China appoints first female missile destroyer captain

According to SCMP, Ms. Vy Tue Hieu – the new captain of the Shaoxing destroyer of the Type 052D class, joined the Chinese navy in 2011 and used to work for Huawei technology corporation.

Ms. Vy Tue Understand is described by Chinese media as one of the elite officers of the Chinese navy in a program to celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Captain Vy was born in 1977 in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. After graduating from Nanjing University, Ms. Vy worked as a secretary to the vice president and then became an executive assistant at Huawei.

In 2011, Ms. Vy applied to join the Chinese navy while completing her PhD program at Sun Yat-sen University. In 2018, Ms. Vy Tue Hieu was chosen as the future captain.

It is known that when applying to join the Chinese navy, Ms. Vy asked to serve on the Liaoning aircraft carrier with the desire to “become an ordinary sailor” on this aircraft carrier.

Vy used to hold the position of deputy captain of the Truong Xuan destroyer, of the Type 052C class, before becoming the temporary commander of the Zhengzhou destroyer of the same class. The PLA Daily then predicted that Ms. Vy could become the captain of the battleship Zhengzhou.

China’s CCTV channel last week reported that the Shaoxing destroyer, commanded by Ms. Vy, participated in a number of exercises in the East and South China Seas, but did not disclose the specific location and time.

China started building ships of the Type 052D class in March 2012. Shaoxing destroyer is the 11th ship in the 3rd variant of the Type 052D class, commissioned in February 2022 and belongs to the East Sea Fleet.

It must also be added that the Type 052D was developed by the Chinese navy as a counterweight to the US Navy’s Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers.

Type 052D destroyer has a displacement of 7,500 tons, a length of 161 m, a maximum speed of nearly 60 km / h and a crew of 280 people. The warship is equipped with 64 GJB 5860-2006 vertical missile launchers (VLS) containing HHQ-9 air defense missiles, YJ-18 anti-ship cruise missiles and CY-5 anti-submarine missiles.

The first variants of the Type 052D class are equipped with the Type 730 extremely close range defense system (CIWS) with a 7-barreled 30 mm cannon with a rate of fire of 1,200-2,400 rounds per minute, the new variant is fitted with a Type 1130 with an 11 cannon. 30mm rotating barrel with a rate of fire of 11,000 rounds/min.