Early in the morning, before the sky was bright, the aft deck of the Xiangyanghong 09 was already lightened up with personnel from different posts who were fully engaged in their work: the submersible preparation department was testing the power supply, the acoustics department had already completed the hinge between the hoisted cabin and the acoustic array, (which was ready to be launched at any time) and staff from the surface support system had initiated the warming system of the hydraulic pressure station.
The Jiaolong was about to embark on another dive, which was to be the last 7,000-metres dive sea trial and the last dive of the four-year sea trials of the Jiaolong. The headquarters required each department to go through a thorough inspection and maintenance and, in particular, to investigate and refine the existing problem of the variable ballast system to ensure that the last dive would meet with approval.
This was the 51st dive. Ye Cong had been appointed as chief pilot and Cui Weicheng and Zhang Dongsheng were to be the test dives of the left-hand and the right-hand oceanaut, respectively. At 7:12, the Jiaolong was launched onto the surface of the water. Eleven minutes later, it began to inject water and to dive. By 10:30, the water injection and the discharge test of variable ballast at 6,900 metres had been carried out and by 11 o'clock it was sitting on the bottom at a depth of 7,015 metres. By 12 o'clock it had changed its position and completed another bottom sitting at a depth of 7,035 metres before discarding its load at 12:50 and beginning to resurface, returning to the mothership at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. During the 588-minute dive, the Jiaolong had completed three voyages in a fixed direction and one voyage of a near-bottom fixed-depth, as well as multiple sittings on the bottom. It had reached the maximum depth of 7,035 metres and had tested the normal water injection and the discharge of variable ballast at 6,900 metres -- there was no malfunction throughout the entire test.
Up to that point, the Jiaolong had successfully completed the sea trials four years in a row. If taken from the time of the programme approval in 2002 to the sea trial success in 2012, China's 7,000-metre manned submersible had functioned for 10 years since its invention, an entire decade. After the successful ending of the sea trial, the Xiangyanghong 09 immediately embarked on a triumphant return journey with the crew of the sea trial team. During the voyage, the Provisional CPC Committee and the headquarters produced a summary of the work of the sea trial. Following a full and in-depth inspection of the 7,000-metre sea trial, they drew solid and bold conclusions about the work and the development and testing processes of the Jiaolong with respect to the general conditions, the experts' approval, the ideology and politics and guarantees for all of the departments.
The mood and atmosphere for during the triumphant return journey was very different from that of the departure. This was a rare moment for the sea trial members to be so relaxed and relieved, sipping the joy after the end of a battle while indulging themselves in the memory. First, on behalf of the sea trial members, the Chief Commander of the on-site headquarters, Liu Feng, made a summary of the completion of the Jiaolong 7,000-metre sea trial, according to the "Jiaolong Manned Submersible Operation Technology Improvement and 5,000m-7,000m Sea Trial Subject Assignment Book" signed by the Administrative Center for China's Agenda 21 and the COMRA, "Jiaolong Manned Submersible 7,000-metre Sea Trial Implementation Proposal" approved by the MOST and requirements of "The Notice of Implementing Jiaolong Manned Submersible 7,000-metre Sea Trial" signed by the SOA.
These original thoughts and summaries, which had derived from the return journey from the sea trial, were based on a combination of the hard work and dedication that all of the Jiaolong's sea trial teams had demonstrated over the years, which were far more real, precise and persuasive than the vivid descriptions produced by journalists or other writers. We could see through these concise and simple words and numbers and we were able to find the countless touching, yet wonderful stories that are hidden behind them.
It was the scientific attitude of precision, truth-seeking, cooperation and coordination that had unleashed tremendous energy from each of the development units and had produced an invincible sea trial team during the work of the 7,000-metre manned submersible. Diversified and strong ideological and political work had played a major supporting role in unifying everyone's mindset and inspiring everyone's will to fight, which had built an invincible faith and summoned up the courage for the battle.
The team of Yu Hang, Ye Cong and Tang Jialing had been the first to dive during the Jiaolong's 50-metre diving work. They had operated the Jiaolong in order to reach 38 metres, marking out the first steps of China's manned submersible.
The team of Ye Cong, Cui Weicheng and Yang Bo was the first to challenge for the world maximum diving depth ever made by the same kind of submersible. They pioneered to the depth of 6,671 metres during the first dives of the 7,000-metres sea trial, laying a foundation for 7,000-metres diving.
The team of Ye Cong, Yang Bo and Liu Kaizhou was the first to dive over 7,000 metres. They took the challenge and dived the Jiaolong to a depth of 7,020 metres for the first time.
The team of Yu Hang, Fu Wentao and Tang Jialing achieved the maximum diving depth when they steered the Jiaolong to the depth of 7,062 metres, creating a world record among the same kind of submersibles.
The Xiangyanghong 09 arrived at the mother port, anchoring on Qingdao Tuan Island, safe and sound on the night of 14th July after a two-week voyage. In order to celebrate the Jiaolong's sea trial success, some related departments had decided that the sea trial crew, along with the Jiaolong, would come directly into the port of the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center rather than returning to Jiangyin. A grand welcome would be held for them and that day would be set as a "public open day" and citizens would be invited to visit China's Jiaolong, the submersible that had worked so hard and achieved so much!
Before entering the port, the on-site headquarters and Provisional CPC Committee decided to have a joint dinner to wash off the dust and to applaud themselves. This was also the headquarters of the North China Sea Branch of the SOA. Of course, the North China Sea Branch was prepared for the honour of playing host. As soon as immigration and joint inspection were complete, the Director of the Technology Centre at North China Sea Branch, Ji Guo, sent barrels of Qingdao draught beer, while the head of the First Detachment of Marine Surveillance, Cui Xiaojun, sent vegetables and watermelons.
The dinner began at 18:00 and was chaired by the Chief Commander, Liu Feng. Standing in front of a desk, with pride he briefly touched upon the significance of the dinner. His voice was not very loud but each word touched people's hearts. In closing, he said, "Now let's give the floor to our 'general' on behalf of the Provisional CPC Committee and the headquarters."
Liu Xincheng stood up amidst a round of heated applause while reining in his excitement: "My brothers and sisters, please remember today, the July 14 2012. This is the date of our triumphant return journey after having conquered the Mariana Trench and having drawn a satisfactory conclusion to the Jiaolong's 7,000-metre sea trial mission. Over the past more than 40 days and nights we were in the same boat and rowing in the same direction in order to move forward. Our striving spirit and dedication contributed to a remarkable achievement for the Republic. We have lived up to our country, our offspring and ourselves. It may be very difficult for some of us to meet again in life but the ocean cause will create opportunities for some of us to meet again. Let's drink a toast to everyone's health and happiness!"
The people gathered there could not help but cry out loud, one after another. This lasted for an entire two minutes. This was a burst of passion and a release of pressure. It was an expression of friendship and a collision of emotions. Their shouts were so bold and unrestrained, so natural and so forthright. Everyone present was deeply influenced and impressed.
(selected from Jiaolong's Sea Explorations by Xu Chen, published by China Intercontinental Press in 2019)
