157 years ago today, on September 28, 1868 (the 13th day of the eighth lunar month), the first steamship of Shanghai Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration was completed.

On September 28, 1868, the No. 1 steamer of Shanghai Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was completed. This is the first large mechanical ship built by China. The designers and manufacturers were modern patriotic scientist Xu Shou and his son Xu Jianyin. The captain is 185 feet long, the width is 29.2 feet, the draft is 8 feet, the horsepower is 392, and the load is 600 tons. The ship has 8 guns and is a wooden paddle ship. The military ship sailed from the Shanghai Shipyard to Jinling. Zeng Guofan boarded the ship for trial sailing at Xiaguan, Jinling, and sailed to Caishiji and Cuiluo Mountain. He praised the ship as "fast, stable, hard and flexible" and named it "Tianji" after the sentence "The four seas are peaceful and the factory affairs are peaceful." Later, Guangxu avoided taboo and changed its name to "Huiji". The completion of the "Tianji" was a milestone in the history of modern shipbuilding in my country. When "Tianji" was launched for trial flights, it caused a sensation in Shanghai, with spectators on both sides of the Huangpu River blocked. Later, Xu's father and son designed and built ships such as "Caojiang","Cehai","Chengqing", and "Yuyuan" in Shanghai, making outstanding contributions to changing the backward situation of my country's modern shipbuilding technology.

Comment: The completion of the "Tianji" was a milestone in the history of modern shipbuilding in my country. The ship was retired in 1878.