A toy from US triggered successful development of nuclear powered submarine in China
In early 60’s, a new but seemingly ordinary toy became kid’s favor as soon as it hit the shelf of department stores. A diplomat from China who was ready to return to his country saw it and said to his wife: “It must be a good toy. Let’s buy one for our baby.”
It was this words from the diplomat that made a scientist in the Design Institute for Submarines in China really excited. When he learnt about the toy by accident, he took it from the hand of that diplomat to put on his desk.
The toy was a nuclear powered submarine model made of iron sheets and finished in brown and grey colors. The model must be a state of the art toy at that time. It had a removable missle launcher. All cabins could be taken apart and reassembled.
The scientist and his research team just took the assignment from the government to develop China’s first generation nuclear powered submarines. However, no single person in China actually knew what a nuclear submarine looked like before the toy was brought into the country. The toy became a guideline in their initial research and development.
Image above: A commercially produced model of the USS Nautilus in early 1960’s, the world’s first nuclear powered submarine.