East Sea Fleet

The East Sea Fleet was the first naval force formed by the People's Republic of China, on 23 April 1949 as East China Military Region Navy, and was initially based at Shanghai. Renamed in 1955, it has since been assigned to be part of the People's Liberation Army Navy and its headquarters have been moved to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, but the fleet continues to patrol the East China Sea. Its flagship is Chongmingdao.

The fleet was used in a support role during the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) invasion of the previously Kuomintang-held island of Yijiangshan on 14 January 1955. It has engaged in numerous other battles against the Taiwanese military. It has also operated in support of the South Sea Fleet against the People's Army of Vietnam, particularly in the 1980s.

The fleet would have a key role in any invasion of Taiwan, and one of its principal missions is to effectively support a PLA amphibious operation against that island. The fleet has been augmented by two Sovremenny-class missile destroyers, with a further 2 delivered by the end of 2006. Four Kilo class attack submarines have also joined the fleet.

East Sea

East Sea or Eastern Sea may refer to:

East Sea (Chinese literature)

The East Sea (Chinese: 東海; pinyin: Dōng Hǎi), one of the Four Seas, is identified as the body of water east of the mainland according to ancient Chinese geography. In Chinese literature, the Four Seas are a metaphor for the boundaries of China. It contains modern day East China Sea as well as the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea.

In Chinese mythology, East Sea is the domain of Ao Guang, the Donghai Longwang (東海龍王), or "the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea", who is responsible for controlling its storms and tides. Supposedly, the Dragon King resides in a large "dragon palace", the Donghai Longgong (東海龍宮), located at its bottom.

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See also

Sea of Japan

The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, and the Asian mainland. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific Ocean. This isolation also reflects in the fauna species and in the water salinity, which is lower than in the ocean. The sea has no large islands, bays or capes. Its water balance is mostly determined by the inflow and outflow through the straits connecting it to the neighboring seas and Pacific Ocean. Few rivers discharge into the sea and their total contribution to the water exchange is within 1%.

The seawater has an elevated concentration of dissolved oxygen that results in high biological productivity. Therefore, fishing is the dominant economic activity in the region. The intensity of shipments across the sea has been moderate owing to political issues, but it is steadily increasing as a result of the growth of East Asian economies.