Longma-class dive tender

The Longma class is a class of little known diving support vessel (YDT) built in the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The exact domestic Chinese type designation remains unknown, and this class is identified by its NATO reporting name Longma class, or 龙马 in Chinese, meaning "dragon horse". As of mid 2010s, a total of four ships have been identified, and one of them Nan-Jiu (南救) 509 has been retired at the end of 2018. The Longma class in PLAN service are designated by a combination of two Chinese characters followed by a three-digit number. The second Chinese character is Jiu (救), meaning Rescue in Chinese, because these ships are classified as rescue ship.