Qi Jiguang. (Photo : PLAN)
The Qi Jiguang (83), China's first new training ship since 1997, was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) on Feb. 21. She is only one of three training ships in the PLAN.
The commissioning and naming ceremony was held at a naval port Dalian in northeast Liaoning province and was attended by Vice Admiral Tian Zhong, PLAN deputy commander of. He presented the ensigns of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the PLAN and the naming certificate to the new training ship.
Qi Jiguang, which has been assigned to the Dalian Naval Academy, is the PLAN's third operational ocean going training ship. At the commissioning ceremony, Rear Admiral Yan Zhengming, superintendent of the Dalian Naval Academy, announced the order of conferring the name of Qi jiguang and the pennant number "83" to the ship.
Designed and built by China, Qi Jiguang is the largest and the most advanced training ship in the PLAN. She is 163 meters long and 22 meters wide, with a full loaded displacement of 9,000 tons and maximum speed of 22 knots. PLAN said she can resist hurricanes.
Qi Jiguang will allow 400-plus midshipmen (officer candidates) and sailors are able to conduct offshore and open sea internship practice on nautical service, ship navigating and handing, as well as other naval training items. Midshipmen can conduct virtual maritime exercises using the network-based facilities on the ship.
Besides the Qi Jiguang, the only other PLAN training ships are the Type 679 training ship Zheng He (81) commissioned 1986, and the Type 0891A training ship Shichang (82) commissioned 1997.
Qi Jiguang was named after an ancient Chinese national hero, Qi Jiguang (born 1528), who led the navy of the Ming Dynasty in defending China's eastern and southeastern coastal regions against raids by Japanese pirates.
The Shichang is China's first aviation ship, and primarily serves as a training ship, helicopter launch vehicle and medical treatment facility.
