East Sea Fleet

Eastern Theater Command Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy's jack and ensign
Active	1949–present
Country	China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch	People's Liberation Army Navy
Type	Naval fleet
Part of	Eastern Theater Command
Garrison/HQ	Ningbo, China
Commanders
Current commander	Wei Gang

The Eastern Theater Command Navy (ETCN), or the East Sea Fleet (ESF) before February 2018, is a formation of China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the naval component of the Eastern Theater Command. ^[1]

History

The PLAN was formed toward the end of the Chinese Civil War. In March 1949, Zhang Aiping of the Third Field Army was ordered by the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Chinese Communist Party to create a naval force from the field army. Zhang's only previous naval experience was organizing an irregular riverine force near Hongze Lake in 1941 and leading it in a successful campaign against local bandits. ^[2] The PLAN was created on 21 April when Zhang established the East China Military Region Navy, or East China Navy (ECN), with a thirteen-­member headquarters, ^[3] and he was formally appointed by the CMC as the ECN's commander and commissar on 4 May. ^[4] The ECN was reinforced by personnel from the Third Field Army, ^[3] which would also dominate its and the later ESF's leadership, ^[5] but its early operational capabilities were based on personnel and materiel captured or recruited from the retreating Republic of China (ROC). The latter included Lin Zun, who defected with the ROC Navy's Second Squadron and became the ECN's, and later the ESF's, deputy commander. The ECN's First Flotilla was formed in early May at Zhenjiang. The headquarters moved to Shanghai on 27 May. By late-June, the ECN was responsible for operational and naval industrial activities along the East China Sea coastline, and the Yangtze up to Jiujiang. ^[6]

Yuan Yelie became ECN commander in February 1951. ^[5] The ECN became the ESF in 1955. ^{[7] [5]}

Components

ETCN headquarters is at Ningbo, with additional bases in Fujian and Zhoushan. It controls coastal defenses from Lianyungang to Dongshan County. ^[8]

In 2017, subunits included:

• 3rd Destroyer Zhidui ^{[note 1] [10]}
• 6th Destroyer Zhidui ^[10]
• 8th Frigate Dadui ^{[note 2] [10]}
• 21st Fastboat Zhidui ^[10]
• 22nd Submarine Zhidui ^[10]
• 42nd Submarine Zhidui ^[10]
• 2nd Combat Support Ship Zhidui ^[10]
• 4th Air Division ^[10]
• 6th Air Division ^[10]
• 1st Flying Panther Regiment ^[10]

• China portal

Notes

1. Zhidui is division leader grade organization variously translated as "flotilla", "naval ship brigade", or "detachment". ^[9]
2. Dadui is regiment leader grade organization in the PLAN sometimes translated as "squadron". ^[9]

References

Citations

1. Saunders et al. 2019, pp. 240–241.
2. Yoshihara 2022, pp. 25–26.
3. Yoshihara 2022, p. 27.
4. Yoshihara 2022, p. 28.
5. Yoshihara 2022, p. 131.
6. Yoshihara 2022, pp. 28–30.
7. Yoshihara 2022, p. 55.
8. The International Institute for Strategic Studies 2024, p. 261.
9. Pollpeter & Allen 2012, p. 52.
10. Wood, Peter (14 March 2017). "Snapshot: China's Eastern Theater Command". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

Sources

• The International Institute for Strategic Studies (13 February 2024). The Military Balance 2024. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-032-78004-7.
• Pollpeter, Kevin; Allen, Kenneth W., eds. (14 June 2012). The PLA as Organization v2.0 (Report). China Aerospace Studies Institute.
• Saunders, Phillip C.; Ding, Arthur S.; Scobell, Andrew; Yang, Andrew N.D.; Joel, Wuthnow, eds. (2019). Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press. ISBN   978-1070233420.
• Yoshihara, Toshi (2022). Mao's Army Goes To Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China's Navy. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN   9781647122829.