Source: Learning Corps Chinese Military Horn
Author: Qian Xiaohu
In May 2022, when our eyes are focused on the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation across the Miyako waterway and galloping across the Pacific Ocean, few people will remember that 20 years ago, the people's navy, which was still very weak, had a remarkable cross-ocean expedition - the first circumnavigation of the world.
Formations sail the seas.
At 9:00 a.m. on May 15, 2002, in the midst of heavy rain, the Qingdao and Taicang ships set sail with 506 officers and men untied their cables and slowly sailed out of Qingdao Port, beginning the first circumnavigation of the world in the history of the People's Navy. In the next 132 days, the formation crossed the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific and Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and Oceania, through the Suez and Panama Canals, through 15 channel waterways, 22 sea bays, 45 archipelagos, across 68 latitudes, 6 crossings of the equator, 7 successfully avoided the influence of large winds and waves and strong and low-pressure cyclones, and successfully completed the attack on Singapore, Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine, Greece, Portugal, Brazil, Ecuador, Friendly visits to 10 countries and ports, including Peru and French Papeete, returned to the port of Qingdao on September 23, with a total voyage of 33,126 nautical miles.
Commemorative view of the voyage.
The people's navy's first circumnavigation voyage has never been seen before. It is a major feat in the maritime history of the Chinese nation, an important step for the People's Navy to carry forward the past and the future on the road of marching into the Deep Blue at the beginning of the century, and a milestone voyage in the history of foreign exchanges and the history of military diplomacy of the Chinese Navy.
The formation of two ships is called elite
Compared with the Liaoning aircraft carrier formation that is patrolling the ocean, which is often several large destroyers, the lineup of the Chinese Navy's first circumnavigating the world can only be described as "thin".
Guided-missile destroyer Tsingtao.
At the beginning of this century, the people's navy has made great progress in equipment construction, especially the Qingdao ship, which is the second ship of the Type 052, and it is a new type of warship launched by the Chinese Navy after the reform and opening up by taking advantage of the east wind of rapid economic development. However, at that time, there were not many ships in the Chinese Navy that could be called modern, and there were only a few more advanced surface ships. Therefore, although the entire formation has only two ships, it represents the highest level of the North Sea Fleet and even the Navy, which can be said to be "elite".
At that time, the reporters who accompanied the ship described the two warships as the second-generation destroyer Qingdao, which concentrated the latest Chinese technology at that time. The huge, streamlined hull is beautiful and free, pleasing to the eye. The bow of the ship, the double 100 mm naval gun sword pointing forward, the Sea Red Flag-7 type ship-to-air missiles are held high in the sky; in the middle of the hull, 4 twin anti-ship missiles such as Weilong are dormant; the straight-9 "Dolphin" helicopter on the bow deck is a "sea and sky spirit" that fulfills the combat missions of aviation anti-submarine, long-range strike, and supply lifesaving. The powerful firepower configuration constitutes a mobile combat platform at sea that is both offensive and defensive. The Taicang, a comprehensive supply ship that visited together with the Qingdao warship, is the first generation of ocean-going comprehensive supply ships designed and built by the mainland itself. Since the early 1980s, it has chopped waves in the open ocean, brilliantly completed a number of accompanying support tasks such as underwater launch carrier rocket experiments, Nansha reef replenishment, and formation visits, and created a three-dimensional supply precedent - "two ships and four directions" rapid replenishment, known as the "floating base" on the ocean...
The formation held its head high toward the ocean.
Perhaps coincidentally, from the first circumnavigation of the globe, the Chinese Navy entered the fast lane of leapfrog development. After that, a large number of new warships such as the 052B and 052C were launched into the water one after another and undertook the heavy responsibility of long-distance voyage. The once absolute main battleship, the Type 052, soon received orders to upgrade and reload: about two years later, in 2004, the Eagle Strike 83 anti-ship missile replaced the original Eagle Strike 8A, and the 100 mm naval turret on the bow was replaced by a stealth turret; during the second modification, the double 37 mm naval gun was changed to the 730 type 30 mm close defense gun system, and the combat command system and the electronic warfare system were also upgraded to a considerable extent to allow it to continue to maintain a combatable state.
However, no matter how it is upgraded and modified, the brilliant Type 052 ship will inevitably enter the sequence of "old ships". The Taicang ship (later renamed the Hongze Lake ship) was honorably retired in September 2018. Behind them, the new Type 052D destroyer and the 055 Drive can't wait to get to the center of the stage. The veteran fades out and the novice takes over the baton, which is the law of growth for the Chinese Navy, and it is a great blessing.
The two crossings of the canal are very different
The Tsingtao anchored in the slightly dewy morning light, and the silent estuary began another day of noise — on June 12, 2002, history will forever record this day, when the Chinese naval fleet sailed through the Suez Canal. This is the record left by the reporter who accompanied the ship when crossing the Suez Canal. Sailing all the way through the two major canals is undoubtedly the highlight of the trip, and the different encounters between the two canals are even more lamentable.
View of the Suez Canal.
Let's start with the Suez Canal. According to the general law, ships passing through the canal are required to anchor at the anchorage of the Gulf of Suez in advance. The previous afternoon, the Circumnavigation Formation had entered the anchorage and was in first and second place in the waiting line. But early the next morning, an American Burke-class destroyer, the USS Sullivan (hull number DDG-68), somehow preempted the Chinese warship, escorted by an Egyptian gunboat and a tugboat. At first, we were a little angry about the behavior of the US warship, but when we gradually sailed into the canal, we understood the helplessness of it - in the ten hours of sailing in the canal, there were dense barbed wire fences on both sides of the strait and devastated trench fortifications. When I crossed the Canal Bridge, the Mubarak Highway Bridge, there was not even a single car on the huge cable-stayed road bridge! It turned out that since the US ship "Cole" was bombed in the Gulf of Aden, the US ships operating in this area can be said to be full of dangers. Not only are there threats on the water and on the shore, but there may also be bombs from canal bridges!
Unlike the "war" flavor of the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal gives us a strong taste of compatriotism.
On the morning of August 2, the Qingdao and Taicang ships slowly sailed into Limon Bay at the entrance to the north side of the canal. When the Chinese and overseas Chinese learned of the warship passing by, they expressed their condolences on board. Since Panama had not yet established diplomatic relations with the mainland at that time, overseas Chinese needed to go through the formalities of going abroad to get on the ship, which was both costly and troublesome. Even so, thousands of people wanted to get on board, and finally 106 delegates from various groups in Pakistan had to be selected to visit the warship and attend the deck reception.
That evening, when the formation crossed the Panama Canal and entered the first lock, it began to rain heavily, and the commander was about to order the disbandment of the station staff. Suddenly, the officers and men heard shouts. Everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from, and saw that outside the isolation net a hundred meters to the starboard side, nearly a hundred overseas Chinese were waving their hands and shouting in the rain. The battleship moved slowly forward, and the crowd moved forward.
Pass through the Petromiguer Locks of the Panama Canal.
After more than 7 hours of sailing, it was 1:50 a.m. when the formation exited the last lock. On the shore more than a hundred meters to the starboard side of the formation, a row of headlights turned on at the same time, shining on our warships. The battleship sounded its whistle, and the sound of wind and rain and shouts reverberated over the Pacific Ocean for a long time.
Overseas wanderers have deep affection for compatriots whose blood is thicker than water in the motherland, deeply beating the hearts of every officer and soldier, and accompanying us and inspiring us all the way in the whole journey of life around the world and even in the future.
Explore the limits and touch the deep blue
In March 2022, the news of the glorious retirement of a "battleship doctor" spread throughout the military media circles.
This 45-year veteran, named Liu Dongfeng, is a well-known professional and technical expert in ship monitoring in the whole army. He put forward the theory of "active maintenance", which greatly improved the ship's sailing rate by detecting hidden dangers and accident symptoms in advance through monitoring. During the first circumnavigation of the people's navy, the formation completed the voyage beyond the limit of equipment, creating a miracle of "zero" major failures throughout the whole process, among which the wisdom and sweat of the equipment people represented by Liu Dongfeng were inseparable.
Aerial view of the Red Sea supply.
In fact, the completion of the circumnavigation of the globe was a severe test for 506 officers and men. Along the way, the formation does not rely on the port to replenish fuel, nor to receive shore power, the whole process relies on its own power and electricity, without this ability can not complete the circumnavigation; all equipment and machinery in the process of circumnavigation will run at an extremely strong speed, if there is no continuous operation and its maintenance support capabilities, it will be very difficult to complete the circumnavigation.
For example, sailing on the vast ocean, no matter how large the warship is, it is just a lonely boat, and the wind and waves are a fair test for the navy of any country in the world. Less than an hour after the formation left Qingdao Port, the level 9 wind swept the huge waves towards the ships, and the battleships swayed in the valley of peak waves. 80 percent of the crew vomited, and more than half of the crew did not eat lunch. Many officers and soldiers tightened their belts, carried plastic bags, and insisted on paying more while vomiting. Mei Haitao, the translator who went on the ship for the first time, lost 3 pounds in a week. When the formation arrived in Singapore, he could not wait to call his sister in Beijing, the film actress Mei Ting: The visit with the ship is by no means as romantic as imagined, and if I had to choose, I would not hesitate to choose to get off the ship!
Sunset in the Mediterranean Sea.
Along the way, the formation took the harsh environment as a stage for the training of elite troops, carried out the improvement of the comprehensive combat capability of the ocean throughout the entire process of circumnavigation of the world, continuously improved the mobile combat capability of the emergency mobile combat units in unfamiliar sea areas and under different conditions, and successively organized more than 300 combat exercises in the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the waters west of Peru, the sea near Tahiti, and the major sea areas of the South Pacific and the Northwest Pacific Ocean, and searched for missile attacks on their own. Breakthroughs have been made in many aspects, such as coordinated anti-submarine warfare, missile over-the-horizon guided attacks by missiles, joint search and rescue of ships and aircraft, and the use of ocean sonar, accumulating valuable experience in combat training in unfamiliar oceans, sea areas, and low-latitude environments, and taking a solid step towards deep blue.
The formation conducted a joint exercise with the Peruvian Navy.
20 years have passed, and it is a flash. Today, the Chinese navy, which is "full of sails", has left footprints in almost all major ports and straits around the world. The former "no-island chain" of the Yellow Water Navy is a thing of the past, and a fast-growing "Deep Blue Navy" has taken center stage on the world stage.
Female soldiers sailed away and made history
This is a photo taken by this reporter when the officers and men of the ship formation are standing on the slope, and the four female soldiers in the front of the line are dressed in white naval dresses, and they are full of beauty in the heroic martial arts. From left to right, they are nurse Zhou Min, cultural officer Hao Kun, nurse Zhan Xianfeng, and communications officer Guo Dan.
This is the debut of Chinese female soldiers to the world, and it is also the debut of Chinese women to the history of eternity. The round-the-world voyage was the first in the history of the People's Navy, and they were the pioneers of the historical record of Chinese women's circumnavigation of the world. Perhaps because of this, they are particularly striking among the officers and men of the Chinese Navy's circumnavigating ship formation. For more than 4 months, every time the ship formation went to a port of the foreign country, their appearance always attracted the envious eyes of the local people. Along the way, they spread their sweat and lived up to the expectations of the people, leaving the beautiful image of Chinese female soldiers in a foreign country, leaving it to the Chinese overseas Chinese and local people.
Portuguese female soldiers learn to use chopsticks.
On the stage of the world's navies, women on board are considered to be one of the symbols of the modernization of the navies of various countries. As early as the 1990s, female cadets in Chinese naval academies followed the ship's navigation internship. But the success of the first circumnavigation of the globe by four female officers was a bolder and more complete attempt. Today, on the new type of destroyer, amphibious ship, aircraft carrier, a group of outstanding female crew members are running from light blue and dark blue to deeper blue, and together with male soldiers, they are painting the new track of the people's navy.
Journey of Peace, Messenger of Friendship
Circumnavigating the globe is not only a test of ability, but also a journey of peace and friendship.
The Peruvian Chinese and overseas Chinese lion dance and dragon parade welcome to visit the formation.
As a part of the country's mobile territory, the warship has two characteristics: First, it can be both a guest and a host, which has a two-way nature. The foreign party asked us to go, we were guests; we asked the foreign party to board the ship, and we were the hosts. The second is the visit of the warship, which is an all-round visit that can carry out multi-level exchanges. The objects of exchange are very extensive, and the means of exchange are also diverse, and they can carry out official activities, military activities, and non-governmental activities; they can take the form of visits, visits, and talks, and can also adopt various forms such as sports, culture, and entertainment.
Visit a foreign warship.
Along the way, the formation conducted a number of meaningful military diplomacy activities. In Turkey, the captains of 10 non-visiting warships on the same pier were invited to qingdao for friendly exchanges, and 92 military attaches from 37 countries were invited to board the ship to visit or participate in our deck reception, deepening understanding and passing on friendship. At the last stop of the visit, French Papeete, the frankness and enthusiasm of the Chinese side deeply touched the Chairman of the Local Government of the French side, Flos. At the family banquet held before leaving, In front of nearly a hundred military and political dignitaries and celebrities such as the French government high commissioner, Flos solemnly expressed his position: Promote the settlement of the problem of the ownership of the real estate of the former consulate of the Taiwan authorities and use it to form a Chinese cultural center. The old problem left over from China and France for more than 30 years has been smoothly advanced, writing a good story in the history of China's military diplomacy.
Long live the motherland
Sailing the oceans, the motherland is unparalleled.
In the few days just after leaving Qingdao, because it was relatively close to the mainland, television and radio could be received, so there was no feeling of being far away from the motherland and traveling far away from the ocean. The first time I felt that I was going to leave the motherland from now on, it was at the moment when the ship formation left the traditional sea frontier line of the motherland, and the roaring salute and heroic oath reverberated in the sea space, making people suddenly feel the truth of "the lonely journey from the end of the world".
My formation held a grand flag-raising ceremony in Fortaleza, Brazil.
The ability to communicate 20 years ago is certainly not the same as it is now. At that time, data information was transmitted through the ship's shortwave network. Short-wave to rely on the Earth's ionosphere reflection transmission, the signal is greatly affected by the atmosphere, sea conditions and other natural conditions, the transmission speed is fast and slow, the signal is strong and weak, so the daily transmission and reception of signals are a time-consuming and laborious task. But every morning, a collection of domestic and foreign news compiled by the communications department always appeared in the news column of the restaurant on time, and everyone rushed to read and read with relish, and the scene was really touching.
The Overseas Chinese welcomed me in formation to visit.
Formation triumph.
Along the way, from the envious and surprised eyes of their counterparts in the foreign armed forces, from the tearful faces of the Chinese and overseas Chinese, and from the proud and proud looks of the officers and men, we saw the tremendous achievements made in China's reform and opening up, the strong cohesion of the Chinese nation linked by blood, and the increasingly powerful comprehensive national strength and the thriving international status. Many officers and soldiers said with emotion: "In a week around the world, I have seen ten countries, and none of them is as good as the motherland." I often can't help but pop up four words in my heart - long live the motherland! ”
The author 丨 People's Liberation Army Daily reporter Qian Xiaohu
Source 丨 Learning Corps(ID:xuexijuntuan)
(Produced by the Media of the Learning Corps and the People's Liberation Army News and Communication Center)