China, the Navy: the composition of ships and insignia

The traditions of the fleet of the Celestial Empire go back to the deep antiquity, they are already many centuries and even millennia. But in the modern world, few people are interested in past success, except for historians. Today, the club of countries with the most powerful naval forces includes China. The Navy of this country is, according to various estimates, on the third place (in some aspects - on the second) in the world. According to the total tonnage, it is second only to the American fleet, but it lags behind the Russian fleet in terms of combat capabilities. He holds the leading championship 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 from Japan in 1895, the country plunged into long internecine chaos. The country experienced a period of technical and social backwardness, it experienced excitement, insurrection, and therefore the role of the leading maritime power in the region could not play. 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), there were three - Northern, Central and Southern. Each of them contained one battleship and several (up to seven) cruisers, which more likely corresponded to the standards of gunboats. Reformed, albeit slowly, management system and infrastructure. Then the government declared its intention to strengthen the Navy and launch dozens of modern ships, but the undertaking failed, again, for budgetary reasons. I managed to build only three cruisers and destroyers. After that, the fleet was replenished only once, when it included the requisitioned during the First World War, Austro-Hungarian and German ships, accidentally visited China. The Navy of this country has not been modernized from the time until the end of the Second World War.

Formation of the PRC fleet

In order to have a powerful and modern fleet in China, not one country was interested in the post-war world, except for the Soviet Union, who considered the newly-formed PRC its regional ally in Asia. The first units of it were obsolete ships that had been taken from the Kuomintang Republic Navy, including the sunk Japanese, the raised and repaired gunboat "He Wei". The Navy built China anew, and without external assistance it was indispensable. And the Soviet comrades did it. Thousands of military advisers, highly skilled and experienced in combat, did their best to grow literate cadres. Already in the autumn of 1949 the Dalian School of Navy Officers was founded. In addition, the shipbuilding program was launched, first based on projects developed in the USSR. After the transfer to the Chinese side of Port Arthur, the PLA had at its disposal a huge amount of military equipment, including ships. By the end of the Korean War, the Americans had to admit that a new leader, China, had emerged in the region. The Navy of this communist country so far in combat power was much inferior to the US Navy, based in Hawaii, but in the coastal zone 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: North, South and East with the main ports of basing in Qingdao, Zhanjiang and Ningbo respectively. In these cities, administrative structures and headquarters are located. In addition, the fleet command became separate (on the basis of the arms of the armed forces), although it was subordinate to the general leadership of the PLA. It was structured over the surface, underwater, coastal and aviation areas. Ships of the Chinese Navy were mostly Soviet-built, so the knowledge of Russian for a naval officer became mandatory. Imitation of the Soviet military order found expression in appearance.

Shape and shoulder straps

The Soviet military uniforms of the post-war period, especially the naval ones, were distinguished by some panache, which can even be called the old regime. Golden epaulettes, black tunics and shoulder straps with gleams caused nostalgia for pre-revolutionary times and awakened pride in glorious ancestors. Officers' insignia of the Chinese navy inherited this late-Stalin chic. On shoulder straps, as in the Soviet, there are gaps, the senior officers have two, and the youngest one. The location of the asterisks and their magnitude corresponds to the rank adopted in the Soviet Navy from the junior lieutenant to the admiral. Some national specifics are reserved for junior ranks. Military ranks of the Chinese Navy differ from Soviet and Russian because of the peculiarities of transcription, but the overall structure of subordination is preserved.

Sailors

The form of the naval rank and file of the Chinese Navy almost completely repeats the Russian one. The same vest, only with a wider upper strip. Bottles are also very similar, despite the hieroglyphic inscriptions. It is not known how to fasten the trousers: Russian sailors from Peter's times, buttons are traditionally sewn on the sides, where on ordinary trousers pockets. Most likely, Chinese seamen do not know such subtleties as the value of the three strips on the collar-gyussa. And they are in honor of the three victories of the Russian Navy (Gangut, Chesma, Sinop).

Chinese military sailors are very neat, the form sits on them well, the shoes are polished, the copper buckles are nadraena. Everything is like ours. Signs of difference are somewhat different in the form of chevrons.

The work of the Minister, Comrade Lin Beng

Chinese military sailors largely managed to avoid destructive processes, during the "Cultural Revolution" overwhelmed the whole of China. The Navy participated in the suppression of the Wuhan revolt of 1967, but this limited its role in Maoist crimes. The "big leap" failed, and immediately after his unsuccessful finale, the modernization of the technical base began with the efforts of Defense Minister Lin Beng. 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 increased to a hundred (in 1969 there were only 35 of them), ten times the number of missile carriers (there were two hundred). The development of strategic nuclear submarines began.

This was an important step in the development of Chinese naval power, but it was still going on an extensive way.

Eighties

Commander of the Chinese Navy, Liu Huaqing, who held 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 changed somewhat in favor of the quality of the modernization of the Chinese Navy. The composition of numerous warships 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 increased. The direction of the doctrine needed to turn in a timely manner from passive-coastal activities in favor of operations in open ocean areas. This requires rockets launched from ships, such as the fleets of the USSR and the US have. In 1982, the first launch of an ICBM from a Chinese missile carrier was carried out. In 1984-1985, the ships of the PRC fleet were visited with friendly visits by three neighboring countries. The successes are modest, but progress was evident.

Post-Soviet period

In the last decade of the third millennium, there have been processes in the world that have changed the overall alignment of forces. If in the times of Mao China exhibited expansive aspirations towards the USSR, then after its disintegration the heat of claims practically came to naught. Among the many reasons for the reduction of tension on the eastern borders of Russia, the most important is the unprecedented economic growth in the PRC, which has become a "world workshop". The over-saturation of chemical enterprises threatening to become technogenic bombs for densely populated cities, the ever-increasing volume of production and other factors led to a change in the military doctrine of the country.

On the defense, the Chinese leadership continued to care, but the emphasis was already on high-tech means that could protect the country, its economy and the population from external threats. In addition, there was an urgent problem of Taiwan and other disputed territories.

The unfinished Varyag - an aircraft carrying cruiser, unclaimed by no one else, was inexpensively purchased for the needs of the Chinese fleet. Today it became the first and so far the only aircraft carrier of the Chinese Navy.

Modern composition of the fleet

At present, the Chinese Navy is represented by the following units:

The aircraft carriers - 1 (Liaoning, former Varyag, the largest Chinese ship - its displacement is about 60 thousand tons).

Underwater missile carriers - 1 ("Xia", project 092), in completion or completed several more (not less than four) projects "Jin" (094) and "Teng" (096).

Multipurpose nuclear powered boats - 6 pcs. (Projects "Kinh", "Han" and "Shan").

Diesel submarines - 68 pcs.

Anti-submarine ships - 116 pcs.

Missile destroyers -26 pcs.

Missile frigates - 49 pcs.

Missile boats - 85 pcs.

Torpedo boats - 9 pcs.

Artillery boats - 117 pcs.

Tankadesantnye ships - 68 pcs.

Boats on an air cushion - 10 pcs.

Radio-controlled road sweepers - 4 pcs.

Large landing craft on the air cushion "Bison" - 2 pcs. (Presumably they can be 4).

Plus more than a thousand aircraft of different types, making up naval aviation.

Total displacement of Chinese ships exceeds 896 thousand tons. For comparison:

The Russian Fleet - 927 thousand tons.

American Navy - 3, 378 million tons.

Staff

The governments of the United States and Japan mainly express concern over the growth of the power of the Chinese Navy. Photos of ships lined up in a wake column, with frightening comments from time to time are printed in magazines and published by news sites. But not these samples, mostly obsolete and inferior to American ones, serve as the main bogeyman. The figure representing the number of Chinese sailors and servicemen on coastal bases makes a great impression. According to various sources, it is approximately 350 thousand people.

Among them:

Marines - 56.5 thousand.

As part of the Coastal Forces - 38 thousand.

In Naval Aviation there are 34 thousand more servicemen.

This, of course, a lot. American sailors are much smaller - there are only 332 thousand of them.

Russian and Chinese - brothers forever?

The modern world is arranged in such a way that the states, defending their interests, are forced to unite and "make friends" with someone who, as a rule, is not alone. The common position on many world problems contributes to the military-political cooperation between the Russian Federation and the PRC. The joint exercises of the Russian and Chinese navies in the last year took place in two distant seas - in the Mediterranean and Japanese. This demonstration of readiness for mutual assistance and concerted action by no means means that in case of a military conflict, one country will certainly support the other by direct intervention. If China wants to regain the island of Taiwan or tear away part of the territory of Vietnam (and this is also Russia's strategic ally in the Southeast Asian region), then it is unlikely that not only help but sympathy will be expected from the "Northern neighbor". Another thing is joint operations at sea against pirates and terrorists. However, the PRC is a peace-loving country, like Russia.

On a visit? Welcome!

After the Mediterranean naval maneuvers, the seamen of China paid a friendly visit to the Russian land. Ships of the Navy of China in Novorossiysk saluted with twenty-one gun volleys, the coastal batteries of Tsemessky Bay responded in kind.

The sailors of both fleets took part in the festive events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory over German fascism.

The meeting place of deputy commanders of the Russian Navy (A. Fedotenkov) and China (Du Jingcheng) was the 34th moorage of the city embankment. The ceremony, despite the officiality, was very cordial. Apparently, the maneuvers "Marine interaction - 2015" were successful. Probably, these are not the last joint exercises of the Russian and Chinese navies.