PLAN Submarine First Base
Shashakou Base, Dagang, Qingdao - 36.1068 120.5783

The Shashakou Base is located near Qingdao, on the strategic edge of the western coast of the Yellow Sea. Here, the harbor is surrounded by mountains and cliffs, and the concealment is good. The submarine tunnels here should be able to accommodate at least six nuclear submarines, and there is also an open dock in the harbor for nuclear submarine demagnetization and other operations. The distance between the nuclear submarine base at Shashakou and the aircraft carrier base at Guzhenkou is less than 70 kilometers. The concentration of the two major bases near Qingdao also shows the strategic importance of this region. Judging from the existing photos, "Jin" strategic nuclear submarines are deployed here.

The Jianggezhuang Naval Base is a Chinese naval base approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of Qingdao. The first base of the Chinese People's Liberation Army naval submarine is located at Pier 5 of Dagang, Qingdao City, Shandong Province. It is a naval submarine base in the northern theater of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The base hosted China's Type 092-class ballistic missile submarine and Type 091-class nuclear attack submarines. The base spans a bay 1.2 miles (1.9 km) across, with the main facilities located in the eastern portion of the bay. There are six piers, a dry dock, various service facilities and an underground submarine tunnel.

The "Jianggezhuang" Naval Base is entirely unrelated to the Jianggezhuang Town, which is located at some great distance in the east of Leting County, Hebei Province, bordering the Bohai Sea in the east, Luanhe River in the north, Hujiatuo Town in the west, Tangjiahe Town in the south, and Changli County in Qinhuangdao across the river from the north, and away from the urban area of ??Qinhuangdao 90 kilometers, 25 kilometers away from Tangshan Port Jingtang Port Area.

At the end of 1950, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy formally requested the Soviet Union to order submarines and train students. On June 24, 1954, the Soviet Union " Stalin S-52" and "S-53" type submarine came to Lushun and handed over to China, and became "New China 11" (port number 401) and "New China 12" (port number 402) submarine. On June 28, 1954, the first generation of Chinese submarine soldiers who completed their studies independently operated the two medium-sized submarines received from the Soviets, and arrived at Qingdao from Lushun Huwei. Patrol and alert tasks.

In May 1952, China's first submarine base was established in Qingdao. Later developed into the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine Base (later the second submarine base was built in Sanya, the base was renamed the People's Liberation Army Navy Submarine First Base). The first submarine formation of China was stationed at Pier 5 on the west side of Qingdao Dagang. The construction project started in 1951, and by the end of 1954, when the training of the learning team at Lushunkou was completed, the construction of the Qingdao Submarine Base was also completed, and all the tasks of receiving Soviet submarines were ready. The construction project of Qingdao Submarine Base restored a fixed dock, set up two floating docks, and built a series of supporting facilities, and built a submarine detachment headquarters building, barracks, canteen, teaching building and other buildings in the coastal base.

In 1968, the naval nuclear submarine base and the first nuclear submarine started construction at the same time. In July 1969, the Navy transferred 36 officers and soldiers from four conventional submarine detachments and one frigate detachment to form China's first nuclear submarine receiving fleet, captain Yang Xi, and political commissar Cui Guijiang. In April 1972, the North Sea Fleet established the XX Island Submarine Base (regiment level) to be responsible for the logistics supply and maintenance support of the submarine force. The nuclear submarine force was formed in October 1970. On December 26, 1970, China launched its first nuclear submarine. In August 1974, China's first nuclear submarine was officially commissioned

In 1965, the 13th meeting of the Central Special Committee, while deciding to launch the nuclear submarine, also approved the selection and construction of the nuclear submarine wharf and base, requesting the Navy to study and make comments. In December 1967, Mao Zedong personally approved the construction of a large nuclear submarine comprehensive support base, and listed the project as a national key project. The project is mainly designed by the Naval Engineering Design and Research Bureau, with the assistance of relevant national ministries and scientific research departments.

In 1968, the nuclear submarine base was officially started. Beginning in the late 1960s, the nuclear submarine base was built by the newly established Naval North Sea Fleet No. 1 Construction Area, and the Naval Engineering Corps Construction 10th Regiment was also formed. The director of the No. 1 Construction Area Qi Guifeng and others led the construction of thousands of construction personnel. Three additional engineering battalions and two militia brigades were added, and the maximum construction force reached more than 12,000. In June 1981, the main project of the Navy's first nuclear submarine base was completed. The whole project is divided into four parts: (1) the main cavern and its ancillary supporting projects; (2) harbor basin, waterway, wharf; (3) missile technology area; (4) barracks, dormitory, highway and other living transportation facilities. The nuclear submarine base project won the National Excellent Design Gold Award in 1984 and the National Science and Technology Progress First Prize in 1985. In 1984, the second phase of the nuclear submarine base project began.

Hans M. Kristensen notes "the underground submarine facility located in the southeastern end of the bay. The facility consists of a large submarine entrance from the harbor, a pier side entrance to the south, and a land entrance to the east. The submarine entrance is approximately 43 feet (13 meters) wide and appears to be arched by a large concrete structure. Both of the land-entrances are approximate 33 feet (10 meters) wide and appear to have what may be a railway system connected to the interior of the facility."

Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai's China's Strategic Seapower (Stanford University Press, 1994, p. 123) report: "Mao approved the navy’s choice of an inlet near Qingdao. And ordered the building to commence. The navy immediately transferred several engineering regiments to work on the project’s first phase, and they proceeded to remove 810,000 cubic meters of rock and to pour 200,000 cubic meters of concrete. The gigantic sea cave completed, construction crews then installed 17,000 pieces of equipment and laid 220 km of pipeline, much of it related to maintaining nuclear power plants. By the mid-1970s, the concealed base was camouflaged and hardened against attack and made ready to receive the first nuclear boat, nuclear boat No. 401. In 1975, the navy authorized the North China Sea Fleet to form the Nuclear Submarine Flotilla. The base comprises multiple shelters, each of which has a number of facilities to load and unload nuclear fuel roads, move supplies, monitor the performance of various subsystems, repair breakdowns, and conduct demagnetization. The cavernous shelter where the boats are docked is as high as a 12-story building. Large-sized cranes in this shelter can load or off-load the JL-1 missiles.... "