"418" submarine crash
Soviet M-class submarines
In 1954, the Chinese Navy received two M-class small submarines from the Soviet Union, which were named "Defense 21" and "Defense 22" respectively. The M-class submarine is an old submarine used by the Soviet Union during World War II, with a displacement of only more than 200 tons and no ocean-going combat capability, it belongs to the near-shore submarine, and the new submarine force uses it as a training ship.
The small size of the M-class submarines is not suitable for ocean-going combat
The Defense-24 is the former Soviet Navy's M-279 submarine, which was changed to 204 after the transfer of the Chinese Navy, and later changed to 418, and belonged to the East China Sea Fleet. The boat is small, with a surface displacement of 160 tons and an underwater displacement of 202 tons, and the technology has been very backward, but the Chinese Navy has no choice and has been using it as a training ship.
The Chinese Navy's submarine force was initially trained only by introducing soviet second-hand old-fashioned submarines
The Soviets were not interested in helping China build a strong navy, preferring China to accept the Soviet union's proposal to create a combined fleet, protected by the Soviet Navy. As the Chinese side categorically rejected these programs that violated national sovereignty, Soviet aid to China gradually stopped. China's submarine force started late, extremely lack of talent, equipment, experience, at that time only just followed the Soviet experts to learn driving technology, for submarine combat technology has not had time to learn the opportunity, can only rely on their own groping, not only difficult, but also very dangerous.
The 418 boat accident was about the same
On December 1, 1959, the submarine "418" was conducting a comprehensive drill with surface ships to attack submarines and counter-ships. It is planned that the "418" boat will complete the last exercise underwater: to avoid navigation, that is, to take the "zigzag" and then surface. Because the 418 boat was technologically backward and could not make radio contact without surface, it was agreed in advance that the "Hengyang" frigate would throw 3 Army grenades underwater, and the submarine could float after hearing 3 explosions.
USS Hengyang
However, what wanwan did not expect was that the "Hengyang" ship was actually directly above the submarine, which was such a coincidence, when the 418 boat found that there was a boat on its head through the periscope, it was too late, although the captain ordered an emergency dive, but the inertia of the floating still made the submarine hit the bottom of the "Hengyang" ship fiercely. The submarine bridge was halved by everything, and the raging sea roared into the boat, and the submarine suddenly plunged to the bottom of the sea at a depth of 40 meters, and 24 crew members, including the captain, were killed on the spot. At this time, there were still 5 people in the bow and 10 people in the stern, but due to the delay in rescue, after insisting on 15 hours, the oxygen was about to run out, and the 10 people at the stern risked out of the cabin to float to save themselves, due to the mistaken belief in the wrong reading of the depth gauge (showing that the underwater was 8 meters, it was actually 40 meters) 9 people died due to floating too fast, only the captain Wang Faquan survived because he carried more heavy loads and floated slowly, and the 5 people in the bow were eventually all sacrificed.
Although Wang Faquan was seriously injured, he was rescued
A submarine sank, and only 1 of the 39 crew survived, the first time the Chinese Navy's submarine force had suffered such heavy losses. The reasons for this accident: First, the surface ship must turn on the engine in the submarine training area so that the submarine can determine the position of the surface ship, but the "Hengyang" shut down the engine in violation of the regulations. Second, the watertight cabin in the boat was not completely closed when floating, causing the seawater to invade multiple cabins and cause sinking. Third, it is not cautious when floating, and it is not done well to observe the periscope. Fourth, the equipment in the boat is aging, there is a fault, and it is not found and repaired and replaced in time.
Salvaged wreckage of No. 418
The rescue was also unsuccessful, although more than fifty ships were urgently transferred, and divers and life-saving equipment were transported from all over the country, but due to the 8-level wind blowing on the sea at that time, the submarine call for help buoy steel cable was scraped, not only could not contact the submarine's internal officers and soldiers but also lost the position of the submarine, until 68 hours to re-find the submarine, it was too late.
A monument to the 418 boats that sacrificed officers and men
The "418" boat was salvaged out of the water 75 days after the crash and is now a textbook for the Qingdao Naval Submarine Academy. The monument of 38 officers and men who sacrificed their lives stands in the Zhoushan Islands Martyrs' Cemetery, on which is written "Monument to the Martyrs Killed in the 1385 Units of the Navy", for a long time no one knows who is commemorated, the submarine soldiers on the "418" boat died for the motherland to explore advanced weapons and use technology, and the soul of the Chinese Navy is immortal.