From 0 1 1 to 0 10 pm San Diego time, the visiting fleet of China Navy successfully held a joint maritime search and rescue exercise with the US Navy in the northwest waters of San Diego Port.

The guided missile destroyer Qingdao of the China Navy (with a helicopter of Zhi Jiu), the integrated supply ship Hongze Lake, the guided missile destroyer Shopp of the United States Navy (with some helicopters) and the 82 1 service ship simulating a ship in distress participated in the exercise. This is the first time that the Chinese and American navies have held a joint maritime search and rescue exercise. As a member of the Chinese command post of this joint search and rescue exercise, the author was fortunate enough to experience the whole exercise.

The scene of this exercise is as follows: a ship was in distress in the waters off the west coast of the United States and lost contact for five hours. The United States invited China naval vessels passing through the waters to assist in the search.

The exercise was conducted by China and the United States in stages. In the communication exercises and joint search for ships in distress held by the United States, the Chinese side directed both ships to rescue ships in distress, including using boats and helicopters to rescue people overboard, destroying pipelines and supporting each other. The Chinese commander of this exercise is Major General Wang Fushan, Deputy Commander of the North Sea Fleet.

On the morning of September 20th, local time, the naval fleet of China ended its visit to the San Diego military port on the west coast of the United States. Just out of the dock, you can vaguely see the Haitian junction ahead, where the guided missile destroyer "Shop" is waiting for orders.

"Sail with me in a single column, with a course of ××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

Zhang Jiangzun, captain of the guided missile destroyer Qingdao, quickly turned the steering wheel according to the command of captain Zhou Buxin, and a long arc track immediately appeared at the stern. Subsequently, the "Hongze Lake" integrated supply ship also quickly turned. The guided missile destroyer "Qingdao" and the integrated supply ship "Hongze Lake", which were just in different positions, formed a single column formation in a blink of an eye, such as the same straight line following the tail of the guided missile destroyer "Shaopu" and maintaining the same direction and speed.

Then the exchange drill officially began.

This communication drill is mainly conducted in accordance with the rules of maritime encounter and drill tactics 1000. Li Guangrong, deputy squad leader of the signal class of the missile destroyer "Qingdao" in Tong Guan, led the soldiers of this class to rush to the battle position quickly and calmly, and did not see any signs of tension. Compared with the first communication exercise with the US Navy in the waters near Hawaii a few days ago, Li Guangrong and his comrades are much more relaxed now.

Li Guangrong is a third-class petty officer. He has been doing international signaling since his first day as a soldier. Now he has been an old signalman for nine years. He visited China twice and took part in the first round-the-world voyage of naval vessels. He is a real man with practical experience. But Xiao Li said that the visit was both exciting and nervous. I am very excited because I can take part in the first joint maritime exercise between Chinese and American navies. I'm also very nervous, because this is the first joint sea exercise with the US Navy. Although China's navy is not the most powerful in the world, it is also a maritime force that can't be ignored in the world. If the communication error is caused by myself during the exercise, "then I will leave a face for China Navy in the Pacific Ocean".

Xiao Li's nervousness is not groundless. On the one hand, communication drills are the basis of ship maneuvering search and rescue drills. Only fast and accurate communication can ensure the accuracy of ship handling and the smooth completion of search and rescue operations. Xiao Li knows this very well. He has never missed so many exercises in China. On the other hand, his nervousness is mainly due to his research on international signals. However, at the request of the United States, two communication documents, Rules for Accidental Encounters at Sea and Exercise Tactics 1000, must be used in joint exercises.

The Rules for Accidental Encounters at Sea were adopted by the naval commanders of the member countries of the Western Pacific Naval Forum through consultation, with a view to providing guidelines for accidental encounters of warships, submarines, official ships and naval aircraft at sea. "Exercise Tactics 1000" stipulates the maritime maneuver criteria and communication instructions used by the navies of NATO countries and non-NATO countries in joint exercises or combat activities. The navies of various countries use the above two documents on a voluntary basis. In other words, these two communication documents are regional and not widely used.

There is certainly no shortcut to skillfully use these two documents. The only way is to seize all available time to practice repeatedly and recite them one by one.

No matter how difficult the problem is, it is difficult for China sailors. Many things happen. Xiao Li and the soldiers in the class worked against the clock day and night, and finally learned the rules stipulated in these two documents by heart. On September 10, when the visiting team and the US Navy "Gordon pai' ea chung-hoon" conducted formation communication and maneuver drills in the waters near Pearl Harbor, Xiao Li and them used these two communication files flexibly. At the end of the drill, the US Navy, which was trained very seriously, sent a group of messages to the guided missile destroyer "Qingdao": "I admire China Navy's navigation technology and various abilities and qualities in the drill." Gordon pai' ea chung-hoon is honored to be the first U.S navy ship to conduct joint exercises with China navy, and hopes to further cooperate with China navy. "

The previous drills laid a good foundation for today's formal drills. At noon 1 1: 30, the Chinese and American navies formally conducted a joint search and rescue exercise.

The plan of this joint search and rescue exercise was just decided at noon the day before by representatives of Wei Gang, commander of a destroyer detachment, Zhou Buxin, captain of Qingdao ship, and Liu Hua, captain of Hongze Lake ship, after consulting with Brigadier General Gildia, commander of the seventh detachment of the US Navy destroyer and other relevant officers. Before, no one knew the specific content of the exercise plan.

1 1 35, the us navy command ship reported that one of our ships was in distress in the waters near XXX.

"The crew understands!" "Qingdao understands!" Roger!' (Understood) "Roger that!" (Understood) Answers from the American helicopter crew and the guided missile destroyer "Shopp" were also heard on the high-frequency telephone.

In the stormy Pacific Ocean, the search formation of Chinese and American naval vessels was ordered to form quickly.

The antenna of each ship's maritime search radar shook its head and rotated, and the ship began to scan and search. The ship-borne helicopter of the guided missile destroyer "Shaopu" quickly spun its wings and quickly took off against the wind, just like Dapeng spread its wings and began to search the sea. Our guided missile destroyer "Qingdao" ship-borne helicopter has also been launched, and the powerful whirlwind generated by the rotation of the wing has aroused great waves on the sea. Only when Captain Li pulled the control lever of the plane, the plane quickly climbed, flew lightly to the designated airspace and began to search for the sea surface.

In the air, two Chinese and American ship-borne helicopters are searching quickly. On the sea, the naval vessels of the two countries are looking for it quickly. Half an hour later, two helicopters found the ship in distress almost at the same time. China's ship-borne helicopter was the first to report the discovery of a ship in distress, which was located at ××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

The notified guided missile destroyers "Qingdao" and "Shop" quickly adjusted their course, and the stern suddenly rose, accompanied by the turbulent wake, and galloped away to the ship in distress.

"The guided missile destroyer Qingdao occupied the starboard 2.5 chain of the ship in distress (1 chain is equal to182m), and the guided missile destroyer workshop occupied the port 2.5 chain, so as to prepare for boarding and rescue!" When it was China's turn to command, the commander gave the first order of joint rescue.

In less than half an hour, Chinese and American ships occupied their respective positions. According to the damage reported by the ship in distress, the Chinese commander ordered the guided missile destroyers "Shop" and "Qingdao" to start launching small boats to carry medical, damage control and fire-fighting personnel in distress to carry out rescue.

The guided missile destroyer Qingdao quickly put down the boat. Jin Tianshu, the detachment leader of the electromechanical detachment, led three firefighters, He, Qi Dongshan, and Yu Kefeng, a military doctor, with two health workers, quickly boarded the boat and went straight to the ship in distress.

Along the ladder, the rescue team staggered onto the ship in distress and launched a full-scale fire fighting and rescue operation. Under the command of Jin Tianshu, Qi went straight to the fire to check the fire. Jime cut off the power supply around the fire, and Qi Dongshan removed the inflammable and explosive materials around the fire.

Qi Dongshan immediately opened the hose and connected one end tightly to the fire valve. Qihe followed the hose and quickly installed a high-pressure water gun at the other end of the hose. At this moment, the water column sprayed by the high-pressure guns on the shoulders of the two firefighters is like a wall, straight at the flame.

Rescuers of the American warship "Shopp" who arrived almost at the same time also started rescue together. Chinese and American rescuers cooperated closely to rescue ships and wounded people in distress. Soon, the damaged pipeline was blocked, the fire was extinguished, and the wounded were effectively rescued.

After the maritime course of the joint search and rescue exercise ended, Gildia, commander of the seventh detachment of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, and his combat and navigation officers boarded the "Qingdao" ship in a small boat and made a careful evaluation of the exercise with the Chinese command post personnel in a friendly atmosphere.

"It is a great honor to hold a joint exercise with the China Navy for the first time. I admire the excellent navigation, flight and rescue capabilities of the China Navy. " Gildea, who is not tall, said emotionally first. "In this exercise, the China Navy used the document" Exercise Tactics1000 "for the first time, which was so fluent and skilled that it fully reflected the excellent professional quality of China sailors. During the exercise, the two sides cooperated tacitly. Through this exercise, I am very confident that the navies of the two countries can complete joint search and rescue in the actual situation of maritime search and rescue in the future. "

He also said that this joint search and rescue exercise is only a good beginning for Sino-US naval cooperation, and the cooperation between the two navies will certainly have a bright future.

Major General Wang Fushan, commander of the Chinese side, commented on the results of the exercise, saying that the plot and situation of the exercise were properly set, and the rescue operations of the navies of the two countries were rapid and the cooperation was very tacit, which showed a good prospect for cooperation between the Chinese and American navies.

At 4: 00 p.m. 10, the commanders of both sides jointly announced the "successful conclusion of the exercise" in the first joint search and rescue exercise between the Chinese and American navies.