Since the launch of the " Liaoning ship " in 2012, our country has made rapid progress in the development of aircraft carriers. Just half a month ago, our country's third aircraft carrier "Fujian ship" was officially launched. Its launch has made the Chinese navy The power of has been further improved.
In fact, as early as the last century, our country had planned to build our own aircraft carrier. However, limited by the technical conditions at the time, this dream was not realized until recent years. In this process, I have to mention " The impact of "HMS Melbourne " on my country's aircraft carrier development process.
In 1984, my country spent US$30 million to buy the "Melbourne" from Australia. At that time, there was only a shell left of the "Melbourne".
When Western countries learned about it, they all laughed at our country for buying a pile of scrap iron at a sky-high price. But what they didn't expect was that it was this pile of scrap iron that played an important role in the development of our country's aircraft carrier.
The "Melbourne" was originally an aircraft carrier. Although it belongs to the Australian Navy, in fact, this aircraft carrier was purchased by Australia from the United Kingdom.
Before it was given to Australia by the United Kingdom, the name of the "Melbourne" was originally "the Majesty". It was built in April 1943 and launched in February 1945.
The British aircraft carrier was originally planned to be used in World War II. However, when it was completed and launched, World War II had come to an end, and the "Majestic" failed to show its majesty on the battlefield..
As the "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets" in the past, Britain had a very powerful navy at that time, with more than fifty aircraft carriers alone. After the end of World War II, due to the severe impact on the economy, the British government had to suspend the operation of the "Majestic" Follow-up improvement work.
In order to get rid of this burden, the British government sold it to Australia at an extremely low price in 1949, but it also set a prerequisite: The weapons subsequently equipped with this aircraft carrier must be purchased from the United Kingdom and installed in the United Kingdom. Delivery after installation is complete.
Six years later, in 1955, the "Majestic" was renovated and equipped with new weapons and equipment. The Australian military renamed it "Melbourne" and equipped it in the navy. The hull number "R-21" became Another aircraft carrier of the Australian Navy.
In May 1956, when the "Melbourne" arrived at Sydney Harbor, the Australian people were jubilant and held a grand welcome ceremony for it. However, in the future, the "Melbourne" became their "disaster" ", the aircraft carrier itself is also in trouble.
One and a half years after arriving in Australia, "Melbourne" officially began its "trip into trouble."
During a mission, the "Melbourne" sailed out of Port Adelaide. Whether it was improper operation by the pilot or a sudden malfunction of the aircraft carrier, it collided with another battleship "Blue Card" in the port.
Fortunately, the collision did not cause a major disaster, and no crew members were injured or injured as a result..
After the military investigated this, they found no fault with the "Melbourne" and no violations by the crew, so they classified the collision as an "accidental accident."
Although people think this is an accident, the "Melbourne" does not think so. In the next ten years, it will use its "record" to show that collisions are its "specialty".
After the first collision, the "Melbourne" stopped for a while until February 10, 1964, when it collided with another ship again, and this time the consequences were extremely serious.
On the day of the incident, the "Melbourne" aircraft carrier formation was sailing at sea. Suddenly, the course of the destroyer on its side deviated and collided with the normally sailing "Melbourne".
After colliding with the tens of thousands of tons of the "Melbourne", the "Voyager" destroyer was cut off on the spot and divided into two parts. The collision also caused a fire. The crew on the destroyer had to take emergency measures to evacuate. .
Due to the sudden incident, the crew on the destroyer had no time to prepare. Although certain emergency measures were taken, more than 80 crew members were killed in the end, and the "Voyager" destroyer was completely scrapped.
After the Australian military learned the news, while grieving for the deceased crew members, it immediately investigated the cause of the incident.
According to the investigation report released by the military, the collision was caused by the serious negligence of the captain of the "Voyager", which caused the destroyer to yaw.
The "Melbourne" was also seriously damaged in the accident. Deep holes were struck on the front and starboard sides. The cable cabin was also severely damaged. The repair cost is expected to be as high as hundreds of millions of dollars.
However, compared with the damage to the two ships, what makes people feel more regretful is the more than 80 crew members who unfortunately died..
After the second collision accident, the Australian military carried out a comprehensive overhaul of the "Melbourne", including retraining the crew, adjusting the composition of the formation, regularly checking for faults, etc. Under the comprehensive rectification, the "Melbourne" became quiet again .
However, the "Melbourne" seems to have an excellent "tradition of ship collisions". Its "dishonest" character determines that it is destined not to keep its peace. Five years after the collision with the "Voyager", the "Melbourne" has another collision. A "crime" .
In June 1969, Australia participated in a military exercise held by the US military, and the "Melbourne" was ordered to participate. In this exercise, the "Melbourne" successfully demonstrated its excellent "traditional" to the US Navy.
During the exercise, the "Melbourne" violently collided with the USS Evans, a destroyer of the US military. Like the "Voyager", the "Ivens" was also hit in half on the spot and then sank into the sea.
This incident resulted in the death of 73 crew members on the "Ivens". Afterwards, the US Navy quickly canceled the follow-up exercise plan, and the Australian military had to repair and rectify the "Melbourne" again.
Unexpectedly, just seven days later, the "Melbourne" collided with a ship again during maintenance. This time, even if Australians do not believe in evil, it will not work. Some people began to call the "Melbourne" a "collision-prone ship" ".
Facts have proved that the title of "Collision Ship" of "Melbourne" is appropriate. Just a few months after it was repaired, it collided with a ferry again in the port. Fortunately, the collision was relatively minor and no one was injured. causing serious consequences. After
repeatedly committed crimes, the Australian military also had difficulties in how to deal with the "Melbourne". While people were having a headache, the "Melbourne" committed crimes again.
First, the "Melbourne" suddenly burst into flames, causing damage to some equipment on the ship. Then the boiler exploded, causing casualties among the crew. It collided with a passenger ship again, and collided with a Japanese freighter...
The Australian Navy was completely disappointed with the "Melbourne" In despair, it seems that this aircraft carrier has been "cursed", and nothing good will happen to it as long as it sets sail.
In 1982, the Australian military finally decided to decommission the "Melbourne" to prevent it from committing crimes again. But how to deal with the "Melbourne" really gave both the government and the navy a headache for a long time.
After many discussions, in 1984, Australia finally decided to dismantle the weapons and equipment on the "Melbourne" before selling it, but who would buy such an empty shell?
In the same year, after my country heard the news about the sale of the "Melbourne", it immediately contacted Australia and expressed its interest in purchasing the "Melbourne".
Subsequently, my country sent a team of experts to Australia to inspect the "Melbourne".
After the expedition team boarded the "Melbourne", they found that it had been dismantled until only an empty shelf was left, and all weapons, equipment and facilities were missing.
It stands to reason that such an empty shell has little value. After learning that my country was about to buy the "Melbourne", many Western countries also laughed at my country for buying a pile of scrap metal.
However, an important discovery made by Chinese experts on the "Melbourne" made the "Melbourne" with only an empty shell valuable again.
After negotiating with Australia, at the end of 1984, our country finally bought the "Melbourne" for US$30 million. Six months later, it left Sydney Harbor, where it had been stationed for nearly 30 years, and sailed in the direction of China. go.
In May 1985, the "Melbourne" arrived at the Guangzhou Huangpu Shipyard, and the relevant Chinese authorities dismantled and reused it.
In fact, in the early years, under the promotion of Admiral Liu Huaqing, the Shanghai Research Institute affiliated with the Navy launched a research project on aircraft carrier construction.
The arrival of the "Melbourne" has provided our military with powerful help in researching aircraft carriers. First of all, during the dismantling process of the "Melbourne", our engineers and designers can clearly and intuitively understand the characteristics of the aircraft carrier. structure.
Secondly, using this information, engineers can test and improve the aircraft carrier model, and gradually explore the path to develop their own aircraft carriers.
In addition, Although the weapons and equipment facilities on the "Melbourne" were dismantled, its flight deck was intact.
The most important point is that after dismantling by Chinese engineers, the steam ejection device and aircraft carrier arresting cable equipment were found on the "Melbourne". You must know that at that time, our country's technology in this area was almost blank.
These two discoveries provide examples for my country's research on aircraft carrier ejection and arresting cable devices, and their value is self-evident.
Under the current world situation, Western countries strictly controlled such technology, and our country had no access to it. The ejection and arresting cable devices on the "Melbourne" were of extraordinary significance in this context.
catapult and blocking cable are indispensable for an aircraft carrier. The catapult can ensure that carrier-based aircraft can take off smoothly in all weather conditions, with all-weather takeoff conditions, and with the catapult, fighter aircraft There is no need to deliberately reduce the take-off weight when taking off, and you can carry as much ammunition as possible for combat.
blocking cable, as its name suggests, plays the role of blocking carrier-based aircraft.
Unlike fighter planes landing on land, carrier-based aircraft must accelerate their landing when landing on an aircraft carrier. This is to prevent the fighter aircraft from having enough speed to pull up and escape if the arresting cable fails to intercept.
However, the length of the deck on the aircraft carrier is limited, which requires the fighter plane to be parked steadily on the deck in the shortest possible time. The blocking cable is such a piece of equipment. It can hook the fighter plane onto the deck after it lands on the deck. The aircraft's tailhook caused the fighter's speed to rapidly decrease, and finally it stopped safely on the deck.
After my country announced its findings on the "Melbourne", Western countries and Australia discovered that their initial ridicule now seems to be that is just "the clown is actually myself" .
Countries have asked Australia why such an important device should be left on the aircraft carrier. In this regard, Australia can only be vague, claiming that the failure to dismantle the catapult and arresting cable device was due to negligence.
But the deal has been concluded, is there any reason to regret it? In this way, the "Melbourne" has played an important role in the hands of Chinese engineers.
Some experts pointed out that the research on the "Melbourne" has made my country take a big step forward in the development of aircraft carriers, and has advanced at least ten years in the technology of arresting cables and catapults.
Therefore, if our country spends 30 million US dollars to purchase the "Melbourne Number", it will definitely make a profit. This is somewhat similar to the fact that after the college entrance examination every year, there will always be some students with poor grades who buy the notes of Xueba. It may have lost its value in the eyes of students, but for those students who are relatively backward, it is a treasure worth learning from.
Since purchasing the "Melbourne", our country has gradually explored the road of aircraft carrier development. After that, our country has successively purchased three aircraft carriers from the former Soviet Union, they are respectively "Kiev", "Mink" "Varyag number", " Varyag number " .
These four aircraft carriers have brought valuable experience to our country. After thorough research on these four aircraft carriers, they have also been put to full use: "Melbourne" was dismantled to study the structure; " Minsk "After research, it was transformed into an aircraft carrier theme park; the "Kiev" was transformed into a commercial facility; as for the "Varyag", everyone knows it, it is the name of my country's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" predecessor.
With the efforts of generations, our country finally ushered in its first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" on September 25, 2012, with the hull number "16". It marked the official opening of a new era of the Chinese Navy. Curtain.
Less than five years later, on April 26, 2017, my country's second and first domestically produced aircraft carrier "Shandong Ship" was officially launched, with hull number "17", and was officially delivered to the Navy on December 17, 2019. Further improved naval power .
Not long ago, on June 17, the launching ceremony of the "Fujian Ship" was held at the Jiangnan Shipyard. The hull number was "18", which represented that our country's navy was about to enter the era of three aircraft carriers.
While we are proud of the increasing strength of our country's navy, we should not forget General Liu Huaqing, who is known as the "Father of the Modern Navy" and the "Father of Chinese Aircraft Carriers ".
When the 64-year-old General Liu visited the United States in 1980, he stood on tiptoes and leaned forward to look at the US aircraft carrier. The scene is still vivid in his mind. Since then, he has devoted all his efforts to the construction of my country's aircraft carrier. He said: "If China does not have aircraft carriers, I will die with my eyes closed" .
Unfortunately, just before the launch of the Liaoning ship, General Liu Huaqing passed away in Beijing on January 14, 2011, and he was not able to see the launch of the Liaoning ship.
But today, after owning three aircraft carriers, we can say to General Liu’s spirit in the sky: General, you don’t have to stand on tiptoe to look at other people’s aircraft carriers!
