China's Expedition to the South Pacific
After the first survey mission to the South Pacific in 1976, a series of follow- on deployments continued in 1977-1979. All involved research ships only, but Chinese sources continued to make it clear that naval personnel were involved in the operations. Due to the lack of underway replenishment ships--the first Fuqing-class AOR was not operational until 1980--Chinese warships were unable to accompany the research ships. They continued to provide escort within the China Seas, however. In many ways, the Chinese navy came of age in May 1980. An 18-ship task group--including six Luda-class destroyers--was formed and sailed thousands of miles to the South Pacific. The purpose of the previous research surveys in the Fiji Islands region had become clear: China announced its intention to launch a series of new intercontinental ballistic missiles--the CSS-4 ICBM-- on test flights over the Pacific Ocean. The Fiji area was evidently selected because the missiles would not have to fly over foreign territory to reach the impact zone. Instrumentation ships were required at the splashdown site to monitor the accuracy of the missiles, and the warships provided an escort.
In April 1980, the task group assembled off Wusong, near Shanghai, and there were ceremonies at which the top naval command, joined by Vice Premier Geng Biao and various PLA figures, saw the ships off. Apparently commanded by Gao Xiceng (Kao Hsi-ts'eng), deputy commander of the East Sea Fleet, the task group consisted of six Luda-class guided missile destroyers drawn from each of China's three fleets, two new Fuqing-class underway replenishment ships, two new Yuanwang-class missile range instrumentation ships, two new oceangoing salvage-and-rescue general auxiliary ships, the research and command ships Xiang Yang Hong 5 and 10, plus four oceangoing tugboats. The latter were evidently sent along in case one or more of the ships embarking on the adventure broke down and had to be ignominiously towed home.
The task group sailed across the East China Sea, through the Ryukyu Island chain, and into waters never before seen in 1,000 years of Chinese naval history. The group arrived in the projected impact zone during the second week of May 1980. Two Australian naval ships joined the Chinese in the zone to conduct surveillance of this high-interest event--a routine international practice--and after initial Chinese ship-to-ship warnings to the Australians to keep clear of the upcoming operations, officers from one of the Royal Australian Navy ships were invited aboard a Luda, coming away with a case of prized Qingdao-brand beer.
On 18 May, the task group arrayed itself in the proper formation to monitor the splashdown of the test warhead. A CSS-4 was launched from the missile test center at Shuangchengzi in North Central China and flew a perfect flight some 8,000 kilometers (4,300 nautical miles), the instrumentation package splashing down on target amid the naval task group. Navy helicopters (Super Frelons imported from France-- some of the few items of naval hardware purchased in the latter 1970s) lowered divers who attached the payload to a cable, accomplishing a smooth recovery. The success of the mission was marred somewhat when a second CSS-4 failed in flight on 21 May, splashing down some 1,300 kilometers (700 nautical miles) short of the impact zone. The task group started back to China shortly thereafter, arriving in Shanghai to great celebrations in early June.
The navy quite rightly interpreted the extended mission as a victory for modernization. The deployment "showed that the modernization of China's navy has reached a new level." But the long-term goal of a truly modern naval force had not yet been attained: "Today's victory is only a beginning. The development and strengthening of the navy... will be pursued continuously, with untiring efforts and struggle."
While simply travelling to a distant ocean area and returning without mishap was a signal accomplishment for the PRC Navy, there was more significance to the event. The navy had demonstrated its ability to maintain an effective force of combatant ships with logistic support for weeks at a time in waters no less distant than those of Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean, or the Soviet Far East. The success of the ICBM test was incidental as far as the navy was concerned--indeed. a naval escort force for the instrumentation ships was unnecessary in the first place.
