The Chinese Type 073 is a family of landing ships, with the forerunner being the Type 073. Very soon the class evolved into the Type 073II, Type 073IIY, Type 073III, and Type 073A. Basically, The Type 073 is a medium-sized tank landing ship with a bow-door open main deck, a covered high-tank deck, and a diesel double propeller.The first ship of its class, the Type 073, was launched in 1969. Many tests were carried out in 1970. It had a displacement of only 850 tons, a length of 69 m, and a beam of 10.5 m.