The traditions of the Celestial Fleet are rooted in ancient times, they are already many centuries and even millennia. But in the modern world, few people are interested in past successes, except perhaps historians. Today, the club of countries with the most powerful navies includes China. The Navy of this country is, according to various estimates, in third (in some aspects - in second) place in the world. In terms of total tonnage, it is second only to the American fleet, but in terms of combat capabilities it lags behind the Russian one. He holds a confident superiority in terms of the number of personnel. This is typical of all armed forces called the People's Liberation Army of China.
Chinese fleet in the first half of the 20th century
Defeated by Japan in 1895, the country plunged into long internecine chaos. The country experienced a period of technical and social backwardness, it experienced unrest, uprisings, and therefore could not play the role of a leading maritime power in the region. The budget was meager, the armed forces were technically poorly equipped. In 1909, an attempt was made to modernize: instead of four fleets (Northern,Cantonese, Shanghai and Fuzhou) became three of them - Northern, Central and Southern. Each of them included one battleship and several (up to seven) cruisers, which rather met the standards of gunboats. Reformed, albeit slowly, the management system and infrastructure. Then the government declared its intention to strengthen the Navy and launch dozens of modern ships, but the idea failed, again, for budgetary reasons. It was possible to build only three cruisers and a destroyer. After that, the fleet was replenished only once, when it included Austro-Hungarian and German ships requisitioned during the First World War, which accidentally visited China. The navy of this country was practically not modernized from that time until the end of World War II.
Formation of the Chinese Navy
In the post-war world, no country was interested in China having a powerful and modern fleet, except for the Soviet Union, which considered the newly formed PRC its regional ally in Asia. Its first units were obsolete ships inherited from the Navy of the Republic of the Kuomintang, including the gunboat "He Wei" sunk by the Japanese, raised and repaired. China was building the Navy anew, and it could not do without external assistance. And the Soviet comrades provided it. Thousands of military advisers, highly qualified and with combat experience, have done everything to grow competent personnel. Already in the autumn of 1949, the Dalyan School of Fleet Officers was founded. In addition, a combat shipbuilding program was launched, first on the basis of projectsdeveloped in the USSR. After the transfer of Port Arthur to the Chinese side, a huge amount of military equipment, including ships, turned out to be at the disposal of the PLA. By the end of the Korean War, the Americans were forced to admit that a new leader had appeared in the region - China. The navy of this communist country was still much inferior in combat power to the US fleet based in Hawaii, but in the coastal zone it posed a certain danger.
Organization Chart
The structure of the fleet, adopted back in 1909, was recognized by Soviet specialists as optimal. It was conditionally divided into three parts: Northern, Southern and Eastern with the main ports of base in Qingdao, Zhantian and Ningbo, respectively. In these cities, administrative structures and headquarters are located. In addition, the command of the fleet became separate (on the basis of the branches of service), although it was subordinate to the general leadership of the PLA. It was structured along surface, underwater, coastal and aviation areas. The ships of the Chinese Navy were mostly Soviet-built, so knowledge of the Russian language for a naval officer became mandatory. The imitation of Soviet military orders was also expressed in appearance.
Uniform and shoulder straps
Soviet military uniforms of the post-war period, especially naval uniforms, were distinguished by some panache, which can even be called old-fashioned. Golden shoulder straps, black tunic and shoulder straps with gaps evoked nostalgia for pre-revolutionary times and aroused pride in the gloriousancestors. The officer insignia of the Chinese Navy inherited this late Stalinist chic. On shoulder straps, as well as on Soviet ones, there are gaps, senior officers have two of them, and junior officers have one. The location of the stars and their size correspond to the ranks adopted in the USSR Navy from junior lieutenant to admiral. Some national specifics are retained for junior ranks. The military ranks of the Chinese Navy differ from the Soviet and Russian ones due to the peculiarities of transcription, but the general structure of subordination is preserved.
Sailors
The uniform of the naval rank and file of the Chinese Navy almost completely repeats the Russian one. The same vest, only with a wider top stripe. Peakless caps are also very similar, despite the hieroglyphic inscriptions. It is not known how the trousers are fastened: since the time of Peter the Great, Russian sailors have traditionally sewn buttons on the sides, where there are pockets on ordinary trousers. Most likely, such subtleties are unknown to Chinese sailors, as well as the meaning of the three stripes on the guis collar. And they are in honor of the three victories of the Russian Fleet (Gangut, Chesma, Sinop).
Chinese military sailors are very neat, the uniform fits them well, the shoes are polished, the copper buckles are polished. Everything is like ours. The insignia is somewhat different in the shape of the chevrons.
Activities of Minister Comrade Lin Peng
Chinese navies mostly managed to avoid the destructive processes that swept all over China during the "Cultural Revolution". The Navy participated in the suppression of the Wuhan riot of 1967years, but on this his role in the Maoist crimes was limited. The "Great Leap Forward" failed, and immediately after its unsuccessful finale, the efforts of Minister of Defense Lin Peng began the modernization of the technical base. Approximately one fifth of the entire military budget was spent on the fleet. During the seventh decade of the 20th century, the number of submarines grew to a hundred (in 1969 there were only 35), and the number of missile carriers increased tenfold (there were two hundred of them). The development of strategic nuclear submarines has begun.
This was an important step in the development of Chinese naval power, but so far it has been on an extensive path.
Eighties
Chinese Navy Commander Liu Huaqing, who has been in office since 1980, was a close friend of Comrade Deng Xiaoping. He managed to convince the actual head of state that the general direction of the naval strategy should be slightly changed in favor of the quality of the modernization of the Chinese Navy. The composition of numerous warships outwardly looked very impressive, but technically they could hardly compete with American or Soviet modern destroyers and missile cruisers. The educational level of naval commanders should be raised. The focus of the doctrine had to be timely turned away from passive coastal activities in favor of operations in the open ocean. This requires missiles launched from ships, such as the fleets of the USSR and the USA have. In 1982, the first ICBM was launched from a Chinese missile carrier. In 1984-1985, the ships of the PRC fleet visitedfriendly visits to three neighboring countries. Modest progress, but progress has been made.
Post-Soviet period
In the last decade of the third millennium, processes took place in the world that changed the overall balance of power. If during the time of Mao China showed expansive aspirations towards the USSR, then after its collapse, the intensity of claims practically disappeared. Among the many reasons for the reduction of tension on the eastern borders of Russia, the main one is the unprecedented economic growth in China, which has become a "world workshop". A glut of chemical plants that threaten to become man-made bombs for densely populated cities, an ever-growing production volume and other factors have led to a change in the country's military doctrine.
The Chinese leadership continued to care about defense, but the emphasis was already on high-tech means capable of protecting the country, its economy and population from external threats. In addition, the problem of Taiwan and other disputed territories remained urgent.
The unfinished "Varyag" - an aircraft-carrying cruiser, unclaimed by anyone else, was purchased inexpensively for the needs of the Chinese fleet. Today, it has become the first and so far the only aircraft carrier of the Chinese Navy.
Modern composition of the fleet
Currently, the Chinese Navy is represented by the following units:
Aircraft carriers - 1 ("Liaoning", the former "Varyag", the largest Chinese ship - its displacement is approximately 60 thousand tons).
Submarine missile carriers - 1 ("Xia", project 092), incompletion or completed several more (at least four) Jin (094) and Teng (096) projects.
Multipurpose nuclear boats - 6 pcs. (Kin, Han and Shan projects).
Diesel submarines - 68 pcs.
ASW ships – 116 units
Missile destroyers -26 pieces
Missile frigates – 49 pieces
Missile boats - 85 pieces
Torpedo boats - 9 pieces
Artillery boats – 117 pieces
Tank landing ships - 68 pcs.
Hovercraft - 10 pcs
Radio-controlled raid minesweepers - 4 pcs.
Large landing hovercraft "Bizon" - 2 pcs. (presumably there may be 4 of them).
Plus more than a thousand aircraft of various types that make up naval aviation.
The total displacement of Chinese ships exceeds 896 thousand tons. For comparison:
Russian Fleet - 927 thousand tons.
US Navy - 3, 378 million tons.
Personnel
The governments of the US and Japan are mainly concerned about the growing power of the Chinese Navy. Photos of ships lined up in a wake column, with frightening comments, are published from time to time in magazines and published by news sites. But it is not these samples, for the most part outdated and inferior to the American ones, that serve as the main bugbear. The number indicating the number of Chinese sailors and military personnel located at coastal bases makes a big impression. According to various sources, it is approximately equal to 350 thousand people.
Among them:
Marines - 56.5 thousand
As part of the Coastal Forces - 38 thousand
There are 34,000 more servicemen in Naval Aviation.
This is certainly a lot. There are far fewer American sailors - there are only 332,000 of them.
Russian and Chinese - brothers forever?
The modern world is arranged in such a way that states, defending their interests, are forced to unite and “be friends against” someone who, as a rule, is not alone either. The commonality of positions on many world problems contributes to the military-political cooperation between the Russian Federation and the PRC. Joint exercises of the Russian and Chinese navies last year were held in two seas distant from each other - in the Mediterranean and Japan. This demonstration of readiness for mutual assistance and concerted action does not at all mean that in the event of a military conflict, one country will certainly support the other through direct intervention. If China wants to regain the island of Taiwan or seize part of the territory of Vietnam (and this is also a strategic ally of Russia in the Southeast Asian region), then it is unlikely that it will receive not only help, but also sympathy from the “Northern Neighbor”. Another thing is joint operations at sea against pirates and terrorists. However, China is a peaceful country, like Russia.
A visit? Welcome
After the Mediterranean naval maneuvers, Chinese sailors paid a friendly visit to Russian soil. Ships of the Chinese Navy in Novorossiysk saluted with twenty-one gun salvos, and the coastal batteries of the Tsemess Bay responded in kind.
The sailors of both fleets took part in the celebrations dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory over German fascism.
The meeting place of the deputy commanders of the Russian Navy (A. Fedotenkov) and China (Du Jingchen) was the 34th berth of the city embankment. The ceremony, despite being official, was cordial. Apparently, the Maritime Interaction 2015 maneuvers were successful. This is probably not the last joint exercise of the Russian and Chinese navies.
