New-type-warship captains experienced in high-sea missions

A new-type-warship formation of the North China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) returned to its home port after accomplishing its high-sea practice and training in mid October of 2012.

During the 20-day-and-night high-sea training, captains steered the new-type warships to conduct actual-combat drills on comprehensive defense, ship-submarine-airplane integrated confrontation and so on, in a bid to explore various tactics for high-sea operations.

"Captains of the new-type warships are all experienced in implementing high-sea missions," said Yuan Yubai, commander of the formation and chief of staff of the North China Sea Fleet.

Wang Hongmin, captain of the "Fuzhou" guided missile destroyer, is a lucky fellow who has realized the dream of navigating new-type warships in high sea. In 2009, as the captain of the "Xuzhou" guided missile frigate, Wang Hongmin sailed to the Gulf of Aden for his first escorting mission. In November 2011, he went there for the second time on escorting missions, repelling pirates, escorting merchant ships and even sailing to the Mediterranean to escort the ships carrying Chinese citizens who were evacuated from Libya.

Zhou Zhicheng, captain of the "Ma'anshan" guided missile frigate, won fame among his foreign counterparts for his outstanding performance in the "Peace-11" joint military drill by navies of multiple countries. Later on, he completed three escorting missions and was praised for complete security support.

Wang Linjiang, captain of the "Wuhan" guided missile destroyer, surmounted key problems and made innovation during his escorting missions, substantially improving the response capability of the warship formation in anti-pirate deployment.

According to Fu Yaoquan, political commissar of a destroyer flotilla under the East China Sea Fleet, owning experience and ability in high-sea operations has become a prerequisite for selecting and appointing captains of new-type warships.