Royal Navy's Flag Ship HMS Ark Royal in the company of
the Chinese Frigate Saigon, off the coast of the Isle of Wight. |
ARK ROYAL and Chinese warships
perform joint operations
Flagship of the RN is joined by two of China's latest ships off
Portsmouth
Two Chinese Navy ships made a four-day goodwill visit to Portsmouth
Naval Base between 6 – 10 September.
The Luyang-class guided missile destroyer Guangzhou and the
replenishment ship Wei Shanhu had almost 500 naval personnel from the
People’s Republic of China on board. It is the first visit to Britain
by Chinese warships for six years, and forms part of a visit to Europe
by the ships. The call at Portsmouth follows a visit to St Petersburg,
Russia. They began their 12,000-mile voyage from their base at Sanya
in Hainan Province on 24 July.
A Chinese Military Delegation, primarily from these warships, visited
HMS Ark Royal to get an overview of the Carrier Vertical Strike (CVS).
The delegation was headed by the Chinese Ambassador to the United
Kingdom, included a number of senior Chinese military personnel. The
party met members of the Ship’s company and toured around the Fleet
Flagship.
The two Chinese ships and Ark Royal conducted a co-ordinated departure
from Portsmouth around Monday lunchtime. The Ships then participated
in joint operations in the Channel off Portsmouth including
communications exercises using Flashing light and VHF radio, forming
up for OOW manoeuvres and then conducting a joint Search and Rescue
plan seeking out and finding a distressed ship in need of firefighting
and first aid teams. Both the Chinese destroyer and Ark sent seaboat
teams with the necessary manpower and equipment to assist the
distressed ship, the part of which was played by the Chinese
replenishment ship. The whole exercise in Sino-British relationships
was completed with all three ships forming up line astern before both
Chinese ships with decks manned made fast approaches and passed down
the starboard side of Ark Royal with the customary marks of respect
and ceremonial conducted between all units.
The ships will now continue their voyage to France and Cadiz in Spain
before returning to China.
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