The confrontation between the Chinese and US navies in the Yellow Sea in 1994 was a shame that the Navy's nuclear submarine forces will forever remember, and the US Navy completely suppressed our military by virtue of its absolute technological superiority in the confrontation between our nuclear submarines and the US military's antisubmarine means.
【Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier equipped by the U.S. Navy】
In the end, it was even necessary for PLA Air Force fighters to go to relieve the siege, so that our nuclear submarine could escape, and this Sino-US confrontation not only made our military feel extremely ashamed, but also made our military see the power of modern antisubmarine warfare means.
The Yellow Sea crisis by chance
The background of the 1994 Yellow Sea crisis is somewhat complicated, and the reason why this crisis broke out was not because of the contradictions between China and the United States, but because of the extremely sensitive North Korean nuclear issue.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the DPRK has always been very worried about its own security situation, and after losing the protection of the Soviet Union, the DPRK leader pinned its national security on nuclear weapons and devoted all the country's energy to nuclear weapons research.
【North Korean Nuclear Plant】
As a hostile country, the United States naturally resolutely opposes North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons, and when North Korea insists on promoting the practical application of its nuclear program in defiance of international bans, the United States has launched the most severe sanctions against North Korea and demanded that North Korea replace its existing heavy water reactors with light water reactors.
The technical differences between the two reactors are not too much to mention, but we know one thing: only heavy water reactors can enrich nuclear materials that are critical to nuclear weapons research, which is why North Korea is reluctant to replace light water reactors.
【North Korean Nuclear Facilities】
Seeing that the DPRK is promoting nuclear weapons research regardless of it, the United States decided to launch military deterrence and deploy the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group in the Western Pacific Fleet to the coastline of the DPRK.
The Kitty Hawk is also the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier developed by the United States, and its combat capability is quite powerful, especially the maritime attack capability is not inferior to that of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group has an aviation strike capability that is sufficient to destroy North Korea's naval and air forces, and the deployment of aircraft carriers by the United States is incapable of dealing with North Korea, but it has provoked China.
After all, such a large aircraft carrier roams the Yellow Sea, not far from China's coastline, and it is said to deter North Korea, but China also feels threatened.
【Kitty Hawk Class Aircraft Carrier】
In addition, not long after the Yinhe incident at that time, the relationship between China and the United States was very tense, and the United States did not notify neighboring countries in accordance with international practice, which made the arrival of the American aircraft carrier an unexpected situation faced by the Chinese Navy.
Intercepted Chinese submarine
At that time, a PLA Type 091 attack nuclear submarine carrying out submarine tests in the Yellow Sea was affected by the sudden arrival of the US military.
When the submarine left the port and went on trial, everything was normal, but when it returned home, it suddenly found that the US aircraft carrier battle group was directly on its own course.
[091 nuclear submarine]
091 is the first nuclear-powered submarine in the mainland, its technical level is not advanced, but it solves the problem of whether the mainland nuclear submarine has or not, and the huge noise makes the destroyers in the US fleet quickly lock the location of the 091 submarine.
Although the crew of the 091 nuclear submarine chose to dive quickly, how could the US military let them go, the US military had a very high level of anti-submarine technology at that time, and they not only locked the position of the 091 submarine, but also simply took it as a rare opportunity to fight and dispatch anti-submarine aircraft to launch
According to the crew's recollections, the US military's simulated attack was carried out a total of seven times, and every time the active sonar hit the Chinese submarine, the crew knew that they had died again in the American's simulation.
[091 nuclear submarine]
Although the U.S. Navy will not really sink our submarines, their intentions are even more vicious, even if they are nuclear submarines, the diving time is limited, and the U.S. Navy continues to launch simulated attacks in order to force Chinese submarines to take the initiative to surface.
According to international practice, once our submarines come to the surface, it will be tantamount to admitting defeat and begging the Americans for mercy.
Being mocked by a simulated attack is humiliating enough, and if you choose to take the initiative to float, it is even more uncomfortable than killing the crew. But if you fight to the death with the Americans, the oxygen on the submarine will eventually run out, and the lives of the crew will be in danger.
[091 nuclear submarine]
In the face of the help of the Navy submarines, two Su-27SK fighters of the Air Force took off from Qingdao and flew straight to the sea area where the Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier battle group was located.
In response, the Kitty Hawk also took off two F-14 fighters to intercept our army's Su-27SK, and the two sides evolved from a sea confrontation to an air confrontation, and the situation on the scene once again reached a stalemate.
At this time, the 091 submarine had been on the bottom of the sea for 72 hours, and the oxygen on the boat had reached a critical point, in order to save our submarine, the Su-27SK pilot suddenly made a very offensive move, and directly cut diagonally into the route of the US military fighter.
[Diagonally cutting into the route of the opponent's fighter is very attacking]
The American pilots were shocked, realizing that the Chinese military seemed to be really preparing for war with them, which was not the result they wanted, and the two F-14 fighters quickly disengaged and returned to the carrier, and the Kitty Hawk formation quickly left the Yellow Sea.
The PLA's 091 submarine was finally able to surface for air and later returned to its home port.
After the incident, both the Chinese and US militaries said that this was an extremely dangerous contact incident, and the two sides intended to establish a notification mechanism to avoid a similar situation from happening again and triggering a strategic miscalculation.
[F-14 taking off urgently]
Although the confrontation in the Yellow Sea in 94 was also the initiative of the US Navy to withdraw, there is no doubt that if the two sides really make a move, not only will the military opportunity be shot down, but the underwater 091 nuclear submarine will not escape the doom.
The standoff also accelerated the pace of modernization of the Chinese navy, which faced off again in the South China Sea in 2016 after more than 20 years of development.
【Chinese Aircraft Carrier Battle Group】
This time, the Chinese Navy used its hard power to force back the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier battle group, announcing the end of US maritime hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sources:
[1] Historical background information and impact of the event