Published : 2026-06-19

On 19 June, 1954, with the approval of the Central Military Commission, the first submarine unit of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the "Navy Submarine Independent Regiment", was officially established in Qingdao.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, Chinese leader Mao Zedong was determined to end the history of the Chinese nation having a sea but no defence.

As early as 21 September, 1949, at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mao declared to the world, "We need not only a strong army, but also a strong air force and a strong navy."

On 20 April, 1951, the navy selected 275 outstanding officers and soldiers from the army and formed the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Training Regiment, which was stationed at the Lushun Submarine Detachment of the Soviet Red Army's Pacific Fleet for training.

On 28 June, 1954, China's first generation of submariners, having completed their studies, independently operated two medium-sized old submarines received from the Soviets, sailing from Lushun to Qingdao to establish the first independent submarine regiment of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.

Thus, China finally had its own submarine force.

In April 1955, with the help of the Soviet Union, China began the construction of a new generation of Type-03 submarines at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.

The Type-03 submarines had many significant technical improvements over the previous Soviet models, the most notable being the ability to use a snorkel to navigate and recharge underwater, thus extending the operational time underwater and overcoming the vulnerability of exposure.

However, this posed a major challenge and test for China's then-weak military industry.

On 26 March, 1956, the first Type-03 submarine built by the Chinese, with the hull number "115", was finally launched.