Cool under fire, captain leads by example

The Linyi sails in the Gulf of Aden to escort commercial ships near Somalia, where pirates are rampant. XIONG LIBING/CHINA DAILY

Xia Ping, a naval political commissar who worked with Gao said he was impressed during the evacuation mission.

"I saw a real commander who didn't shudder and who commanded the troops to evacuate refugees in supremely efficient order, even with heavy fire around on that day. He's got guts and wit beneath the mild look," Xia said.

Gao dreamed of being a warship captain since he was a boy.

"My father was a Korean War veteran, and I wanted to be a hero like him, protecting my country," he said.

When he was small, he liked watching movies about submarines, such as The Hunt for Red October, about a Russian vessel.

When PLA recruiters came to his university in Tianjin, he signed up without hesitation.

After completing studies at the Dalian Naval Academy in 2000, Gao was assigned to the navy. He rose through the ranks, with excellent training scores. From mariner to quartermaster, he has worked in many roles on military vessels through the years, and finally became captain of the Linyi, China's newest missile frigate, in 2012.

When crew members were assigned to the ship, 90 percent of them had never seen the new equipment. Gao asked them to work closely with ship construction workers during the day, and to focus particular attention on maintenance and troubleshooting. At night, the crew took classes to learn the theory and technology at the heart of the ship.

Gao also led the crew in a thorough shakedown of every piece of equipment and made nearly 5,500 suggestions for improvements. Within nine months－record time－the Linyi passed its final exam.

The ship won first place for equipment inspection among all ships in the North Sea Fleet just one year after it joined the force.

In April 2012, the Linyi fired five missiles during a live-ammunition drill. That was also a record for the same type of ships within the same service time.

Gao aims for perfection both for his crew and for himself. To fully understand the ship's operation, he studied all the major components, including the maneuvering, weapons, mechanical, electronics and communication systems.

Through years of practice, he learned to diagnose malfunctions from unusual noises. During a drill, he heard a sound rustling in the entertainment room and called for the mechanic to check every compartment to rule out causes. At last they found it was a fishing net that had been caught on the ship's propeller.

Last year, the Linyi was assigned to join a Chinese convoy to escort commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia, where pirates are rampant.

Gao said he had long expected such a mission in the blue sea far from home waters.

"A warship without the test of the vast ocean is like a fledgling eagle that doesn't know how to spread its wings," Gao said.

Quick Bio

Name: Gao Ke

Age: 39

Hometown: Binzhou, Shandong province

Education: University degree

Job: Missile frigate captain

Hobbies: Basketball, guitar

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