Type 091 Han class submarine

The Chinese 09-1 Han-class Submarine was the first class of nuclear-powered submarines (SSN) deployed by the China's People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force in 1974 and is still seeing active service. It's propelled by one Nuclear turbo electric engine and pressurized water reactor. The Han-Class is well known for having a noisy reactor and poor radiation shielding, which causes health hazards for her crew as nuclear radiation levels are higher than they should be aboard the submarine. The submarine is also inhibited by an inability to launch missiles while submerged. This creates a tactical disadvantage against opponents that have well-developed anti-submarine warfare systems.

History
The first chief designer of the submarine was an engineer and scientist of nuclear propulsion engineering, Peng Shilu, then in 1983 succeeded by Mr. Huang Xuhua (黄旭华). The first submarine in the class was commissioned in 1974 and the fifth and final boat of the class was commissioned in 1991. The Han class have gone through major upgrades and numerous refits since their commissioning. The boats have six 533 mm torpedo tubes and carry 20 torpedoes. Alternatively, they can carry 36 mines in their tubes. The Han class is capable of firing sub-launched variants of the C-801 anti-ship missile as well as a range of indigenous and Russian torpedoes or mines. All remaining hulls have been refitted with new sonars, with Type H/SQ2-262B sonar manufactured by No. 613 Factory replacing the original Type 603 sonar on board. Anechoic tiles were added later to reduce noise levels.