Warship "made in Vietnam"
At the end of September 2011, the TT400TP gunboat was officially successfully accepted at the wharf of Hong Ha Shipbuilding Company (also known as Factory Z173, Hai Phong City). This is the first gunboat produced by Vietnam.
On the morning of September 27, Colonel Nguyen Van Dac, the factory's political commissar, received a phone call: "Report to the political commissar, all weapons and equipment systems on the ship have been tested and hit the target."
The political commissar's eyes were filled with tears of happiness. It was just a very brief message, but it was the moment that thousands of cadres, engineers, and workers at the factory had been waiting for for years.
The colonel said: “Foreign experts were surprised to say that in their country they had to test fire several times, and then had to adjust the shot to hit the target. But the ship built by Vietnamese people only needed to test fire once to achieve perfect accuracy.”
TT400TP gunboat is being equipped with weapons by Vietnamese engineers and workers -
Photo: Provided by Z173 Factory
Breakthrough
Seven years ago, when he took over as director of Factory Z173, Colonel Nguyen Van Cuong was always troubled by the question: should we build our own warships domestically or buy them? This was a very important matter for the country. If we bought them, should we buy new ships or buy all the materials and then transfer the technology, and let foreign experts come and instruct us on how to build the ships? Or should we just buy the preliminary designs, use the available human resources and domestic experts, send people abroad for training and then build them ourselves?
Some data about gunboat TT400TP |
“If we buy the design and transfer the technology, the price of each ship will be more than 10 million USD! Buying the preliminary design drawings only costs a few hundred thousand USD, but we will do the technology design ourselves. At that time, the cost of producing a ship will be much cheaper, only nearly 1 million USD, saving 90%!” - Mr. Cuong said.
Colonel Cuong acknowledged: “People are the most important. Previously, we successfully built the TT400 coast guard ship, also buying preliminary designs from foreign countries. So why can’t we build warships? Why don’t we dare to take the path that no one has dared to think of, dare to take when there are so many talented people like that?”
Hundreds of Z173's best engineers were sent to academies and overseas for more than three years of training to prepare for this historic project. The Z173 Factory's leadership proactively negotiated with foreign partners, spent their own money to buy the preliminary design, and then reported to the investor (the Navy) and the Ministry of National Defense to prove that Z173 could definitely build warships.
On April 22, 2009, the TT400TP ship was keeled (main keel of the ship). Colonel Le Van Thuoc, deputy technical director, said: “TT400TP is built using the world's new method of building each module separately (each module is designed and arranged to install almost complete equipment, then only need to crane - connect - assemble the modules). Therefore, pre-built equipment can be brought up first, the progress is faster, the accuracy is higher. However, from the mold base (traditional shipbuilding method) to the module is a big step forward in transforming shipbuilding technology. To do this, there must be people and tools”.
And none other than the engineers of Factory Z173 have successfully designed on computers what is needed first, what is needed later... The factory's staff and engineers also coordinate with experts from domestic research institutes to apply advanced software to deploy the design of the entire technological part, design systems in three-dimensional space and use software to enlarge and transform...
According to Colonel Bui Duy Chinh - Head of the Technical Department, the most difficult part is to design the detailed technology for the construction of the ship and the installation of weapons. For the ship, the engineers have to solve a problem with many unknowns: how to minimize the resistance of the ship, the displacement of water under the condition that the engine capacity remains constant to achieve optimal speed. To find the answer to this challenging problem, the factory's engineers had to stay up many nights.
Silent sweat
Colonel Nguyen Van Dac said: “Up to now, the level of engineers and workers has improved significantly. We hope that by the third TT400TP gunboat, we will be able to be completely proactive in all shipbuilding technology designs.”
To make that pride, there are countless simple but touching stories about the great love for work of engineers and workers during the construction and production of the TT400TP gunboat. Mr. Dac always remembers the image of a slim and pretty welder diligently working with a loaf of bread and a bottle of water. If she left it unfinished, she would forget and make a mistake because a plug has hundreds of tiny solder joints.
As for Major Nguyen Van Tiep, the manager of the weapons and equipment workshop, since receiving the weapons and equipment of the TT400TP ship, he was so worried that he could not sleep, suffered from hypoglycemia, and had to be given saline several times. Many nights at 3am and 4am, unable to sleep, the engineer took out the drawings to study the plan for installing the weapons and equipment system.
“He worked so hard that he forgot to eat even though there were months when the temperature in the ship’s airtight hold was 37-38oC,” said Mr. Dac. Major Tiep said very simply: “For us, TT400TP is not just a job but a great pride and responsibility to our country.”
And the result of those silent but great efforts: in August 2011, the first TT400TP gunboat "in the flesh" appeared to the excitement of thousands of officers, engineers and workers of Factory Z173.
Colonel Cao Hoa Binh (Head of the Naval Technical Department): Increasing combat strength for the Vietnamese Navy
But the results have been highly appreciated by the acceptance councils at all levels. The technical and aesthetic aspects of the TT400TP gunboat ensure quality, and the technical parameters are in accordance with the design. TT400TP will contribute to increasing the combat power of the Vietnamese Navy and most importantly, Vietnam has gradually mastered the technology of building warships, creating an active position in ensuring technical, equipment, means, and weapons to serve the tasks of national defense and security, protecting sovereignty over seas and islands, and developing the marine economy. |
According to Tuoi Tre