The East Sea Fleet was the first naval force formed by the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, on 23 April 1949, and was initially based at Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

. It has since been assigned to be part of the People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy

The People's Liberation Army Navy is the naval branch of the People's Liberation Army , the military of the People's Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation...

 and its headquarters have been moved to Ningbo

Ningbo

Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...

, Zhejiang Province, but the fleet continues to patrol the East China Sea

East China Sea

The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...

. Its flagship is Chongmingdao.

The fleet was used in a support role during the People's Liberation Army

People's Liberation Army

The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...

's (PLA) invasion of the previously Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

-held island of Yijiangshan on 14 January 1955. It has engaged in numerous other battles against the Taiwanese military

Military of the Republic of China

The Republic of China Armed Forces encompass the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Military Police Force of the Republic of China . It is a military establishment, which accounted for 16.8% of the central budget in the fiscal year of 2003...

. It has also operated in support of the South Sea Fleet

South Sea Fleet

The People's Republic of China's South Sea Fleet was first established in late 1949. The flagship of the SSF is the AOR/AK Nanchang ....

 against the People's Army of Vietnam, particularly in the 1980s.

The fleet would have a key role in any invasion of Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, and one of its principal missions is to effectively support a PLA amphibious operation against that island. The fleet has been augmented by two Sovremenny class missile destroyers, with a further 2 delivered by the end of 2006. Four Kilo class attack submarines have also joined the fleet.

Major Naval Bases in the Fleet

• Ningbo Fleet Headquarters
• Shanghai Naval Base
• Xiangshan Naval Base
• Zhoushan Naval Base
• Fujian Naval Base

Ships in the fleet

Destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s

• 4 Sovremenny-Class:
  • Hangzhou (136)
  • Fuzhou (137)
  • Taizhou (138)
  • Ningbo (139)
• 4 Luda-Class:
  • Nanjing (131)
  • Hefei (132)
  • Chongqing (133)
  • Zunyi (134)

Frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s

• 4 Jiangkai-Class II
  Type 054A frigate
  The Type 054A frigate is a Chinese multi-role warship that entered service with the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2007...
  
  :
  • Xuzhou (530)
  • Zhoushan (529)
  • Yiyang (548)
  • Changzhou (549)
• 2 Jiangkai-Class:
  • Ma'anshan (525)
  • Wenzhou (526)
• 6 Jiangwei II-Class:
  • Jiangxing (521)
  • Lianyungang (522)
  • Putian (523)
  • Sanming (524)
  • Luoyang (527)
  • Mianyang (528)
• 4 Jiangwei I-Class:
  • Anqing (539)
  • Huainan (540)
  • Huaibei (541)
  • Tongling (542)
• 2 Jianghu II-Class:
  • Ningbo (533)
  • Jinhua (534)
• 9 Jianghu-Class:
  • Shaoxing (510)
  • Nantong (511)
  • Wuxi (512)
  • Huaiyin (513)
  • Zhenjiang (514)
  • Xiamen (515)
  • Jiujiang (516)
  • Nanping (517)
  • Ji'an (518)

Diesel-electric submarines

• 4 Kilo-class
  Kilo class submarine
  The Kilo class is the NATO reporting name for a naval diesel-electric submarine that is made in Russia. The original version of the vessels were designated Project 877 Paltus in Russia. There is also a more advanced version, designated as Improved Kilo in the west, and Project 636 Varshavyanka in...
  
  :
  • 364
  • 365
  • 366
  • 367
• 3 Song class
  • 320
  • 321
  • 322

Landing ships

• 7 Yukan-Class LST:
  • Zijinshan (927)
  • 928
  • 929
  • 930
  • 931
  • 932
  • 933

External links

• GlobalSecurity.org

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