Xi Jinping awarded the flag, why should the domestic aircraft carrier be called "Shandong ship"

Today, at a military port in Sanya, Hainan, Xi Jinping awarded the Bayi military flag and naming certificate to the captain and political commissar of my country's first domestically-made aircraft carrier.

Since its construction, launch, and sea trials, its name has sparked speculation, and today the answer has finally been revealed: the Shandong ship! Number 17!

Why is the Shandong ship named? Let's take a look together.

rule

Firstly, each country's navy has its own naming rules. For example, many countries are accustomed to naming people after them, such as the "Ford" in the United States, the "Charles de Gaulle" in France, the "Prince of Wales" in the United Kingdom, the "Kuznetsov" in Russia, and so on. Members familiar with military affairs may be more familiar with this. Our People's Navy has its own naming rules, mainly based on the "Regulations on the Naming of Naval Vessels" promulgated in 1978, which mainly use place names.

In fact, dating back to earlier times, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, our People's Navy and Air Force were in dire straits, and some foreign planes and ships entered uninhabited areas. After negotiations, we purchased four destroyers from the Soviet Union. From 1954 to 1955, the four ships arrived one after another, which were our original "Four Great Warriors": Changchun, Anshan, Fushun, and Taiyuan.

With the development and growth of the People's Navy, especially in recent years when a large number of new ships have been put into service, they are called "dumplings" by military enthusiasts. To avoid duplication, our ships are awarded based on regional divisions. Namely:

The North Sea Fleet uses the place names of fourteen provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) including North China, Northeast China, and Northwest China; The East China Sea Fleet uses the place names of seven provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in East China; The South China Sea Fleet uses the names of nine provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in southern and southwestern China.

However, there are exceptions, such as the "Wuhan" and "Lanzhou" destroyers belonging to the South China Sea Fleet, which are not place names in the southern and southwestern regions of China. The "Foshan" and "Huaihua" frigates belong to the East China Sea Fleet.

Shandong

Although we cannot determine which fleet the Shandong ship belongs to at present, it seems that there is a relatively consistent opinion online regarding the naming of the Shandong ship. In 2017, during the launch of a domestically produced aircraft carrier, a website organized a voting activity for netizens with the question "What do you think is the most likely name for China's first domestically produced aircraft carrier?" 300000 netizens participated in the voting. In response to this, Colonel Yang Yujun, who was then the spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, also stated that our military has corresponding regulations on the naming of naval vessels, which are usually announced when the vessels are handed over and put into service. In this vote, Shandong ranked third with 80000 votes.

According to the naming rules of the People's Navy, destroyers are generally named "large and medium-sized cities"; The escort ship is named after "small and medium-sized cities"; Comprehensive supply ships are named after "lakes", such as the "Qiandao Lake" supply ship; Dockyards and tank landing ships are named after "mountains", such as the "Jinggangshan". We also have ships named after people, but they are usually training ships and weapon test ships, such as the "Zhenghe" deep-sea comprehensive training ship from Dalian Naval Academy. Cruisers are named after administrative provinces (regions) or municipalities directly under the central government, while cruisers are specially named by the State Council.

Continuing the tradition of naming the Liaoning aircraft carrier after a province, naming the first domestically produced aircraft carrier after Shandong, a major economic province, the location of the carrier's home port, one of the provinces with the highest number of imported troops, and a populous province with a revolutionary tradition, seems to be in line with the People's Navy's principle of naming ships as "loud and meaningful; reflecting national dignity; reflecting the long history and culture of the Chinese nation; and withstanding historical tests".

“17”

In fact, the Liaoning and Shandong warships are both their Chinese names. The official name of each warship is a numerical number painted on the hull, collectively known as the "hull number".

According to the rules, the prefix 1 indicates a destroyer; The prefix 2 and 3 represent conventional submarines; The prefix 4 is nuclear submarine; The prefix '5' indicates a frigate; The prefix '6' indicates an anti submarine escort vessel (submarine hunter); The prefix 7 is missile escort boat; The prefix '8' refers to supply ships and minesweepers; The number 9 indicates a landing ship; 33 stands for air cushion landing craft

When the Liaoning aircraft carrier was put into service, there were many speculations among netizens about the meaning of "16". Some said it was in memory of General Liu Huaqing, who made contributions to the aircraft carrier industry because he was born in 1916; It is also said that it took China a full 16 years from the purchase to the reconstruction of the Liaoning ship. Although it is uncertain, it can be confirmed that the hull number "17" of the Shandong ship is a continuation and inheritance of the Liaoning ship.

In the foreseeable future, the next or several domestically produced aircraft carriers will still leave us with a lot of room for imagination, such as nuclear power, electromagnetic catapult takeoff

 informationSource: WeChat official account of study group