Specimen from the collection of National Taiwan Museum of History.
Medal was posthumously awarded to the Rear Admiral Hu Jiaheng. On August 6, 1965, in order to support special operations on Dongshan Island, Hu Jiaheng, Commander of the Second Naval Patrol Fleet, led the Jianmen and Zhangjiang warships to patrol offshore Dongshan Island. They were attacked and sunk by multiple Chinese frigates and torpedo boats at night. Hu Jiaheng died in the line of duty when Jianmen was sunk /due to the detonation of ammunition/.
"At 6 o'clock on the morning of August 5, 1965, the two naval ships of the Taiwan KMT Navy Guanjianjian (MSF-45) and the Jiangzi-class patrol ship Zhangjiang (PC-118) set sail from Zuoying to carry out the "Tsunami No. 1" special. In the operation, a group of army intelligence personnel was transported to Dongshan Island for emotional search. This was part of the counterattack of the mainland plan of the “Tiandan Torch” at the time to explore the appropriate landing site.
The preparations by the KMT government were very sloppy, and the navy did not pay enough attention to the plan and did not coordinate with the Air Force. In order to carry out this task, the Taiwan KMT Navy established a 10-member steering group in July 1965 to draw up a plan at the Navy General Command of Taipei Dazhi, and was led by Lieutenant General Feng Qicong, deputy commander of the Taiwan KMT Navy. At the same time, however, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Liu Guangkai, presided over the war chess demonstration at the Zuoying Naval Staff College. During the period, Liu Guangkai deliberately pulled over and asked about the incident, but was disturbed by Li Yuxi, the deputy chief of staff.
On July 30, the specific plan of "Tsunami No. 1" was released. The Navy decided to dispatch 1150 tons of Taikang (DE-21) escort destroyer and Zhangjiang patrol ship to form a "tsunami task detachment" by the Second Fleet of the Navy. Commander Hu Jiaheng served as commander. According to the plan, after the two ships arrived at Dongshan Island, the flagship Taikang was responsible for vigilance and support at the rear, while the shallow and flexible port of Zhangjiang was close to the coast of Dongshan Island, and the M2 rubber boat with six special combat personnel was downloaded. Reconnaissance and exploration, after the mission is completed, would pick up the personnel and retreat.
However, at the end of July, the Taikang accidentally crashed the sonar drum in Mazu, so the task was replaced by the Jianmen. In the middle of December 1964, the Jianmen No. received the return from the US military. The standard displacement is 890 tons, and the full displacement is 1200 tons. The firepower includes two single-tube 76mm guns, two double-mounted 40mm cannons and two double-mounted 20mm machines. Cannon, but the maximum speed is only 14 knots; and the standard displacement of the Taikang is 1,150 tons. The firepower includes three 76mm 50-speed guns, four 40mm cannons and 11 20mm cannons. The maximum speed is 19 knots. Regardless of firepower, tonnage and speed, Taikang is better than the Jianmen No. that will be replaced later.
At noon on August 4th, the Navy Staff College’s military chess game ended, and Liu Guangkai took the opportunity to travel to Taipei. At this time, Feng Qicong, the deputy commander in charge of the entire project, had already returned to Zuoying by train, and the deputy commander was at a critical juncture. Lost. Liu Guangkai returned to Dazhi and reviewed the implementation plan of “Tsunami No.1”. He found that the problems were serious and he thought that it must be re-formulated. When Liu Guangkai learned that the tsunami task force had departed from Zuoying at 6 am on August 5, he immediately ordered the Chief of Staff of the Operations Assistant, Major General Xu Chenggong, to inform the task force to return to Zuoying to stand by; however, Xu Chenggong told Liu Guangkai that the task was The detachment must arrive at the target area in the early hours of August 6th of the mission period. At this point, Liu Guangkai had to approve a "read" on the plan.
The two ships, Jianmen and Zhangjiang, had not yet reached the central line of the strait. They had been detected by the Qingshan radar station. Although the two ships were following the ordinary route from Kaohsiung to Hong Kong, they attempted to disguise themselves as freighters. At 15:12 on August 5, Taiwan intercepted the report of Qingshan Radar Station, saying that "unexplained targets may be US warships", indicating that the two ships have already been detected; however, it is still unclear from the communication content analysis. The true identity of the ship, so the KMT navy did not have a special response. On the evening of August 5, from 21:00 to 24:00, the 41st escort boat brigade of the South China Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army consisted of four Shanghai-class (558, 598, 601, 611), gunship 161, and the 11th battalion of the torpedo boat. 11 P-4 torpedo boats (ship number) 119~123, 131~136) entered the scheduled interception position and shut down the engine to wait for the arrival of the KMT ship.
The whole operation was carried out by Kong Zhaonian, deputy commander of Shantou Water Police District and Wang Jin, chief of staff. The strategy adopted by the Mainland Boat Team was to conduct the first attack at the Shanghai level, using high-speed machine guns to attack targets (gun positions, bridges, etc.) on the deck of the enemy ship to counterattack and command capability, and then torpedo boats would strike fatal last blow. At 0:00 on August 6, the Taiwan side intercepted the communications of the PLA station, and reported that the target was "Taiwan Navy Zhangjiang and Jianmen." After the "Tsunami No. 1" detachment came to the waters near Dongshan Island, according to the planned plan, the Jianmen No. stopped at the outer sea, and the Zhangjiang continued to approach Dongshan Island; therefore, Zhang Jiang was the first to step into the trap of the ambush.
At 1:42 am on August 6, the KMT ship was in contact with the common army fleet; at 1:50, the return of the Jianmen had been exchanged with the common torpedo boat. According to mainland China's information, the mainland boat team first implemented two waves of volley to suppress the KMT ship, and then separated the Jianmen and Zhangjiang ships; the Jianmen No. was shot with 3 guns and one facing the east. The first echelon of the mainland torpedo boat, six ships (ship number 123, 131~135), first attacked the Zhangjiang, and lost due to the wrong judgment. Then the Chinese four sides intercepted the Zhangjiang ship, and the two sides broke out in fierce battles.
After the shooting, the Zhangjiang ship began to ignite a fire; at 3:1 in the morning, when the mainland boat team carried out the fourth wave of shooting, Zhang Jiang tried to collide with the Chinese boat team at high speed. The mainland 611 boat smashed the Zhangjiang ship, but the 611 boat also was hit by the Zhangjiang gunfire and the friendly boat, a total of 17 rounds were fired. Three of the four main engines were damaged. The three compartments in front of the water entered the water, causing more than half of the casualties. After the fifth and sixth wave of the joint boat, Zhang Jiang exploded in a big explosion (may detonate the ammunition depot), and the hull slammed left and finally sank at 3:33.
In addition to the damage of the 611 boat, the Chinese side was blocked in front of the Zhangjiang during the battle of the 601. It was also hit by four shells. The captain Wu Guangwei was shot dead in the head. After the sinking of Zhangjiang, the 611 boats that were hit hard returned. At 3:43, the mainland ordered the siege of the Jianmen. A total of four Shanghai-class, torpedo boats, the second echelon, five boats (boths 119, 120, 121, 122, 136) and the gunboat 161 entered the battle. At 5:10, Hu Jiaheng on the Jianmen No. issued a telegram of "The Jianmen Ship has been prepared and ready to fight again. The ship's hull is intact and there are no casualties."
When the Zhangjiang was under siege, the Jianmen could only be supported by three guns on the periphery; after the Zhangjiang was sunk, the boats all came up to the Jianmen, and the Jianmen decided not to retreat (in fact, the ship’s maximum speed was only In the 14th quarter, it is difficult to escape in front of the speedboat with twice the speed of the flight. Subsequently, the three Shanghai-class began to engage in artillery battles with the Jianmen. After four minutes of exchange of fire between the two sides, the ship's naval shells of Jianmen were detonated by a common artillery and detonated, and fell into a raging fire; after 9 minutes, the common torpedo boats launched an attack. At the time, the Jianmen No. had no counterattacks; five of the People's Liberation Army torpedoes fired 10 torpedoes at the Jianmen, three hits, and the Jianmen No. sank at 5:22. The entire battle lasted for 3 hours and 43 minutes.
Since the "Tsunami No. 1" operation was highly confidential, the Taiwan KMT Navy only has a few high-ranking officers such as Feng Qicong and other high-ranking officers who know and master the details of execution. The entire left camp fleet is completely in the dark; "Tsunami No. 1" itself has no order. With the support of other ships, once the two ships carrying out the mission have an accident, it takes at least 5 hours to reach the scene from the nearest ship. During the outbreak of the naval battle on the morning of August 6, the commander-in-chief of the Navy, Liu Guangkai, was still in Taipei, instead of sitting in the left camp.
This shows that the "Tsunami No. 1" itself was sloppy, regardless of whether the plan is drafted or the operational command was to exclude the Navy Commander-in-Chief. At 7 o'clock on the morning of August 6, Liu Guangkai received a phone call from the deputy chief of staff, Li Yuxi, saying that "the Zhangjiang ship is not good, please handle it quickly"; at 8:30 in the morning, Liu Guangkai received Hu Jiaheng at 5:10. The last telegram was transmitted. This was the only situation that Liu Guangkai could report when Chiang Kai-shek held a combat meeting in Yangmingshan. In the afternoon, Liu Guangkai took the opportunity to return to Zuoying to hear the situation. Until around 18 o'clock, Liu Guangkai learned from the mainland's radio battle report that Jianmen and Zhang Jiang had been sunk.
The original KMT government plans to support the tsunami task force detachment when necessary, but the coordination between the navy and the air force has made a serious mistake: in early August, Major General Feng Qicong completed the tsunami No. 1 project and sent a person from Taipei to the south before left camp. The Supervisor handed over the operational plan to the Air Force's engine room, hoping that the Air Force could cooperate at the right time, but the SkyWorks Office forgot to transfer the plan to the Air Force Combat Command. When the naval battle broke out in the early morning of August 6, the Navy requested the Air Force to support it, and the Air Force claimed that it did not know the "Tsunami One" plan. After more than two hours, the Air Force rushed to dispatch fighters to reinforce. At 6:35, four F-100 fighters took off from Pingtung Airport and arrived at the sea area of Shantou at 7:12. At this time, only the floating objects left by Jianmen and Zhangjiang were left on the sea.
This naval battle is called the "eight-six naval battle". It is the most devastating battle of the KMT navy since the previous civil wars. The task of casting special forces had completely failed. The two ships include the commander Hu Jiaheng, the following total officers, 22 officers and men. 175 officers and men were killed, and the 33 officers, including Lieutenant Colonel Wang Qishan and the lieutenant colonel Huang Zhijun were captured. Among them, Hu Jiaheng was the highest-ranking officer killed in the civil war between the Kuomintang and the Communists, and the commander-in-chief of the Taiwan KMT Navy was only seven months in office. In order to blame, Liu Guangkai had to resign and step down. On the mainland, there were two gunboats and torpedo boats, and four people were killed in the event of the death of the four people. The government claimed that it had sunk five enemy ships and hit three. After the return of the mainland Navy, the wounded No. 611 gunship was crowned the "sea pioneer boat", while the P-6 torpedo boat with the number 119 received the title of "hero speedboat". Then the mainland launched the 0111D improved design based on this experience, which strengthened the protection".