People's Liberation Army Daily
Chinese the meritorious torpedo boats on display in the Military Museum of the People's Revolution. Photo by Chen Lingjin
In April this year, on the day of celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Navy, a micro-documentary "Navigation Track", which showed the magnificent development process of the People's Navy, was released on the military-civilian network platform, which attracted widespread attention. In the second episode of "The First Rays", people see the mighty figure of the torpedo boat galloping on the sea.
Since the early days of the founding of New China, torpedo boats, as surface boats with a maximum displacement of less than 100 tons, have become the main equipment of our people's navy from the 1950s to the 1990s with their amazing combat strength. Under the creative use of the officers and men of the torpedo boat unit, it has written a strong stroke in the history of the people's navy's warfare with small battles, defeating the strong with the weak, and repeatedly accomplishing miraculous feats.
Although the torpedo boat was retired in the 1990s and was no longer seen in the largest naval parade phalanx in the history of New China last year, as a "thunder in the angry sea" with both wisdom and courage, the image of the torpedo boat has been deeply imprinted in the hearts of generations of naval officers and men.
A lightweight naval fighter who can play a "heavy punch"
In the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution, when I saw the torpedo boat, a kind of respect came to me. Because it was such a "violent temper" and "small man" that repeatedly sank thousands of tons of warships in naval battles, and once supported half of the main equipment of the people's navy.
Looking back at that era, if you don't think about the honor and aura they won, and carefully examine the size and related parameters of these torpedo boats, you may find that they are only "lightweight players" in naval battles.
One is the small size. The Type 123 torpedo boat (divided into type 123-B and 123-K) was the first torpedo boat purchased from Soviet shipyards at the beginning of the founding of New China, and NATO called it P4 torpedo boat (hereinafter referred to as P4). Because they are also a modification of the Soviet K-123 "Komsomol" type torpedo boat, their size and shape are basically the same, the length of the boat is more than 19 meters, the width is 3.7 meters, and the standard displacement is more than 20 tons.
Later the introduction of the Soviet-made 183 type torpedo boat, NATO called it P6 torpedo boat (hereinafter referred to as P6), the length of the boat is not more than 25 meters, the width is 6.0 meters, the standard displacement is 57 tons, and the crew is 20 people. These characteristics objectively determine that there is a congenital deficiency in the torpedo boat, that is, poor seaworthiness.
Second, the voyage is short. The P4 has an endurance of about 740 km when it travels at 13 knots, and an endurance of about 833 km when the P6 travels at a speed of 30 knots. This determines that torpedo boats can only cooperate with other forces in offshore areas, and the radius of activity is small.
Third, the protective force is weak. Whether it is the P4 with aluminum housing or the P6 with a wooden structure, its self-defense and protection ability is very weak, and the P4 has only two 12.7 mm machine guns or 14.5 mm anti-aircraft machine guns. The P6's self-defense weapons are two twin-mounted 25 mm dual-purpose automatic guns and 8 depth charges.
So, why does this configuration of torpedo boats make opponents afraid? The reason is that it also has a "heavy punch" available.
First, the speed is fast. The P4 has a maximum speed of 42 knots with the help of two high-power diesel engines, while the P6 is equipped with 4 diesel engines and has a maximum speed of 45 knots. This high speed and flexibility have improved the battlefield survivability of torpedo boats to a certain extent.
The second is fierce firepower. The P4 was equipped with two 450 mm torpedo tubes, the torpedo weight was 918 kg and the warhead was loaded with 150 kg of explosives. The P6 was equipped with two 533 mm torpedo tubes, the torpedo was a gas-thermally powered type 53-39 torpedo. The performance and power of these two torpedoes have been proven in successive battles. If they hit the effective part, they can even "slash" more than 1,000 tons of enemy ships.
In addition, the radar and electric compass equipped on the 123-K torpedo boats, and the "leather head" sea search radar equipped by the P6 make the torpedo boats more powerful.
It was with such weapons and equipment that the People's Navy began to set out to build a torpedo boat force.
In 1950, with the help of Soviet experts, the Naval Speedboat School was established in Qingdao and began to train the commanders and professional and technical soldiers needed for torpedo boat troops. Fourteen months later, the first batch of 897 students of the speedboat school graduated.
Also in 1950, the Naval Command issued a decree to form a torpedo boat brigade in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tanggu, and Qingdao, based on the purchase of 36 Torpedo Boats of the Soviet Union. The people's navy's torpedo boat unit thus stepped onto the stage of history.
Looking back now on this or even much earlier, not many people at the time could have foreseen the enormous role that the torpedo boat force was about to play.
After all, in the stormy old China, the actual combat experience of torpedo boats was full of sadness. During the Period of the Foreign Affairs Movement, the Beiyang Marine Division was equipped with the most advanced torpedo boats at that time, but it was still defeated; during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Chinese Navy, in the situation of great disparity in strength, still organized the remaining torpedo boat formations to launch attacks on Japanese ships.
However, the officers and men of the new Chinese navy reinterpreted the definition of torpedo boats. Even if they have flawed equipment in their hands, even if the equipment is at a temporary disadvantage, they still use courage and wisdom to open a new page in the history of war.
Why "Small Men" Became "Angry Sea Thunder"
Looking through the military histories of various countries, it is difficult to find any country that is like our country, and a large number of naval battle records are written by "small" torpedo boats.
This "difficulty" reflects, on the one hand, the relative weakness of the composition of the newly established people's navy at that time, and on the other hand, the bravery and fearlessness of the officers and men of the torpedo boat force. It is precisely by relying on the blood and courage to bravely move forward in the face of war, the wit and flexibility to fight small and large, and to defeat the strong enemy and give up others, that the torpedo boat has been used to the extreme, showing its great power.
The sinking of the Kuomintang Navy's "Taiping" was the first major victory achieved by our torpedo boat units. When the Taiping, which had been torpedoed, sank into the sea, the enemy sailors on the other ships must have felt a strong sense of fear. Even the American press exclaimed, "The Chinese Communist Party now has a very powerful naval force." ”
No one understands the significance of this victory better than the officers and men of the torpedo boat unit -- from now on, we have a "sharp weapon" at sea that we can rely on; no one understands better than them the hard-won victory, and the shortcomings exposed by the torpedo boats in actual combat are made up for by the officers and men with wisdom and fearlessness.
The frigate "Taiping" was originally an Escort Destroyer of the U.S. Evats class "Decker", which was later "gifted" to the Kuomintang Navy by the United States and became one of the latter's capital ships at that time.
The ship is 88 meters long, more than 10 meters wide, has a standard displacement of more than 1,100 tons, and has more than 200 officers and men on board. The main armaments on board the ship are: 3 76.2 mm naval guns with a range of 13 km; 4 40 mm naval guns, with a maximum range of more than 10 km when firing high-explosive shells; and 10 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.
Later, some people reviewed it, believing that whether it was a 76.2 mm or 40 mm naval gun, as long as a shell effectively hit the torpedo boat, the torpedo boat would immediately lose its combat effectiveness. Relying on its superiority in tonnage and weapons, the "Taiping" from time to time sneaked into the islands and reefs along the eastern coast of Zhejiang and shelled our military and civilian targets.
November 14, 1954, was a day worthy of going down in naval history forever. Because the season of great wind and waves is approaching, according to the predetermined plan, the torpedo boats of the People's Navy will be withdrawn to Zhoushan the next day. However, on the night of the 14th, four torpedo boats, including 158 boats, were ordered to attack and eventually sink the Taiping.
If we pay attention to some details, we may be able to fully realize the difficulty of this victory. In order to paralyze the enemy, in the sea areas where there are no support conditions, the officers and men of the torpedo boats have twice lurked and waited, the first time holding out for more than a month, and the second time holding out for nearly half a month. During this period, the enemy ships were found several times, but they were abandoned due to poor sea conditions and lack of conditions to attack; after locking on the "Taiping", 4 torpedo boats fired 4 torpedoes, all of which failed to hit the target. The other 3 ships adjusted their positions, launched again, and lost again. At the critical moment, the 158 boats fired torpedoes at the 5 chains away from the Taiping to complete the attack.
Compared with the sinking of the "Taiping", the No. 102 torpedo boat that sank the gunboat "Dongting" of the Kuomintang Navy with a single boat may be a more intuitive reflection of the characteristics of this equipment itself and the bravery and fearlessness of the officers and men of our Navy.
According to the history of the war, when the No. 102 torpedo boat attacked, it was already the wind and wave season in the East China Sea, and the strong northerly wind set off a big wave, which would overturn the torpedo boat at any time.
Even more suspenseful is the failure of the No. 102 torpedo boat during the first strike, when only the right torpedo remained. A torpedo weighing nearly 1 ton can be imagined to have a great impact on the balance of a torpedo boat with a displacement of only more than 20 tons. Coupled with the wind on the starboard side, the hull tilted during the voyage, which increased the possibility of overturning. Relying on skillful driving skills and the use of their own weight to match the officers and men, the No. 102 torpedo boat had to advance into the battlefield in this way.
The closer you get to an enemy ship, the harder it is for an enemy ship to avoid torpedoes. In order to ensure a hit, Zhang Yimin, then captain of the No. 102 torpedo boat, commanded the torpedo boat to break through the safe distance of the torpedo launch, and only when the enemy and we were 200 meters away and the enemy ship could no longer dodge did the only torpedo fire, blowing up the gunboat "Dongting" in two.
Now we can't imagine what a dangerous situation it is! Fortunately, there are some information to refer to: the No. 102 torpedo boat quickly stopped at the same time as the torpedo was out of the tube, and then reversed in place and retreated at high speed. Even so, all the glass and safety lampshades on the torpedo boat were shattered by the strong shock wave, and the 5 people on the deck were instantly deaf. After the return of the No. 102 torpedo boat, experts pointed out that the boat was 20 meters forward, and the crew had no chance of surviving.
Throughout the history of naval warfare in the world, there are few cases of single-boat mines sinking enemy ships in large winds and waves, let alone the precedent of firing torpedoes within 200 meters! And all this has become a reality in the hands of the officers and men of our torpedo boat unit, and has become a classic example of warfare.
"The torpedo boat has become the pillar of the roof, and the sea dares to fight the bayonet." This is a pertinent and apt comment.
The Kuomintang ships, which had been frightened by the torpedo boat units of our navy many times, no longer dared to haunt the coastal areas of the mainland, and the coastal area, which had experienced more than 10 years of sword and light and sword shadow, finally returned to calm. With sea control in the hands of the People's Navy, the "small size" of the torpedo boat has also become a veritable "lightning at sea" and "thunder in the angry sea".
Electric stone fire, illuminating a gorgeous picture
Compared with other weapons and equipment, the torpedo boats of the People's Navy did not take long from service to retirement, but their earth-shattering achievements made the enemy tremble with fear and horror, and let future generations remember and look up.
Older people should remember a movie called "Sea Hawk", in which the protagonist is a group of intelligent and courageous torpedo boat officers and soldiers. Heroes should always be remembered, such as the torpedo boats and gunboat officers and men who charged on the front line of naval warfare, as well as the unsung heroes who wrote this glorious history with the officers and soldiers behind the scenes.
In order to change the situation of the enemy and us at sea and create more "angry sea thunderbolts", almost at the same time as purchasing torpedo boats from the Soviet Union, China began to imitate and develop torpedo boats.
At the beginning of the development of P4 imitation, the Soviet Union provided a full set of product design drawings, semi-finished hull products, equipment and equipment, and sent experts to China for guidance. In May 1955, China manufactured the first torpedo boat, which was soon put into mass production.
What is valuable is that the technicians of the Wuhu Shipyard made a series of improvements to the P4 in the process, replaced it with a Soviet high-speed diesel engine, adopted a series of new processes to extend the life of the hull, and gradually realized the localization of the sea search radar carried by the 123-K type boat, the model 512, which was later widely equipped with other domestic new ships.
For china's technical personnel, imitation is the process of learning to digest and absorb, which also means that efforts are also required. In 1953, the Soviet Union transferred the right to build the P6 to our country for a fee. In February 1955, the first torpedo boats began construction, and the first batch of more than 20 torpedo boats soon ran out of imported wood.
At that time, China was unable to order from abroad. Technicians had to set their sights on domestic timber. Careful comparison again and again, torsional stress, stress test, and test of gluing technology again and again, the problem was finally solved. In 1958, the first torpedo boat made of domestic timber was tested, and the performance indicators met the requirements. Wuhu Shipyard uniformly named these P4 and P6 produced in China as Type 6602 torpedo boats.
From "6602" to "6625" (aluminum torpedo boat), from "026" (steel torpedo boat) to "R704", China's technical personnel continue to improve the performance of torpedo boats.
In 1984, the first generation of large steel torpedo boats developed by China itself was delivered to the troops for use, code-named Type 027. This type of torpedo boat displacement is close to 100 tons, good wave resistance, equipped with a new type of torpedo attack control system and 4 torpedo tubes, a salvo can form a fan attack, the hit rate is high, and the combat power is significantly improved.
From paid help to independent research, from ensuring stability to the pursuit of performance. Now it seems that this seemingly simple equipment model code has witnessed the repeated charges of torpedo boat developers on the scientific and technological journey. It is precisely because of such a charge that the "angry sea thunder" that comes and goes like the wind can be installed in large quantities and become the main force and symbol of the Chinese navy at that time.
Looking back at this period of history in the large coordinate system of the development of the people's navy, it is not difficult for us to find that the appearance of the torpedo boat electric light and stone fire has illuminated to a certain extent a more splendid picture of the development of the people's navy since then.
Driven by the torpedo boat construction plan, China has trained the first generation of speedboat research, design and construction personnel, established a speedboat research and design institution, and expanded and built a number of factories that can produce speedboats and boat equipment. China's first domestic torpedo, the Fish-1 torpedo, was also successfully developed and put into use in the early 1960s. All this has laid a solid foundation for the subsequent development of various types of missile speedboats and torpedoes.
From torpedo boats to missile boats to ship formations with increasingly perfect genealogies, the people's navy is still undergoing great changes from the coast to the coast to the deep blue, but one thing has never changed and has always been inherited, that is, the fighting spirit of the torpedo boat troops of "loyalty and courage, flexibility and mobility, and dare to fight and win.".
As part of the red gene, this spirit has been integrated into the blood of the officers and men of the People's Navy, running along the tracks of Chinese naval vessels to the open seas and oceans, ready to witness new victories and continue to defend peace.