China decommissions 4 first-gen missile destroyers.

Recently, China decided to decommission four first-generation missile destroyers. Actually, this comes as these ships were ageing while others are entering service and others are still under construction at Chinese shipyards.

The Kaifeng destroyer (hull 109), which has been in service for 35 years, it now decommissioned (Picture Source: NAVY.S1.CN)

Recently, the destroyer flotilla of the navy under the PLA Northern Theater Command held a grand retirement ceremony for four homemade first-generation missile destroyers including the guided-missile destroyers Kaifeng (Hull 109), Dalian (Hull 110), Zunyi (Hull 134) and Guilin (Hull 164) at a military port in Lyushun, Liaoning Province, China.

All of the four destroyers had been in service for more than 30 years, leaving footprints in the vast territorial waters of China. Over decades, they had effectively fulfilled their sacred duties to safeguard China’s national unity and maritime rights and interests, and made outstanding contributions to the modernization of the Chinese Navy.

This model of missile destroyers is the first-generation large and medium-sized warship independently designed and built by China. Their service in the military was of epoch-making significance, marking the rise of China’s modern industry and naval forces. Their decommissioning also had epoch-making importance, indicating that China has quickened its pace of building a strong and modernized military.