Military industrial hegemony

Chapter 521 Surprised by the "Melbourne"

When Jiang Chen came to the hostel arranged by the Beijing Science and Industry Committee, he was the last one to come.Many experts and cadres have come here.Some experts, Jiang Chen still knew, had met in the delegation that made it clear that the experts were going to the frontier.Some are new faces, and some are from the military system, and it seems that they are still from the navy.But because of the age gap, Jiang Chen didn't chat with these people much.As for those who were about the same age as him, their level was too low, and they didn't have much to talk about, so after a simple dinner, Jiang Chen fell into bed and fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Jiang Chen was woken up by the cadre responsible for arranging them.After having breakfast in the guest house, Jiang Chen and a group of experts drove to the Science and Industry Committee.After arriving at the Science and Industry Committee, everyone was sent to a meeting room. There were only [-] or [-] experts who actually came in. Of course, Jiang Chen was one of them.The rest of the entourage were arranged by the staff to go to other places.

After serving tea to everyone, Jiang Chen and the others waited for a while, maybe ten minutes or so, and several people came in from the door. The leader was an old man in his sixties, followed by Deputy Director Song, The others are their accompanying cadres.Seeing these people coming, everyone got up one after another.Seeing this, the old man pressed his hands with a smile and said, "Sit, everyone, let's sit down and talk."

Seeing the old man sit down, Jiang Chen and the others also sat down.Deputy Director Song next to him now introduced: "Let me introduce to you. This is Minister Huang of the Naval Equipment Department. He is here to attend this meeting in person today. Everyone is warmly welcome."

"Papapa..." After a round of applause from the crowd, Minister Huang said with a smile: "I was entrusted by Commander Liu of the Navy Headquarters to attend this meeting. First of all, I would like to thank everyone for coming from afar. Here, on behalf of the Navy Party Committee and all the commanders and fighters of the Navy, thank you.”

After another burst of applause, Minister Huang looked at everyone and said, "You may be thinking, is today's meeting related to the sea, or the navy? That's right, it is, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"Hahaha." Everyone laughed, and Minister Huang continued: "Everyone knows that our navy's equipment is very poor, very backward, and the number is relatively small. Some combat ships are very old, and the tonnage is very low. Compared with our warships, our ships are like a small sampan. Especially since the reform and opening up, we have continued to open up to the outside world, and the main way to face it is at sea. Therefore, what we are facing Security threats are also gradually shifting to the sea. Let me give you an example, in the coastal areas of Guangdong Province. With the deepening of openness and the continuous development of the economy, some people are now using high-speed speedboats to carry out various illegal activities such as smuggling. However, our border inspection forces and naval forces, because of our low horsepower, sailed slowly, causing us to watch these criminals slip away from our noses in vain. And because of this, these smuggling criminals, It has become more and more rampant. There have even been examples of these people attacking our troops. It can be said that developing a modern naval force has become our most urgent task at present."

Seeing that everyone present became serious, Minister Huang went on to say: "This is also the purpose of us urging everyone to have a meeting. Everyone is an expert in various fields in the country. We hope that you can use your expertise and what you have learned to contribute to the construction of the navy." power."

"Why, has the above approved the shipbuilding plan we reported earlier?" An old man sitting in front of the conference table looked at Minister Huang and asked.

Minister Huang looked at the old man and said with a smile, "Mr. Feng, don't worry. Regarding the new ship construction plan submitted by your research institute, the higher-ups are studying it. I believe there will be an answer soon."

"Oh, what is that?" Feng Lao asked a little disappointed.

"Hehe, what I'm talking about today is definitely more important than your shipbuilding plan. Listen to me first." Minister Huang comforted.

"Oh, tell me." Old Feng's interest has been raised.

"Okay." Minister Huang nodded and gestured to Deputy Director Song.Deputy Director Song understood, then stood up and looked at everyone and said, "I don't know if you have heard of the 'Melbourne'?"

"Melbourne?" Everyone fell into thinking and whispering.Jiang Chen, who was sitting in the back, was shocked by the name.The Melbourne Number', too famous.When it comes to our country's navy, when it comes to our country's aircraft carrier, this is a name that must be mentioned.

'Melbourne' was originally the 'Prestige' of the United Kingdom Navy, with hull number R77, and belonged to the Colossus-class escort aircraft carrier designed by the United Kingdom in emergency during World War II.It was started by Vickers Armstrong Shipyard on April 1943, 4 and launched on February 13, 1945, not catching up with World War II.After the war, because the economy of the United Kingdom could not bear the huge military expenditure, the naval power was greatly reduced, and only aircraft carriers with large tonnage, good ship condition and great room for improvement were retained. The follow-up equipment installation of the launched Noble was dragging its feet.As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Australia gained an independent naval establishment in 2.

In 1949, Britain and Australia signed a mutual defense treaty.In order to show goodwill, the United Kingdom sold the honor number that no one cares about in China to Australia with a favorable favor of 10 pounds, but the condition was that Australia must purchase the equipment of the United Kingdom to form a combat force. In fact, it was a big burden in disguise. On October 1955, 10, the aircraft carrier was officially completed. It set sail from Portsmouth Harbor on March 28 of the following year and arrived in Australia on April 3. The name change and flag presentation ceremony was held on May 5th. The honor was renamed "Melbourne" and the hull number was changed to R4. It became the flagship of the Australian fleet, and the foreign Cinderella suddenly became the queen of the sea.

Since then, Australia has also asked the old American shipyard to add steam catapults and modify the inclined runway. The "Melbourne" aircraft carrier has a full load displacement of 20250 tons, has 4 high-thrust steam catapults, can carry 20 to 27 aircraft, and can accommodate up to 40 aircraft. Among them, 4 US-made A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft are regarded as treasures. Equipped with the most basic 16 anti-aircraft guns for air defense.The speed of the aircraft carrier is 25 knots, the endurance is 4000 nautical miles, and the crew of the entire ship is 1480 (including 620 aircrew), which initially has the capability of ocean deployment.On June 1969, 6, the USS Melbourne collided with the old US Navy "Frank? E? Evans" (DD-3) destroyer. Retired on January 754, 1982. In 1, the aircraft carrier 'Melbourne' was sold to our National United Shipbreaking Company as a scrap ship. In 30, the "Melbourne" aircraft carrier was pulled into the Huangpu Shipyard in Yangcheng.Although the USS Melbourne's aircraft carrier was quickly dismantled, it left our army with a lot of information about foreign ships and aircraft carriers.It has provided a lot of valuable information for the development of our country's ships and aircraft carriers.

Jiang Chen didn't expect it to be it, so he said excitedly, "You're talking about the aircraft carrier 'Melbourne' in Australia!"

Deputy Director Song looked at Jiang Chen and nodded with a smile, "That's right, that's it. We dragged it back."

Note: "Regarding the time and place of the return of the Melbourne, many materials above are actually different. We refer to the information on the encyclopedia. Please forgive me if there are any objections." Another note: "Melbourne" aircraft carrier is the same as the 1984 Melbourne Sold to the United Shipbreaking Company as a scrap ship. On May 1985, 5, the 'Melbourne' was towed into the Huangpu Shipyard in Yangcheng."

(End of this chapter)