The Eastern Theater Command Navy (), or East Sea Fleet (ESF; ), is one of the three fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the East China Sea under the

Eastern Theater Command The Eastern Theater Command () is one of the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), founded 1 February 2016. It replaced the Nanjing Military Region. The command is headquartered in Nanjing. Its jurisdiction includes Jia ...

. It was the first naval force formed by the People's Liberation Army, on 23 April 1949 and was initially based at

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. Renamed in 1955, it has since been assigned to be part of the People's Liberation Army Navy and its headquarters have been moved to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, but the fleet continues to patrol the East China Sea. Its flagship is the

Type 052C destroyer The Type 052C destroyer (NATO/ OSD Luyang II-class destroyer) is a class of guided-missile destroyers in the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force (PLAN). The Type 052C introduced both fixed active electronically scanned array (AE ...

''Changchun''. The fleet was used in a support role during the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) invasion of the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

-held island of

Yijiangshan The Yijiangshan Islands () are two small islands eight miles from the Dachen Islands, located off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang in the East China Sea. During the First Taiwan Strait crisis the islands were captured in January 1955 by the People's ...

on 14 January 1955. It has engaged in numerous other battles against the

Republic of China Armed Forces The Republic of China Armed Forces (ROC Armed Forces) are the armed forces of the Republic of China (ROC), once based in mainland China and currently in its remaining jurisdictions which include the islands of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu ...

. It has also operated in support of the

South Sea Fleet The Southern Theater Command Navy (), or the South Sea Fleet (SSF; ) is one of the three fleets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, operating in the South China Sea under the Southern Theater Command. It is headquartered in Zhanjiang, ...

against the People's Army of Vietnam during the 1980s.

Major naval bases of the fleet

* Ningbo Fleet Headquarters *

Naval Base * Xiangshan Naval Base * Zhoushan Naval Base *

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

Naval Base

Ships in the fleet

;

Amphibious assault ship An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...

* 1

Type 075 landing helicopter dock The Type 075 landing helicopter dock (NATO reporting name: Yushen-class landing helicopter assault) is a class of Chinese amphibious assault ships built by Hudong–Zhonghua Shipbuilding for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). It has a full ...

(''Yushen''-class) ** '' Guangxi'' (32, ) ; Destroyers * 5 Type 052D (''Luyang III''-class) ** '' Xiamen'' (154) ** ''

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

'' (155) ** ''

Zibo Zibo (, ) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou to the ...

'' (156) ** Lishui(157) ** '' Taiyuan'' (131) ** '' Suzhou'' (132) ** '' Baotou'' (133) ** Shaoxing(134) * 4 Type 052C (''Luyang II''-class) ** '' Changchun'' (150, )- flagship of the Fleet ** '' Zhengzhou'' (151, ) ** '' Jinan'' (152, ) ** ''

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

'' (153, ) * 4 ''Sovremenny''-class (现代, Project 956EM) ** ''956E Type'' *** ''

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

'' (136, ) *** '' Fuzhou'' (137, ) ** ''956EM Type'' *** '' Taizhou'' (138, ) *** '' Ningbo'' (139, ) ; Frigates * 9 Type 054A (''Jiangkai II''-class): ** '' Zhoushan'' (529, ) ** '' Xuzhou'' (530, ) ** ''

Yiyang Yiyang () is a prefecture-level city on the Zi River in Hunan province, China, straddling Lake Dongting and bordering Hubei to the north. According to the 2010 Census, Yiyang has a population of 4,313,084 inhabitants residing in an area of . Th ...

'' (548, ) ** ''

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

'' (549, ) ** '' Huanggang'' (577, ) ** ''

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...

'' (578, ) ** ''

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

'' (532, ) ** ''

Xiangtan Xiangtan () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Hunan province, south-central China. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Chairman Mao Zedong, President Liu Shaoqi, and Marshal Peng Dehuai, a ...

'' (531, ) ** ''

Binzhou Binzhou (, ), formerly Putai, is a prefecture-level city in northern Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The city proper sits on the northern bank of the Yellow River, while its administrative area straddles both sides of its ...

'' (515, ) **'' Anyang'' (599, ) **'' Nantong'' (601, ) * 2 Type 054 (''Jiangkai I''-class): ** ''

Ma'anshan Ma'anshan (), also colloquially written as Maanshan, is a prefecture-level city in the eastern part of Anhui province in Eastern China. An industrial city stretching across the Yangtze River, Ma'anshan borders Hefei to the west, Wuhu to the sout ...

'' (525, ) ** '' Wenzhou'' (526, ) * 4 Type 053H3 ''Jiangwei II''-class: ** ''Jiaxing'' (521, ) ** ''Lianyungang'' (522, ) ** ''Putian'' (523, ) ** '' Sanming'' (524, ) * 2 Type 053H1G (''Jianghu V''-class ): ** ''Beihai'' (558, ) ** ''Foshan'' (559, ) * 1 Type 053H (''Jianghu I''-class): ** ''Jiujiang'' (516, ) ; Corvettes * 10 Type 056 (''Jiangdao''-class): ** ''Bengbu'' (582, ) ** ''Shangrao'' (583, ) ** ''Ji'an'' (586, ) ** ''Quanzhou'' (588, ) ** ''Sanmenxia'' (593, ) ** ''Suzhou'' (503, ) ** ''Baoding'' (511, ) ** ''Heze'' (512, ) ** ''Ningde'' (510, ) ** ''Ezhou'' (513, ) ;Diesel-electric submarines * 4 ''Kilo''-class: ** ''364'' ** ''365'' ** ''366'' ** ''367'' * 3 Type 039 (''Song''-class) ** ''320'' ** ''321'' ** ''322'' ; Landing ships * 2 Type 071 amphibious transport dock ('' Yuzhao''-Class): ** '' Yimeng Shan'' (988) ** ''Longhu Shan'' (980) * 1 Type 072A landing ship (''Yuting III''-class): ** ''Baxian Shan'' (913) * 6 Type 072III LST (''Yuting II''-class): ** ''Danxia Shan'' (934) ** ''Xuefeng Shan'' (935) ** '' Haiyang Shan'' (936) ** ''Qingcheng Shan'' (937) ** ''Putuo Shan'' (939) ** ''Tiantai Shan'' (940) * 1 Type 072II LST (''Yuting''-class): ** ''Lingyan Shan'' (930) * 3 Type 072 LST (''Yukan''-class): ** ''Yuntai Shan'' (927) ** ''Wufeng Shan'' (928) ** ''Zijin Shan'' (929) ;

Replenishment ship A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

s * 3 Type 903 (''Fuchi''-class) ** '' Qiandaohu'' (886) ** ''

Chaohu Chaohu () is a county-level city of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hefei. Situated on the northeast and southeast shores of Lake Chao, from which the city was named, Ch ...

'' (890) ** '' Gaoyaohu'' (966) * 1 Type 905 (''Fuqing''-class) **''Poyanghu'' (882) ; Rescue and salvage ship * 1 Type 925 submarine support ship (''Dajiang''-class) ** '' Chongmingdao'' (862, )

References

External links

GlobalSecurity.org
{{People's Liberation Army Fleets of the People's Liberation Army Navy East China Sea Eastern Theater Command Nanjing Military Region Military units and formations established in 1949 1949 establishments in China

Major naval bases of the fleet

Ships in the fleet

See also

References

External links