North Sea Fleet

Northern Theater Command Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy jack and ensign
Active	1950–Present
Country	People's Republic of China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch	People's Liberation Army Navy
Type	Naval fleet
Part of	Northern Theater Command
Garrison/HQ	Qingdao, Shandong, China
Commanders
Current commander	Vice Admiral Hu Zhongming

The Northern Theater Command Navy (Chinese: 北部战区海军), or the North Sea Fleet (NSF; Chinese: 北海舰队) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, under the Northern Theater Command. In September 1950 the Qingdao Army Base was redesignated as a naval base. Following the departure of the Soviet Navy from Lüshunkou (Port Arthur), the North Sea Fleet was established in 1960 with naval bases in Qingdao and Lüshunkou. It includes the Aircraft carrier Liaoning, as well as nuclear-powered attack and missile submarines based at Qingdao bastion.

The North Sea Fleet was historically the most capable of the Navy's three fleets, being the first in China to operate destroyers, shore-based missiles and nuclear submarines. In recent years however, the shift in strengthening of importance and strategic capabilities of the East and South Sea Fleets are more prioritised.^[1]

Major naval bases[]

The fleet headquarters is located at Qingdao, with other major naval bases at:

• Lüshunkou
• Huludao
• Yuchi

Ships[]

The aircraft carrier Liaoning in the East China Sea

The flagship of the fleet is the Liaoning (16), a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier.

Aircraft carrier

• 1 Kuznetsov-class:
  • Liaoning (16)

Destroyers

• 2 Renhai-class:
  • Nanchang (101)
  • Lhasa (102)
• 3 Luyang III-class:
  • Xining (117)
  • Ürümqi (118)
  • Guiyang (119)
• 2 Luzhou-class:
  • Shenyang (115)
  • Shijiazhuang (116)
• 2 Luhu-class:
  • Harbin (112)
  • Qingdao (113)

Frigates

• 7 Jiangkai II-class:
  • Yantai (538)
  • Yancheng (546)
  • Linyi (547)
  • Weifang (550)
  • Daqing (576)
  • Handan (532)
  • Wuhu (539)
• 3 Jiangwei II-class:
  • Huludao (565)
  • Luoyang (527)
  • Mianyang (528)

Corvettes

• 7 Jiangdao-class:
  • Datong (580)e
  • Yingkou (581)
  • Weihai (590)
  • Fushun (591)
  • Xinyang (501)
  • Huangshi (502)
  • Qinhuangdao (505)

Nuclear submarines

• 3 Han-class SSNs:
  • ChangZheng 3 (403)
  • ChangZheng 4 (404)
  • ChangZheng 5 (405)
• 1 Xia-class SSBN:
  • ChangZheng 6 (406)

Diesel-electric submarines

• At least 5, and possibly up to 10 Ming

Landing ships

• 2 Yuting III-class LST:
  • Tianzhu Shan (911)
  • Daqing Shan (912)
• 3 Yuting II-class LST:
  • Yandang Shan (908)
  • Jiuhua Shan (909)
  • Huanggang Shan (910)

Replenishment ships

• 2 Fuchi-class
  • Taihu (889)
  • Dongpinghu (960)
• 1 Fuqing-class
  • Hongzehu (881)

See also[]

• People's Liberation Army Navy
  • East Sea Fleet
  • South Sea Fleet
• Beiyang Fleet of the Qing navy from 1875-1898

References[]

External links[]

• GlobalSecurity.org