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SZ missile destroyer arrives for 4-day visit

Writer: Mu Zi  | Editor: Doria Nan  | From: Shenzhen Daily | Updated: 2018-10-18

Shenzhen missile destroyer

THE Shenzhen missile destroyer docked at a port in western Shenzhen yesterday for a four-day visit that will last until Saturday.

The invitation to visit from the Shenzhen city government came on the 20th anniversary of the naming of the Shenzhen missile destroyer.

Shenzhen officials, including Party chief Wang Weizhong, and hundreds of residents welcomed the ship to the Shekou Cruise Center yesterday morning.

Shenzhen Party Chief Wang Weizhong (C) welcomes Shenzhen missile destroyer which anchors at the Shekou Cruise Center in western Shenzhen yesterday for a four-day visit that marks the 20th anniversary of the naming of the ship after Shenzhen City. 

The ship was decorated with flags and lights — “a symbol of respect only on important occasions” — when it returned to its “second hometown” for the first time since 2012.

Wang paid high respects to the navy crew on the ship, which has conducted major missions, including ocean escorts and military drills, since it was commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy Surface Force in 1998.

Jiang Jun, deputy political commissar of the destroyer fleet that the Shenzhen ship belongs to, said soldiers on the warship take pride in the remarkable achievements its namesake city has made as the frontrunner of China’s reform and opening up.

Students visit Shenzhen missile destroyer.

During the visit, a series of military activities will be held, including an Open Day, to exhibit China’s growing naval strength and boost maritime education.

Members of the public will be able to board on the ship today and tomorrow. A total of 5,040 free e-tickets allotted via www. damai.cn were sold out in two days.

Construction began on the Shenzhen missile destroyer in Dalian Hongqi Shipyard in 1995. Her home port is located in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province.

The destroyer was once the most powerful homemade warship in the Chinese Navy.

As the only Type 051B Luhai-class ship, the 6,000-metric-ton Shenzhen entered service with the South Sea Fleet in 1999. At that time, it was chosen as the command ship of the South Sea Fleet and took part in many overseas visits to present the best image of the Chinese Navy. It had been the largest and most advanced domestically made warship in the Chinese Navy for about five years until the first Type 052B destroyer, PLANS Guangzhou, was commissioned in 2004.

The Shenzhen participated in the PLA Navy’s first goodwill visit to Africa in 2000, the first visit to Europe in 2001 and the first visit to Japan in 2007. It participated in the PLA’s second escort mission in Gulf of Aden and Somali waters in 2009, protecting 393 ships and saving four from pirates. In 2017, the ship received a modernization refit.