Chinese Destroyer Shenzhen (Type 051B) Country: China Type: Destroyer Service: 1998 - 2008 Laid down: May 1996 Launched: 1997 Commissioned: 19982

The Type 051B Luhai-class is a class of destroyer built by the People's Republic of China. It consists of only one ship, No.167 Shenzhen. When Shenzhen was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 1998, it was then, the largest surface combatant that China had ever built. The Luhai-Class is 2,000 tons larger than the Type 052 destroyer, Luhu-Class. It resembles in many ways an enlarged version of the Luhu class destroyer, and is one of the first PLA Navy ships with a slope-sided hull to reduce radar signature.

Shenzhen was laid down by Dalian Shipyard in Northeastern China in May of 1996. The launch was the in 1997 although official revelation of the ship did not come until the year following its commissioning. When the ship was finally revealed, many were disappointed by its out-dated air-defense capability. The PLA Navy was unhappy with the design and no further ships of this class was built. The sole Type 051B destroyer No. 167 Shenzhen participated in the first goodwill visit to Africa by a PLA Navy vessel in 2000, and the first visit to Europe in 2001. In 2004, the ship received its mid-life modernization refit, with its original 100mm main gun and the HQ-7 air defense missile system being replaced by improved models.