brought into service. A third colour, blue, specifically indicates a ship which is not yet in commission, but has been launched and is in the final stages of construction, or has been handed over for sea trials. Any ships with a status colour of blue is not counted towards the total number of active ships. Where a specific piece of information is not known, the cell is left blank.
For a complete list of auxiliary vessels currently in service with the People's Liberation Army Navy please see: People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force#Auxiliaries. Note that it may contain significant inaccuracies.
