Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over the launch of the nation’s first domestically made submarine, called Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, or at a ceremony in Kaohsiung, calling the event a crucial moment in Taiwan’s mission to produce domestic subs and achieve “defense autonomy.”

The ceremony was held at a CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) shipyard, the contractor for the nation’s Indigenous Defense Submarine (IDS) project.

“Today will go down in history,” Tsai said in her remarks.

During World War II, German U-boats almost succeeded in bringing Britain to its knees. US Navy submarines saw their greatest success against Japan with the sinking of more than 500 vessels in the Taiwan Strait. The complete blockade of Japan with US submarines, US Navy aircraft and an aerial mining program destabilized Japan’s economy and created severe shortages of food, materials for weapons production and fuel.

On April 2, 1982, Argentine forces used submarines to invade the Falkland Islands, a British territory, sparking one of the largest conflicts since World War II. In response to Argentine aggression, the British government quickly assembled a task force to engage the Argentine Navy.