Since we want to find out the truth of the incident, we have to have a deep understanding of the Great Leap Forward itself. As a national key construction project in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, Yuejin was designed by experts from the former Soviet Union with the assistance of top domestic talents and built by Dalian Shipyard. It is the first 10,000-ton ocean-going freighter built by China people since the founding of New China.
From September 65438 to September 0958, it took only 58 days for the hull to be completely completed and launched. "58 years" and "58 days", it is not difficult to find that its name "Yuejin" is also closely related to the background of that time. It can be said that the birth of "Yuejin" not only marked the rapid development of China's shipbuilding industry, but also was our pride as a country with a weak industrial base at that time, leaving a huge legacy for the world shipbuilding history.
In terms of technical equipment, the "Yuejin" can also be said to be at the forefront of the world. The cargo capacity exceeds 1 10,000 tons. When fully loaded, the draft is 9.7 meters, the speed can reach 18.5 knots, the horsepower can reach 13000 horses, and the range is 12000 nautical miles. Not only can you go straight to the major ports in the world without stopping to refuel, but you can also sail on the ice in frozen areas.
Most importantly, it has a special advantage-when fully loaded, even if a cabin is flooded, it can be guaranteed not to sink. Since it is equipped with such excellent equipment and excellent emergency conditions, what caused this high-spirited "Hailong" to fall tragically on its maiden voyage?
We might as well go back to the beginning of everything and look back on that ambitious but premature leap forward.
On May 1963 and 1 day, people of all ethnic groups in China were celebrating Labor Day in various ways, and the whole country was in jubilation. The protagonist of our incident, Yuejin, also arrived in the early hours of this morning, carrying more than 9,800 tons of corn, more than 3,600 tons of other mineral products and groceries, shouldering the important mission of opening up Sino-Japanese shipping routes and enhancing the friendship between the two peoples, and heading for Nagoya West Port, Japan.
However, at about 2 pm that day, the telephone of Zhou Enlai's office in Zhongnanhai suddenly rang. Premier Zhou picked up the phone and listened, and his face suddenly became dignified. He learned from the phone that "Yuejin" suddenly sent an emergency telegram for help from the sea at around 1 55 pm, "My ship was hit and seriously damaged".
Premier Zhou anxiously awaited the further report from the Ministry of Communications. After a while, the phone rang again in haste. Unexpectedly, the news was worse than before. At 2: 00 p.m. 10, the "Yuejin" sent out the SOS international universal distress signal!
Throughout the afternoon, Premier Zhou kept tracking and tracing the situation of the "Yuejin" and the safety of the crew to various departments, but the answer was: no new news! Until the evening, the "Leap Forward" has sunk to the bottom of the sea! The crew abandoned the ship and escaped! " News. The incident was urgent, and Premier Zhou immediately ordered the navy to "send warships to rescue the crew".
Upon hearing the order, our navy immediately dispatched four frigates, 205, 206, 2 1 1 and 224, to sail into the night, braving the wind and waves and heading for the sunken waters of the "Yuejin". It is extremely rare to send four frigates to carry out rescue missions at night. But the soldiers knew that the task was important and time was precious, and they all went out with great energy.
/kloc-On that night in May, Premier Zhou was so anxious that he didn't sleep a wink. It was not until the next morning that the Japan-China Trade Promotion Association sent a notice: 59 crew members on the "Yuejin" took emergency measures in time after the accident and floated on the sea for more than an hour in three lifeboats. Finally, they were rescued by the Japanese fishing boat Duimamaru, which found the distress signal and boarded the Japanese patrol boat in the sea area. Premier Zhou immediately ordered the navy to "send warships to pick up the crew in distress!"
You know, at that time, in the shadow of the cold war, the relationship between countries was already very tense. In addition, the news spread more and more incorrectly, which led to the confusion of mutual suspicion and accusation among the countries and regions concerned. What's more, they point the finger at China in an attempt to take this opportunity to discredit and denigrate China's international image. Premier Zhou thinks it is of great significance. After some thinking, he decided to organize an investigation in person to calm public opinion. The CPC Central Committee and Chairman Mao also immediately approved Premier Zhou's decision.
The prime minister's investigation began with the crew returning from the destroyer. He called all the surviving senior crew members of the "Yuejin" and the personnel on duty from the early morning of the incident to the time of the accident to discuss the situation. However, this preliminary investigation has made the truth of the matter more confusing. Because at this meeting, except for the captain and a first mate, almost all the crew members thought that the ship was attacked by submarines or torpedoes.
The captain's answer is undoubtedly authoritative. He said he had been confirmed by the navy. So far, no country has developed a mine or drifting mine with such a small explosion but such a powerful one. He insisted that it was more likely to hit the rocks.
However, the view of the ship's political commissar is not unreasonable. Since the ship was still on the right course and 9.8 nautical miles away from the nearest reef before the accident, how could it be a simple collision with rocks?
What's more, several crew members recalled that they did hear a muffled sound from the ship's side somewhere underwater, as if it had been "attacked" by the enemy and then exploded. Some people even said that they saw the shadow of a suspected submarine, fired a torpedo and ran away.
Premier Zhou listened patiently to the different opinions of other crew members, but did not draw a conclusion immediately. He believes that the facts need to be further confirmed by the sunken ship that was salvaged. So, he immediately deployed ships to form a fleet and went to the scene of the accident to investigate and collect evidence to thoroughly investigate the truth.
On the morning of May 12, Premier Zhou flew to Shanghai in person despite the dense fog. On the afternoon of the same day and in the morning of 13, Premier Zhou visited each ship and inspected each post.
He said to the naval cadres who participated in the formation: "We producers should respect the facts, persist in seeking truth from facts, find out the reasons for the sinking of the Yuejin, and must find sufficient evidence."
After more than 10 days of hard work and 72 person-times of deep-water exploration, the technical difficulties were overcome, and finally the exact detailed location and the final clear reason for the sinking of Yuejin were found out.
"Yuejin" sank at the nearest Su Yan Reef, bearing 148 degrees, and at a distance of 1.2 nautical miles from Su Yan Reef. The sinking state is that the hull is lying on the bottom of the sea on the port side, and the damage of the bow in the northeast direction is that there are 3 holes and 5 depressions.
The exploration of the reef shows that the traces of severe impact on the reef are very obvious, and many falling rock fragments are scattered around the main impact site, which many divers have seen underwater. Some of the remains on the reef are purple paint painted on the outer wall of the "Yuejin" hull.
At this point, it was finally clear that the sinking of the "Yuejin" was not attacked by submarines or torpedoes as most crew members said, but was indeed a simple accident of hitting the rocks. The "Yuejin" deviated from the normal course due to some improper operations during the voyage, collided with the submerged Su Yan Reef and finally sank to the bottom of the sea.
But why did so many crew members insist on seeing torpedoes and "shadows" in the end? What else is hidden in the incident?
The problem really lies with these crew members. Before sailing, due to political considerations, nearly half of the experienced and professional old crew members were transferred. Instead, it was a crew member with a good family background and simple social relations, but who had not been at sea for a long time. What's more, the act of "Yuejin" is very important, and the corresponding confidentiality work is also extremely cautious. Many crew members don't even know where the destination port of this huge ship is after going out to sea.
In addition, according to the information left by the incident, the formulation of the "leap forward" route also made many mistakes. As a merchant ship full of goods, it pays too much attention to "enemies on the battlefield" and ignores "enemies in nature", and does not take rocks, shoals and other common obstacles in merchant ship navigation as the key prevention targets. This carelessness is also one of the important reasons why it hit the rocks.
Later, China also tried to salvage the sunken ship. However, because the "Yuejin" purchased the insurance of an international company, in order to avoid complications, the company was willing to pay the insurance premium for the purchase of two 10,000-ton ships. In addition, the operation at the scene of the accident was very complicated, and Premier Zhou didn't want the members of the salvage team to be at risk again, so he finally decided not to salvage.
In this way, the maritime accident that might have contributed to the tense international relations at that time was settled. Full of hope and pride, the "Hailong" also fell into a quiet sleep at the bottom of the sea. ......
After that, the competent authorities of our government learned from the experience and lessons, and successively formulated such systems as "Ten Don't Sail", "Five Don't Tow" and "Twelve Points for Attention in Safe Navigation". At the same time, actively introducing international advanced navigation technology and equipment has practical guiding significance for establishing a maritime power. At the same time, in terms of navigation safety, starting from the educational concept of navigation colleges, seafarers are required to constantly update their knowledge and improve their skills to meet the needs of the development of navigation technology and navigation culture. Strive to make the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward never repeat itself.