The Chinese military says it has completed a joint drill with the U.S. Navy, which was held in the Atlantic Ocean southeast of Jacksonville, Fla. It called the maneuvers the "first of its kind between the two navies." 

Vessels from the U.S. Navy included the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Mason and USS Stout, and the USS Monterey, a Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser.

Like Us on Facebook

Participating in the drill from Fleet 152 of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was the guided-missile destroyer Jinan, the guided-missile frigate Yiyang, and the comprehensive supply ship Qiandaohu. It was part of a goodwill visit to the U.S.

According to the Chinese military, the USS Mason and Jinan successfully established communication on the pre-set frequency band. Three Chinese naval vessels approached the U.S. taskforce in a single file from the portside, and sailed in parallel at the lateral distance of half a nautical mile. The two sides joined at the designated waters.

The first part of maneuvers included a communication drill. Signalmen on the destroyer Jinan observed the code flags put up by the USS Mason, and the communication division on duty recounted the CUES code and decrypted text to the USS Mason through very high frequency (VHF) for validation.

The destroyer Jinan and USS Mason repeated this exercise in the opposite order, which was followed by the frigate Yiyang, which also conducted this exercise with the USS Stout and USS Monterey. Both sides transmitted signals accurately.

After the exercise of communication on the sea concluded, the U.S. and Chinese navies began the formation maneuvering exercise, during which China's Jinan and USS Stout took turns as the commanding warship.

TagsU.S., China Navies Hold First-Of-Its-Kind Joint Drills, Navy Station Mayport, USS Mason, USS Stout, USS Monterey, Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, Fleet 152, Jinan, Qiandaohu