On the afternoon of September 10 local time, the visiting No.113 Chinese Missile Destroyer had a five-hour maritime communication and formation sailing drill with USS Chung-Hoon, Missile Destroyer (DDG－93) of the US Pacific Fleet in the Hawaii offshore waters. This is the first-ever joint maritime drill staged jointly by the Chinese and the U.S. naval forces.

　　At precisely 12:00 a.m., the gust of wind at Hawaii offshore waters reached force 7 on the Beaufort Scale. After they identified each other with universally used very high frequency (VHF) of wave band 16, the two destroyers promptly switched into communication with the wave bands agreed upon between them. Afterwards, the two sides practiced sending, receiving and identifying several groups of codes in the form of VHF, flag signals and lamplights. On the basis of successful communication drill, the vessels of the two sides staged a joint formation sailing drill.

　　Rear Admiral Wang Fushan, deputy commander of the North China Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy, was the commander of the Chinese side in this drill. He said that the current China-US naval joint exercise has concluded with a bang, and it has opened a new page in the history of exchanges between the Chinese and American naval forces. This has not only created conditions for the upcoming joint maritime search-and-rescue exercise between the two naval forces, but also laid a good foundation for strengthening their cooperation in the future.

　　By Qian Xiaohu and Zhong Runkui

　　(Sept 12, PLA Daily)