On April 30, 1963, China ushered in the first 10,000-ton giant ship and named it "Yuejin", at this time, the people of the whole country were proud of the motherland and immersed in the atmosphere of national celebration.
As everyone knows, a bad news is about to come, on May 1, the giant ship "Yuejin" arrived, and the high seas near China's Suyan Reef suddenly sank mysteriously.
What are the hidden secrets behind this tragic event? What exactly did the Yuejin experience on its first voyage?
China's first 10,000-ton giant ship "Yuejin"
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the People's Republic of China has been committed to the development of heavy industry, and then the mainland has issued many policies to support the development of domestic industry.
The promulgation of the "First Five-Year Plan" has made a qualitative leap forward in the mainland's heavy industry and embarked on the road of rapid development.
These industrial manufacturing plants have become a solid foundation for the mainland's heavy industry, and have made great contributions to the future development and growth of the motherland, and the northeast region has also become the "industrial capital" of the mainland.
At that time, Dalian Shipyard was a "leader" in the mainland shipbuilding industry, with a variety of large industrial machines in the factory, and the level of production of large ships.
In September 1958, Soviet experts helped Continental design a set of drawings, which contained the design drawings of a 10,000-ton giant ship, and the mainland handed over this arduous task to the Dalian shipyard.
This is the first 10,000-ton ship in New China, which is a very difficult task because it has no previous construction experience.
In the face of this task, Dalian Shipyard gathered all the experts in the factory, carried out research and manufacturing work day and night, and after 58 days of hard work, it was finally built China's first giant ship.
As soon as this news came out, it caused quite a stir in the world, because in just 58 days, the mainland built a giant ship of 10,000 tons, which also directly refreshed the global shipbuilding record.
During the Great Leap Forward, this success truly achieved the feat of surpassing the shipbuilding speed of Britain and the United States, and it also symbolized that New China had made rapid progress in heavy industry.
This 10,000-ton ocean-going freighter is named "Yuejin", and the configuration of the giant ship is also quite high, with a total length of 169.9 meters, with a cargo capacity of 13,400 tons, and a draft of up to 9.7 meters when the giant ship is fully loaded.
This 10,000-ton giant ship is also equipped with a "super large heart", with a maximum horsepower of 13,000 horsepower and a cruising capacity of up to 12,000 nautical miles.
After the construction of the "Yuejin" giant ship, the mainland acceptance committee carried out the acceptance inspection, after strict and precise inspection, the report showed that the welding quality of the giant ship was excellent, and the main scale was very accurate.
And the size of the inside of the giant ship, the engine, the installation, etc., fully meet the specified standards, without accident passed the strict acceptance inspection, and the email bureau also specially customized a stamp for it.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has produced a special stamp for the "Yuejin".
On December 15, 1960, in order to commemorate the advent of the 10,000-ton giant ship "Yuejin", the Mainland Post and Telecommunications Bureau issued a special set of special stamps for the first 10,000-ton ocean-going freighter made in China.
The release of the Mainland Post and Telecommunications Bureau, is also the first time in China to issue a stamp about the ship, this stamp is based on the blue color, the release of this stamp, implying that the future of the new China's marine ship industry, will eventually move to a new height.
The freighter on the stamp is clearly engraved with the word "leap forward", the giant ship is in a heroic posture, flying freely on the sea, this stamp is designed by the famous stamp designer of the mainland, Sun Chuanzhe.
In 1958, the "Yuejin" giant ship had between Dalian and Shanghai, carried out three times of water test voyages, after many observations, the indicators of this giant ship all showed normal, and then ushered in his maiden voyage.
The "Leap Forward" made its first voyage
In 1962, Premier Zhou and Japanese representatives began negotiations on "expanding Sino-Japanese trade", and after the exchanges, it is expected that Sino-Japanese non-governmental trade will be carried out for five years.
This negotiation has opened up a new maritime trade route for China and Japan, opened up a trade exchange channel between the two countries, and the "Yuejin" at this time has provoked the heavy burden of trade exchanges between the two countries.
At this time, the country attaches great importance to the "Yuejin" giant ship, the first shipping itinerary, in order to make the giant ship successfully complete the mission, the crew on the ship changed batch after batch, just ten days before the voyage, the crew on the giant ship is still changing.
Originally, there were 20 technicians on board, but in the end, in just half a month, 17 technicians were repeatedly replaced, and after multiple transfers of the second officer on the ship, they have been out of navigation for two years.
The new captain of the giant ship was appointed on the fifth day before the sailing, and before he had time to understand the situation of the giant ship, he began the voyage.
On April 30, 1963, the "Yuejin" giant ship officially set sail, the first voyage was determined to depart from Qingdao Port, the destination was Nagoya West Port, Japan, the giant ship was loaded with nearly 10,000 tons of corn, as well as various mineral products, began the voyage mission.
On May 1, 1960, Premier Zhou was in his office to deal with daily affairs, when a hurried telephone call interrupted Premier Zhou's work.
The mystery of the sinking of the giant ship
Premier Zhou then answered the phone and learned the shocking news that the "Yuejin" ocean ship had accidentally sank in the waters near Suyan Reef on the mainland.
On the evening of May 1, 1969, the crew of the giant ship "Yuejin" on the mainland drifted at sea for about seven hours before finally being rescued by a Japanese fishing boat.
At this time, after learning the news in China, because the cause of the sinking had not been ascertained suddenly, the sinking of the giant ship was not announced as soon as possible, and the Japanese radio and television station at this time released the news of the mainland shipwreck the next day, claiming:
"The Yuejin, a 10,000-ton cargo ship built by China, sank in the sea when it was hit by three torpedoes in the belly of the ship on its way to Japan. ”
In an instant, the Japanese side's claim that the "Yuejin" giant ship had been torpedoed quickly spread internationally, and the news that our side had not yet confirmed it was wantonly disseminated by the Japanese side.
Japan's behavior has caused great tension in the relations between various countries in the international community, and if this matter is not clearly clarified, it is very easy to become the trigger for war again.
At this time, the mainland did not respond immediately, but the mainland's failure to make any response made the shipwreck more mysterious, and the news became world news at this time.
Faced with such a situation, Premier Zhou stood up in danger to guide various departments and carried out orderly follow-up work, and then the crew on the giant ship was picked up by the Chinese Navy smoothly and safely.
Subsequently, Premier Zhou personally went to comfort the crew members, first asked them if their physical condition was in trouble, and only after learning that everyone was fine, did Premier Zhou begin to inquire about the truth of the matter.
In response to Premier Zhou's question, the captain of the Yuejin giant ship said that the impact at that time came from the port side, and he vaguely seemed to see a vague black shadow.
But he didn't hear the explosion at that time, and he said that it was most likely not a torpedo caused by the wreck, and it was most likely caused by a rocking.
Since the real reason has not yet been investigated, Premier Zhou did not directly release the news, but once again commanded the organization of the fleet to go to the place of the incident, and the truth of the sinking ship was ascertained before making it public.
Premier Zhou supervised the truth of the shipwreck
Before the fleet to investigate the incident set out, Premier Zhou first personally went to Shanghai and held a final work meeting, and all relevant personnel arrived in advance.
After Premier Zhou arrived, Bo Jize, deputy chief of staff of the Navy, began to report on his work, and when he talked about how the leading cadres of each formation were formed, Premier Zhou interrupted Bo Jize's speech with a serious face, and then said:
"Why are the deputy commanders and deputy political commissars of the fleet? Where are your commanders and political commissars?"
After hearing Premier Zhou's speech, the commander-in-chief and political commissar of the East China Sea Fleet immediately stood up and said that they would personally go to find out the real cause of the incident.
At this time, Premier Zhou eased his emotions and launched this time with many relevant personnel, how to find the Yuejin.
Subsequently, Premier Zhou ordered the navy to arrange two frigates, two minesweepers, and two hunting ships to go together to inquire about the truth and escort the inquiry work.
After 15 days of arduous searching, the truth about the sinking of the "Yuejin" giant ship was finally ascertained, and the divers found that the hull was ruptured in three places, and the keel of the hull was broken in one place.
The patent leather of the ship's hull was found on the reef where the incident occurred, and after repeated investigation and verification, it was finally determined that the "Yuejin" giant ship sank because it ran aground on the reef, and not because it sank due to a torpedo as reported by the Japanese media.
On June 2, 1963, after the final dive review of the sea fleet, the national flag and many important data on the giant ship were retrieved, and then the place of the incident was evacuated and then returned.
Since then, the giant ship "Yuejin" has been sleeping at the bottom of the sea, and its life has ended in a hurry.