Author: Mo Guyan
In August 1976, the Ministry of Communications and the Naval Command jointly held a "Joint Conference on Maritime Rescue Work" to study only one matter, that is, whether to salvage the Awa Maru, which had been sunk for 30 years.
The participants finally reached a consensus that salvaging the "Awa Maru" has at least three major advantages: First, salvaging the bones of the victims and returning them to Japan is conducive to enhancing Sino-Japanese relations; second, it is said that the ship is loaded with a large number of rare metals, which has great economic value; third, it can take this opportunity to train China's divers and accumulate experience in sea salvage.
After the unanimous agreement on salvage of the "Apo Maru" was formed, the Shanghai Rescue and Salvage Bureau of the Ministry of Communications officially reported to the Ministry of Communications and put forward a salvage proposal, that is, the Ministry of Communications, the Fujian, Fuzhou Military Region, the East China Sea Fleet and other units coordinated and cooperated, and the specific construction was mainly based on the first engineering team of the Shanghai Rescue and Salvage Bureau (Shanghai Rescue No. 3), with the participation of the East China Sea Fleet and the joint salvage of military-civilian cooperation. Ye Fei, then minister of communications, believed that although this proposal was somewhat sketchy and there was still insufficient understanding of the difficulties, it was also a feasible plan. He asked the relevant departments of the Ministry of Communications to formulate a salvage plan and carry out salvage after the approval of the state.
Ye Fei, then Minister of Transport
What is the origin of this "Awa Maru" that it is necessary for the country to make such a big move? This is a complex question, but let's briefly review it here.
During the Pacific War, Japan detained a total of 160,000 prisoners of war and expatriates from the United States, Britain, Canada, and other countries, and the United States sent a note to Japan through neutral countries, demanding that these prisoners of war and expatriates be provided with relief materials and ensuring that the US military would never launch attacks on Japanese cargo ships traveling on the prescribed shipping lanes to ensure the safety of relief ships.
The Awa Maru was a 10,000-ton passenger and cargo vessel operated by the Japan Post Shipping Corporation and was requisitioned to transport relief supplies. On February 17, 1945, the "Awa Maru" set sail from Japan loaded with 2,000 tons of relief supplies, arrived at its destination Jakarta a month later, unloaded the supplies and arrived in Singapore, where it was filled with returnees and set sail back on the 28th.
Restoration of the Awa Maru
On the night of April 1, when the Awa Maru was driving to the waters east of Niushan Island in Fujian Province, it was discovered by the US Navy submarine "Queen Fish", which was foggy and the US captain mistakenly thought it was a Japanese destroyer, and ordered four torpedoes to be fired at the ship. Awa Maru was blown in two and sank into the sea 3 minutes later, killing all 2,008 people on board except for one cook who was rescued.
Since the Awa Maru incident, there have been mysterious legends about the large amount of gold and silver treasures on this ship. Japanese folk researchers say the ship loaded 9,800 tons of cargo in Singapore, including rubber, tin, aluminum, rice, medicines, and a special vault for gold coins and diamonds. American newspapers even have noses and eyes, saying that the ship contains 40 tons of gold, 12 tons of platinum, 150,000 carats of diamonds, 40 boxes of various crafts and gemstones, plus countless paper currency securities, with a total value of $5 billion.
USS Queenfish submarine
Regarding these legends about the great wealth carried on board the Awa Maru, the Japanese side neither affirmed nor denied it, but only declared that the ship sank on the high seas and the Japanese side retained ownership of the ship. The ambiguous attitude of the Japanese side has increased the mysterious sense of this incident, trying to salvage the ship, and there are many people who have completely solved the mystery, and many non-governmental organizations in Japan, the United States, Hong Kong and other places have put forward their requests to salvage the shipwreck, but the Chinese side has refused.
Of all the legends about the Awa Maru, the most sensational news was revealed during US President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972, that is, the fossil skull of the "Peking Man" may be on this ship. The source of this information is very secret, but nixon must have his basis for saying so.
The discovery of the fossil skull of the "Peking Man" is undoubtedly one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, and this artifact is a priceless treasure that Japan has long coveted. At the beginning of the War of Resistance, the fossils were transferred to the Union Hospital opened by the Americans for protection, and the Japanese could do nothing about it. As the situation escalated, the fossils were in a precarious state, and after many deliberations, it was decided to transfer them to the United States for protection, so in early December 1941, they were escorted by the US Marine Corps to Qinhuangdao, preparing to take a boat to the United States. Who knows, at this time, the Pearl Harbor incident broke out, the United States and Japan declared war, the United States Marine Corps was raided by the Japanese army, and the fossils escorted evaporated from this world, and they did not know where to go, leaving behind the mystery of eternity.
After the 1970s, the international call for salvaging the "Awa Maru" became louder and louder, and Ye Fei was quite anxious about it. Coming from a military commander background, considering that the scope of the wreck involves national interests and military secrets, he must not allow foreign salvage teams to intervene, and if the salvage is to be carried out, it must also be carried out by our country independently. For this reason, the joint meeting mentioned above was convened.
In March 1977, the state officially approved the salvage plan, which was named "7713 Project", which was jointly organized and implemented by the Ministry of Communications and the Navy, under the unified leadership of the Fuzhou Military Region, and the leader of the engineering leading group was Zhu Shaoqing, deputy commander of the Fuzhou Military Region.
According to the project construction plan, the Ministry of Communications mobilized 148 divers, 2 salvage engineering vessels, 7 auxiliary ships, 132 divers, 2 salvage engineering ships and 7 auxiliary vessels from the three rescue and salvage bureaus in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Yantai, and formed a joint salvage team. In order to do a good job in military cover, the Fuzhou Military Region mobilized aircraft and ships to carry out patrol cover, and deployed anti-aircraft artillery units on the shore to form a three-dimensional cover system of sea, land, and air, and to blockade the sea area of the operation office. At that time, the operational policy was that all naval and air patrols were limited to the prescribed salvage operation area and did not irritate the other side. However, if the Taiwan side conducts reconnaissance and interference against us, it will resolutely fight back.
The ship clock on the Awa Maru
The investigation of the salvage of the "Awa Maru" shipwreck began in March 1977 and lasted more than three years. The salvage in 1977 was in the trial salvage phase, mainly to determine the location of the wreck, and officially entered the salvage phase from 1978.
In late April 1978, "Hushou No. 3" used underwater lighting and blasting and cutting technology to unveil a 15-square-meter deck in one fell swoop, showing the role of new technologies and new equipment, so that salvage changed from manual to mechanical, greatly accelerating the progress.
In July 1980, the salvage and wreck reached its final stages. The large floating crane "Dali", imported from Japan, played an important role in lifting the front section of the wreck out of the sea in one fell swoop. Divers tried every means in the 5 cargo holds under 60 meters of water, digging three feet into the ground to search, and finally did not find the legendary gold diamonds, let alone the "Beijinger" skull, and even the safe was not found.
Salvaged bow
The news was undoubtedly depressing, with the Japanese media lamenting that "the tragic Awa Maru has no treasure". On the question of why the legendary valuables were not found, Ye Fei analyzed three possibilities in his memoirs. First, there is no evidence of those treasures at all, and all the legends are purely false rumors; second, Japan used other ships to pull away valuables, and the "Awa Maru" acted as a substitute for the dead; the third is that the US military had already salvaged the "Awa Maru" after sinking it, and with the technical capabilities of the United States at that time, it was not impossible.
The skeleton of the Awa Maru
Of course, Ye Fei also said that these were some of his personal speculations, and in fact, there was no basis for them. What the truth is, I am afraid, is a permanent mystery.
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