90 Days Underwater - Part：2
The Extreme Long Voyage of China's Nuclear Submarine
Original Title： 水下90天：中国核潜艇的极限长航
Author: 宋春丹
Translator: M.O.S.S.(Proofread with AI)
(Recommended to read first)90 Days Underwater - Part：0
Submarine No. 403 is moored at the dock
Going to Sea
On November 20, 1985, the weather was clear. A gentle breeze blew over Kaolaodao/Kaolao Island1 in Qingdao, and seagulls were chirping. At exactly 10 o'clock, Submarine 403 released its last cable, left the dock, and entered the waterway.
Every morning, the Wuzhi-1 post2 (the duty post of the mechanical and electrical chief) would sound a buzzer, and the broadcast would say, "Crew members, get up!" As usual, Political Commissar Chang Baolin's voice came out: "Comrades, good morning! Today is × month × day, the × day of the voyage, and the × day of the cabin closure. We still have × days left to complete the 90-day task. We have taken another step on the journey of the underwater Long March3!"
Approximate positions of each compartment section of the Type 091 nuclear submarine
When a nuclear submarine is sailing underwater, the temperature difference between different cabins is extremely large. The highest temperature can reach 35℃, and in the coldest cabins, crew members have to wear cotton work clothes. The upper layer of the second cabin is the command center of the submarine, and the middle layer of the second cabin is the living cabin. The captain's room and the political commissar's room are both located on the upper layer of the second cabin.
A strict daily life system was implemented on the submarine, and Cheng Wenzhao was in charge of administrative management.
In November 1985, during Submarine 403's 90-day long-voyage mission, Yang Xi (left), Deputy Commander of the base, and Cheng Wenzhao (right), Deputy Captain of the submarine, were on the bridge.
Jin Guoxiang, a 33-year-old mechanical and electrical chief, was one of the core figures on the submarine. He postponed his wedding for the long voyage and also delayed having children because he had been exposed to radiation. When there was a fault in the high-temperature and high-radiation reactor cabin, he often took the lead in rushing in.
Since the sailing position included faraway high-sea areas, the onshore command of the base would sometimes send top-secret telegrams directly to the command group to assign tasks. To prevent the plan from being leaked, the onshore command once even ordered the submarine to temporarily change its route.
Shortly after setting sail, a force 8 gale blew at sea, with gusts reaching force 9 to 10. The nuclear submarine, which weighed thousands of tons, swayed like a small boat in the sea. Huge waves hit the outer wall and portholes like bullets. The howling of the north wind, the vibration of the ship's body, and the roar of the reactor intertwined. The submarine rolled more than 20 degrees and rose and fell several meters.
Most of the crew members vomited. They held the dirt bucket and vomited, even spitting out yellow water and blood streaks. The off-duty crew members lay on the shaking beds and couldn't fall asleep, and some even tied themselves to the beds. Several crew members in front of the nuclear reactor control screen stared at the dazzling instrument panels while occasionally putting their vomit into cans.
Chang Baolin and Deputy Political Commissar Li Minxin kept checking all the cabins throughout the night. Few political workers suffered from seasickness. Chang Baolin thought it might be related to their profession, because if they fell down, they couldn't do ideological work.
The next morning, the submarine dived underwater and sailed, becoming very calm. The crew members finally had a good sleep.
On the 6th day of the voyage, the temporary maritime Party committee held a meeting and decided to conduct the cabin closure test in advance. The cabin closure test means that the submarine sails underwater in a state of isolation from the atmosphere after diving.
The task assigned by the navy was 20 days and nights. At the mobilization meeting before the cabin closure, Sun Jianguo and Chang Baolin said that if conditions permitted, they would strive to break through, and the longer the better.
On December 10, 21 days after sailing and 16 days after cabin closure, the submarine successfully entered the planned sea area, and the trial voyage entered the second stage.
The crew members began to feel fatigued, mechanical hidden dangers began to increase, and the concentration of radioactive dust generated by the operation of the reactor was also gradually increasing.
Navigation Officer Ren Debao observing obstacles in the navigation channel.
Photo provided by the interviewee
There are hundreds of kinds of harmful gases in the nuclear submarine, including exhaust gas from the operation of thousands of sets of machinery, volatile paint from the submarine body, breathing and metabolism of more than 100 people, and lampblack from cooking. As many as 80 kinds of them can be quantitatively monitored. After being isolated from the atmosphere for a long time, the harmful gases in the cabins are increasing.
After 20 days and nights, Yang Xi held a meeting to study the time of surfacing. At the meeting, some people thought that since the task assigned by the navy had been completed, the test should be ended. Finally, it was decided to strive to complete 29 days and nights and 30 astronomical days.
On the 22nd day of cabin closure, the dose of radioactive dust in the cabin had exceeded that of the normal atmosphere by dozens of times. Some crew members began to have adverse reactions such as unstable blood pressure, arrhythmia, decreased eyesight, bleeding gums, fatigue, insomnia, and high noise also made people irritable.
The first month was the most stressful and difficult in terms of mental and psychological aspects. Living underwater without seeing the sun would make people wake up in a daze, dull and numb, unable to tell whether it was morning or evening. When there was no 24-hour astronomical clock in front of them, they would think about what they had for the last meal to judge.
Every morning, everyone rushed to tear off the calendar in the command cabin, eager for the day to pass quickly. Deputy Captain Jiang Songcai wrote a sentence on the calendar: "You tearing the calendar is not better than me tearing it—only one sheet a day can be torn." Someone came up with a second line: "My moving fast is not better than you moving fast—the day still passes just as slowly." The Banner was: "Every day feels like a year."4
"Once it exceeds the physiological limit of the human body, no matter how firm the stand and will are, they can't hold on." Ren Debao, the Navigation Officer, told China Newsweek. At that time, nearly 40 years old, he participated in the long voyage on behalf of the base organ and required himself to maintain a positive and good image. Even so, after living in a closed iron can for a long time, he would suddenly have a blank mind at a certain moment, and even feel fear. He felt that the inside and outside of the submarine were clearly two worlds, and he even began to wonder, is this it? Will he never see the blue sky and green trees again?
（To be continued）
Its Chinese name is "栲栳岛" , code name Base 09. In the early 1970s, China began to form a nuclear submarine force and chose Kaolao Island in Shazikou Town, Laoshan District, Qingdao to build a nuclear submarine base, which was codenamed the "197" top-secret national defense project.
It is currently known as the "Shazikou Base".
The original term is "五指 - 1 岗位" . Its specific meaning is unclear and to be supplemented later.
In October 1934, embattled Chinese Communists broke through Nationalist enemy lines and began an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as the Long March, the trek lasted a year and covered some 4,000 miles (or more, by some estimates).
The naming of China's carrier rockets and nuclear-powered submarines both employ this term.
The original text of these three sentences is:
你撕不如我撕，一天只能撕一张。我快不如你快，一天还是一样快。
横批：度日如年
This is a traditional Chinese "couplet" format, which consists of two vertical scrolls and a horizontal banner. The two vertical scrolls are mutually antithetical in terms of character count and wording. They are often pasted on gateways or in living rooms to celebrate important occasions such as the Spring Festival and birthdays.