China launches two Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, widely considered Asia's biggest such combat vessels, at a shipyard in Dalian, Liaoning province, on Tuesday. [Photo/LIU DEBIN FOR CHINA DAILY] China launched on Tuesday two Type 055 guided-missile destroyers, widely considered Asia's biggest and mightiest such combat ship, according to witnesses outside a shipyard in Dalian, Liaoning province. Weapons enthusiasts published photos taken near Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, which has built two aircraft carriers, on internet military forums. They also described what they saw of the two giant ships' launches. When ships are moved into the water, their construction is basically finished. It is regarded as the most important step before sea trials. Water started to be pumped into dry docks where the vessels were built around 7 am, before the docks' gates were opened, witnesses said. Photos showed that there was a small launch ceremony at the shipyard with hundreds of workers standing in formation in front of the two Type 055s, each decorated with a huge national flag and ceremonial banners. Then the ships were pushed into open waters by several tugboats, the photos showed. The next steps usually are for engineers to test and fine-tune equipment already mounted on the ships and continue installing other devices. Then they will conduct mooring tests and sea trials before the ships are commissioned in the People's Liberation Army Navy. Four Type 055s have now been launched, but none are yet commissioned. The first of the class was launched in late June 2017 at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, the second in late April at the same shipyard. Type 055 is China's newest generation of guided-missile destroyers. It has a displacement greater than 10,000 metric tons and will be equipped with new types of air defense, missile defense and anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons, according to the Navy. It has 112 vertical launching cells that can fire various kinds of missiles, including China's long-range land-attack cruise missile. Its firepower is thought to be twice that of the Type 052D, the largest and most powerful surface combatant commissioned in the PLA Navy. While the Type 055 is classifed as a destroyer, outside China it would be considered a cruiser as its large size and heavy displacement are comparable to that of the United States' Ticonderoga class cruiser. Li Jie, a senior researcher for the PLA Navy, said the vessel displaces about 13,000 tons. The latest version of the United States' Arleigh Burke class, the largest family of destroyers in the world, has a full displacement of 9,800 tons. South Korea's Sejong the Great class displaces 11,000 tons while Japan's Atago class displaces 10,000 tons. Cao Weidong, a senior researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said that compared with other destroyers in the Navy, the Type 055 features stealth design, stronger strike prowess and higher information capacity and will tremendously boost the PLA Navy's long-range operational capability. He also said such ships will greatly strengthen the country's carrier battle groups. custom made rubber braceletsyouth wristbands24 hour wristbandsglow in the dark wristbands ukgo wristbandstrio spinners
Armed police officers participate in a funeral ceremony to bury the bones of Red Army martyrs found in Guanyang, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Sunday. Zhou Linlu/China News Service Wounded men thrown into a well by Kuomintang troops in 1934 The skeletal remains of 20 males recently found in a well in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, were identified as Red Army soldiers who were killed by Kuomintang troops during the Long March period (1934-36). The Guanyang county government, in Guilin city, held a grand funeral ceremony on Sunday as the bones were buried in a local memorial park dedicated to Red Army martyrs. The well, known as the jiuhai well by residents in the county's Xinxu township, marks the area where the Red Army launched a blocking action in 1934 to safeguard the crossing of its main force over the Xiangjiang River, thus evading encirclement by Kuomintang troops. Historical evidence shows that the Red Army managed to fulfill its mission in the Xinxu battle, but it paid a heavy price: 2,000 lives. When the battle ended, the army evacuated in a hurry, leaving more than 100 wounded soldiers at a medical station for treatment. The living men, some of them weighted with stones, were later cast into the well by the enemy. Liu Laibao, a Red Army veteran who witnessed the incident at Xinxu, said it remains the most painful memory of his life. A few bones were found in the 1970s by residents who were extracting water from the well, but the local government didn't attempt to excavate it until August this year because it lacked the necessary equipment and skills. A dig was finally undertaken on Aug 13 by experts specializing in relics preservation and archaeology. Twenty individual skeletons have been found so far. A report on Sept 22 confirmed that the bones belonged to the soldiers the Red Army left behind in 1934. Now we can say that all the individuals are males ranging in age from 15 to 25, said Li Fangjun, a professor at Guangzhou-based Sun Yatsen University, who was engaged in the identification work. In 2003, a memorial park was established to remember the history and honor the soldiers. It includes a monument to the Red Army martyrs. Speaking of the recently recovered remains, Lu Song, head of Guanyang county, said: Given the many bones of martyrs that are scattered over the county, what we have done this time is just the beginning. In the next two years we will carry on with the task and try our best to have all the remains buried in the memorial park, because the heroes should rest in peace and the spirit of the Long March should always be kept alive in our minds.
