PRC naval bases

[Choppedspinach]

I've been thinking about making a scenario involving air strikes on PLAN port facilities. The problem is I can't find them. The Wikipedia articles on the PLAN has a list of bases, but not their exact locations. I've spent way too much time poring over google maps images of Ningbo, without finding anything that's clearly a naval base. I spotted ships that may be ddgs and ffgs, but they seem to be docked right next to container ships, so maybe not. I also didn't find anything in the Useful Materials subforum. Anybody know where the bases are? Or already created them so they can be imported? Thanks in advance!

[SeaQueen]

I like it! I've been thinking about similar things.

Major naval bases can be a little difficult to spot on Google Earth. Not many nations on earth have giant naval facilities full of gigantic carrier sized piers like the US. They're not like an airbase either, with a great big runway that says, "LOOK AT ME!" from orbit. They take a little bit of hunting to find.

One thing to look out for, is not to mistake maritime museums for naval bases. They often have lots of warships tied up at the pier too, but they're just museum pieces. Another thing is that coast guard facilities are not necessarily collocated with naval facilities but from a satellite picture often look similar. Usually a little bit of research on the internet will steer you to the right spot, though.

Ningbo is the fleet headquarters for the East Sea Fleet, which suggests there's a lot of C2 infrastructure and things there, but it's possible that the bulk of the fleet is actually elsewhere. It's possible that there might not be many warships, there, though. The ESF has several ports, and their warships are distributed among them. I was able to find a submarine base located just south of Ningbo, though, in the vicinity of Xihu Harbor.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5363116 ... a=!3m1!1e3

Here it looks like there's some nuclear boats tied up at the pier, maybe?:

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5272459 ... a=!3m1!1e3

According to this source, there's a possible buried, hardened submarine facility there as well, and a degaussing station!

https://fas.org/blogs/security/2010/04/demag/

Hopefully this will get you started hunting. More closed societies often don't advertise their military facilities openly the same way more democratic nations do. The result is that you need to do more hunting but the good news is that there's people out there hunting with you, and they've often found good stuff to get you started.

I've been thinking about making a scenario involving air strikes on PLAN port facilities. The problem is I can't find them. The Wikipedia articles on the PLAN has a list of bases, but not their exact locations. I've spent way too much time poring over google maps images of Ningbo, without finding anything that's clearly a naval base. I spotted ships that may be ddgs and ffgs, but they seem to be docked right next to container ships, so maybe not. I also didn't find anything in the Useful Materials subforum. Anybody know where the bases are? Or already created them so they can be imported? Thanks in advance!

[tjhkkr]

If you KNOW THE NAME of the base, you can key into good search line example, "lat long Khe Sanh" Combat base...
Sometimes you do not have to any farther.
That does not help you with the facilities at the base, but at least it is a start.

[SeaQueen]

I found some more submarine piers. Hint: Look for soccer fields near the water. These were to the north of Ningbo. It looks like the naval facilities at Ningbo are distributed fairly widely around the area instead of concentrated in a single spot.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/29%C2 ... 21.9636111

If you're modeling a strike, this would complicate strike planning because it's one thing to hit a bunch aimpoints in a single area. It's entirely another to hit a bunch of aimpoints scattered all around the metropolitan area. It makes "one-pass-and-haul-a$$" tactic require either more aircraft, or else you need to make multiple bombing runs.

[SeaQueen]

Another open source tool that's handy for exploring is wikimapia. I've found it's often more clear to search there first and then find things on the satellite view.