Escort for the test launch of Dongfeng-5 missile for the first time in the Pacific Ocean by China's missile destroyer

Destroyers, known as the "jack-of-all-trades at sea," are an indispensable mainstay in modern naval fleets. They combine powerful capabilities for anti-sea, anti-air, anti-submarine attacks, and self-defense, serving as the vanguard for escorting fleet operations in the open sea. In the 1960s, China began preparations for the test launch of the Dongfeng-5 intercontinental missile. This test, known as the "580 mission," ultimately landed in the South Pacific. In order to retrieve the return capsule containing complete flight data of the missile, a long-range fleet was dispatched to provide escort and observation. At that time, the most advanced warships in China were the "Four Great Kings" imported from the Soviet Union - the Anshan, Fushun, Changchun, and Taiyuan - with a displacement of only about 1500 tons, making them unsuitable for long-range escort missions. In this situation, China began to independently develop the Type 051 missile destroyer. In 1971, the Jinan, the first domestically designed and manufactured missile-gun integrated destroyer, officially entered service. Since then, China has become one of the few countries in the world capable of independently producing medium-sized combat vessels.