Preparations for the launch of the Project 1048 submarine began, cranes rattled overhead, boxes and bags of flour, rice, frozen meat, vegetables, biscuits and various canned goods were transported to the deck of the submarine, and then the four circular hatches on the deck of Tongguò were transported to the interior of the submarine.

Due to the large internal compartments, the working environment in the SMU40 ocean-going submarine has been greatly improved, and a frozen food warehouse has been installed inside, and it is also equipped with air-conditioning equipment. Replenishing the submarine with torpedoes was the most cumbersome task, which required lifting the dangerous goods, which weighed up to a ton, and then carefully transporting them to the ammunition compartment inside the boat via guò torpedo tubes. The SMU40 did not have a stern torpedo tube, and 18 of the 24 21-inch torpedoes were stored in the torpedo compartment of the zài, and the last 6 torpedoes were stored directly in the zài torpedo tubes.

The torpedo launch equipment of the SMU40 submarine adopts aerodynamic unbalanced launch and semi-automatic water pressure loading, which can complete the reloading of 6 torpedoes in only 6 minutes, and its efficiency is several times higher than that of manual loading in the past.

"Hey, that's ...... Rocket launchers? "The two sealed iron cabinets on the fore and aft decks of the submarine were raised, then rotated half a circle, towards the side, and the sealing plates of the iron cabinets opened, revealing twelve thick steel pipes arranged in three rows. Sa Shijun had seen rocket artillery before, and the German-Austrian Navy was experimenting with equipping rocket artillery on light ships such as destroyers and frigates to improve the attack capabilities of these light ships, but it was the first time that a closed rocket launcher equipped on a submarine had been seen.

"Yes, sir!" Lin Feng said, "This is a 240 mm box-type long directional tube extended-range rocket launcher specially designed for submarines, with a large range of 18.7 kilometers, which is powerful, but the impact point is dispersed." The accuracy is relatively poor. ”

"Well, the range is not close, and if there are several submarines together at night to take a surprise attack at close range, the effect should be good." It suddenly occurred to Sa Shijun that if the Japanese submarine was also equipped with such weapons that night. Then it may not be just their own aircraft carrier that will be lost.

"Although this is theoretically true, so far it has not been used in real combat by submarines of various countries. Although its performance is okay in training, it is difficult to find a good opportunity to use it at sea without being attacked. Lin Feng explained that if a submarine wants to launch rocket artillery, it needs to surface at great risk, and the rocket artillery target is conspicuous, and the submarine will almost certainly expose itself when it is launched.

"Hmm. However, it is still a good option to sneak up on the coast or harbor. Sa Shijun nodded and said, Generally speaking, an unprepared enemy would certainly not be able to return fire within minutes of the submarine firing rockets.

The submarine had already completed its replenishment in one morning, and after receiving the order to depart, the four newly commissioned submarines set sail together at noon as the same formation, under the command of squadron leader Lin Feng. Left the Fangchenggang submarine base.

The establishment and tactics of China's submarine force were learned from Austria-Hungary, which was different from the single-boat combat methods adopted by various countries in this era. Basically, the formation method is used to carry out tasks. Each submarine squadron has four submarines, while each submarine group has three squadrons for a total of twelve submarines.

At present, there are only two submarine groups in the Second Fleet, and Major Lin Feng is the squadron leader of the Fifth Squadron of the Second Submarine Brigade. And as a captain, he has a record of more than 30,000 tons, and he is a very good submarine commander.

Facing the midday sun, the Project 1048 submarine and the other three sister ships slowly left their berths and embarked on their journey for the first time. Standing on the flat conning tower, he watched as the crew packed up the mooring cables on the fore and aft decks, and inspected the surface snorkels and radar and communications antennas. The sea is calm and the water is blue, but it is as if you are standing on a low transport boat, which is very different from the feeling you are used to standing on the tall bridge of a large warship and looking down on the sea.

The Gulf of Tonkin is calm, and the soles of the boat are emitting heat under the blazing midday sun. Shortly after leaving their home port, the four submarines began to undergo high-speed seaworthiness tests after sailing, and when the two 2,450-horsepower diesel engines were running at full power, the submarines began to weave through the waves like a giant whale swimming rapidly on the surface, and the bow deck was sometimes submerged and sometimes jumped high above the water.

The maximum speed of the Project 1048 submarine is only 17.2 knots, and the speed of the project 1050 submarine is the fastest of the four, reaching 17.6 knots during sea trials. In fact, submarines are much slower than surface ships, but the feeling of standing on the boat is similar to that of a warship at high speed, perhaps because of the proximity to the surface.

"Attention boats, start diving in 10 minutes!" Lin Feng held the microphone and gave a new order to the entire formation. The Chinese Navy is equipped with a wireless intercom device with a maximum call distance of 16 kilometers, which is used for the fleet's short-range communication command, and communication at a longer distance can only rely on wireless telegraphs.

After the submarine goes to sea, it must undergo a diving test to check whether there is any abnormal condition in each compartment inside the submarine, which is a strict regulation of the operating regulations.

After the dive alarm bell sounded, the crew who were still on deck quickly returned to the cabins inside the submarine through the round hatches on the deck and bridge, and a large number of bubbles began to rise from the bow, stern and sides of the boat, and soon the bow began to be flooded by the sea.

Sa Shijun followed the communications officer and got down the hatch from the splashing conning tower, the steel ladder leading to the bottom was wet and slippery, and the sea water was constantly pouring overhead, and most of the crew slid directly down the slide to the bottom in order to speed up. After entering the interior of the submarine's command tower, you need to go through a watertight hatch, then go down to a circular hatch, and go down another ladder to enter the interior of the submarine, which is full of machines and pipes.

Directly below the conning tower is the submarine's control room, with a huge periscope console in the middle, and the personnel walking in front and back have to carefully lean over to get around.

The interior of the submarine was very hot, and despite the humming of a ventilator, the air was still filled with the smell of oil and diesel mixture, as well as the smell of oil and tobacco wafting from the galley, and the sour smell of human bodies.

After entering the submersible state, the sound of the diesel engine became even more muffled.

After Lin Feng closed the hatch, he checked it before finally sliding down from it.

"13 meters underwater, each cabin reports the situation!" Deputy Captain Wang Hai gave orders to each cabin after reporting a set of numbers.

"Control zhì room one qiē normal!"

"The communication room is normal!"

"The torpedo compartment is normal!"

"The engine is normal!"

……

"Well, good! Now turn off the diesel! ”

The interior of the submarine fell silent, and the redundant lights in the submarine were turned off, and the light suddenly became very dim, except for a row of indicators on the bulkhead, flashing red or green.

The submarine continued to dive, and the maximum depth of the 1048 submarine was 150 meters, but no one would risk diving to that depth except in an emergency. When testing at sea, it is only necessary to dive to a third of the depth, that is, about 50 meters, and even at this depth, the external pressure on the submarine is already quite large.

When the depth gauge showed that it had dived to a depth of 45 meters, Wang Hai shouted "stop", and the submarine was now sailing at a minimum speed of 3 knots, staying at this depth. Due to the slower speed, you can feel that even in deep water, there are some ups and downs and swings. About 10 minutes later, when every compartment in the boat, the control compartment, the torpedo compartment, the command compartment, the power compartment, the motor compartment, and the battery compartment reported that there was no abnormality, Wang Hai ordered the submarine to float to a distance of 12 meters from the sea surface, that is, the depth of the periscope, and then continue diving at a speed of 5 knots.

Now it is necessary to check the periscopes, the antenna and the surface snorkel and other devices inside the command tower, a qiē normal!

"Alright, diesel engine starts!"

The sound of the motor began to roar in the boat again, and the hull of the boat could be felt trembling slightly, and the ears that had just adapted to the silence were faintly ached by the noise that came out again.

One qiē is normal!

After 45 minutes of diving, the submarine finally surfaced again. (To be continued......)