China's first nuclear submarine opens to the public

Decommissioned "Long March-1" berths at the port of the Chinese Navy Museum. [Photo: thecover.cn]

China's first domestically-produced nuclear submarine, the "Long March-1" is now open to the public at the Chinese Navy Museum at the Port of Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province.

The submarine was built in 1970 and commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 1974.

It made China the fifth country in the world to possess a nuclear powered submarine at the time.

Ceremony of Long March-1 being commissioned in Aug, 1974. [File photo: baidu.com]

After 40 years of service, the vessel was decommissioned in October, 2013. All of its nuclear devices, including its turbo electric engine and water reactor, have since been removed from the submarine.

Long March-1 in exhibition at the port of the Chinese Navy Museum. [Photo: weibo.com]

Visitors are still able to see and access various sections of the vessel.

Despite its vast size, visitors to the "Long March-1" have to enter through a one-meter wide hatch, and are then confronted with walkways which are only one-meter wide as well.

The one-meter wide entrance of the vessel [Photo: thecover.cn]

Upon entry, visitors move through the torpedo hold, where torpedoes were once stored for lauching.

Torpedo storing shelves [Photo: thecover.cn]

From there, the tour takes people through the command cabin, which includes the Captain's quarters and the intelligence room.

Control room of the submarine with many equipment installed [Photo: thecover.cn]

This area also provides access to the 'sail' of the submarine, which is where numerous control functions of the vessel are located.

The ladder leads to the 'sail' of the submarine. [Photo: thecover.cn]

From there, visitors then move through the reactor area where the nuclear core of the ship was located. After this, visitors to the "Long March-1" move through the Executive Officer's cabin and the galley before entering the rear cabin of the vessel, which includes an emergency generator to be used in the event the nuclear reactor had to be shut down or malfunctioned.

Rudder of the vessel in executive officer's cabin [Photo: thecover.cn]

Visitors are then able to exit the submarine through a rear hatch.