by Doug Hallet » Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:53 pm
HMS Aurora has a special place (as Chungking) in China for the PRC, rather than for the ROC due to an incident that occurred in January 1949. On that occasion, about 10 officers of the ship who were secret Communist sympathizers mutinied and sailed the ship (with the eventual acquiescence of the captain) from Shanghai to a PRC-controlled port. It became essentially the first ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The ship was later badly damaged in an ROC bombing raid and allowed to capsize at anchor. It was later raised but not put back into commission, serving as as an accommodations hulk for many years until eventually scrapped. Please see the write-up I did on the 1/300 kit if you want more of the history.
HMS Aurora has a special place (as Chungking) in China for the PRC, rather than for the ROC due to an incident that occurred in January 1949. On that occasion, about 10 officers of the ship who were secret Communist sympathizers mutinied and sailed the ship (with the eventual acquiescence of the captain) from Shanghai to a PRC-controlled port. It became essentially the first ship of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The ship was later badly damaged in an ROC bombing raid and allowed to capsize at anchor. It was later raised but not put back into commission, serving as as an accommodations hulk for many years until eventually scrapped. Please see the write-up I did on the 1/300 kit if you want more of the history.