In 1953, the Sino-British Pearl River Estuary Naval Battle was the first foreign war of the Chinese Navy, washing away a century of shame.
In 2008, the news of the death of a British sailor did not attract much attention, but his death revealed a shocking secret. The sailor's name was Clever, and he was once awarded the British Empire Medal for his bravery in the 1953 Pearl River incident.
In that battle, under the fire of the Chinese warships, Clayford took the initiative to take over the command and successfully brought the battleship back to Hong Kong waters. Seeing these names, do you feel a little confused?
It was a period when New China had just been founded and the Korean War had just ended, so how could Chinese warships defeat British warships?
In the British Navy archives, the record of this naval battle is only a fragment of the battle, and we need to infer the entire battle from these fragments. So, what kind of battle is this incident that happened in Pearl River?
First, we need to determine the location of the Pearl River. In China, there may be more than one place called the Pearl River. However, the Pearl River in the British population actually refers to the Pearl River.
Knowing where the war took place, let's take a look at the background of this naval battle. In 1953, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea had just ended, and the navy had completely disappeared from the waters of the Pearl River after the Kuomintang lost Hainan Island.
In the waters of the Pearl River, only two naval units can be seen: one is the navy of the Central and Southern Military Region, which is not afraid of tigers, and was called the South China Sea Fleet at that timeThe second is the Chinese detachment of the Far East Fleet of the British Royal Navy, whose ships are stationed in Hong Kong, which is leased by the British.
However, the naval strength of the Central and Southern Military Region is still weak, and there are very few warships that can handle it, and the strongest one is the Nanning. The predecessor of the Nanning was a simplified coastal defense ship produced by Japan at the end of World War II, which was abandoned in the shipyard after the bow was blown off during the battle against the Allies, and barely sailed into the mouth of the Pearl River.
During World War II, Japanese warships ordered a "waste" to be bombarded frantically during the evacuation to ensure that it had been completely scrapped before retreating with peace of mind. But this seemingly useless warship is actually the largest tonnage ship in the naval ** fleet of the Central South Military Region, with a displacement of nearly 2,000 tons.
If this ship is not included, the total tonnage of all the ships of the Navy ** Squadron of the Central South Military District is not even comparable to a British cruiser. So, if the British battleship was defeated by the Chinese battleship, the captain and the naval commander could commit suicide by jumping into the sea together.
However, no one could have imagined that such a thing would actually happen!
When the warships of the two sides meet, the British ** ships will quickly approach and rotate at high speed, and will even take pictures and laugh at us.
Therefore, the contradictions between the fleets of the two countries are very deep. On September 9, 1953, a British gunboat numbered 1323 set off from the Tai O anchorage and ostentatiously came to the mouth of the Pearl River, but they encountered our warship No. 3-141 on cruise.
While this has happened before, this time is different.
Due to an important figure on the 3-141, Zhang Yu, deputy commander of the First Fleet of the Navy of the Central South Military Region, the British gunboat Project 1323 was ordered to operate in this sea area.
Commander Zhang had direct decision-making power, and he decided to counterattack without consulting his superiors. However, the British gunboats were not aware of this situation and continued to carry out provocations against our warships.
As a result, Commander Zhang immediately ordered: "Raise the international signal flag and order the enemy ship to stop for inspection!""However, the British battleship ignored the signal and continued to move along our waters on the original route and speed.
Then, Commander Zhang gave the second order: "Fire a warning shot above the enemy ship!"”
During a battle on March 14, the British ship No. 1323 fired three shells at the Chinese battleship No. 3-141, which surprised the Chinese. The Chinese battleship had never been so tough and made the British a little nervous.
They immediately adjusted their course and prepared to flee. However, at this time, Commander Zhang issued a third order, which was just one word: "Fight"!The battleship No. 3-141 immediately aimed at the British ship and **, and in just a few minutes, all 8 shells hit the enemy ship, and the captain was killed on the spot.
This is what was said at the beginning, the "heroic deeds" of the old British sailors who drove the dilapidated battleship back to Hong Kong. This war, also known by many as the first battle after the formation of the Chinese Navy, is not known in history despite the small number of warships and small tonnage involved.
So, which warship brought us such pleasure and washed away a hundred years of shame in the hundred years after the Opium War?Only one number 3-141 is recorded in the archives of the British Navy, but this is only a porthole.
In the information published by the Chinese Navy, there is no way to find the information of this **. Just when everyone thought that the clue was interrupted, the hard work paid off, and in the factory records of the Whampoa Shipyard, the record of the repair of this battleship was found.
At this time, we learned that the battleship that performed such a heroic feat was called the "Brave". Although this battleship has a displacement of only 400 tons, there are only three such warships in the entire Navy of the Central and Southern Military Region.
The predecessor of the Brave was the Lianrong of the Kuomintang Navy. The battleship was gifted to the Kuomintang Navy by the United States, but in 1949, the Lian Rong declared an uprising in Macau and returned to the mainland.
The displacement of the Lianrong is the second largest in the navy of the entire Central South Military Region, and it is a large one. The luck of the British warships was really bad, and there were only a few large-tonnage warships of the Navy of the Central and Southern Military Region, and they were also bumped into by them.
The key thing is that Commander Zhang is still on that ship, and it is reasonable that they will be beaten.