Chinese sub smashes US destroyer's sonar

Chinese sub smashes US destroyer's sonar

www.news.com.au

A CHINESE submarine has smashed into an underwater sonar array towed behind a US destroyer, according to a report.

The incident with the USS John S. McCain occurred off the coast of the Philippines, CNN television reported, quoting a US official who said it was an "inadvertent encounter".

The array, used to locate underwater sounds, was damaged in the incident, but the military official said the sub and ship did not collide.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Two superpowers playing down a 'collision'? Fair enough, whatever they need to do to make the spin sound good...

China's got some balls, tagging a US boat. Why not though, it's a 'free' ocean, isn't it?

I guess that both sides have to be out scouting around to justify each other's armed forces ad navys. Imagine, if neither of them was worried about the other, then they could all stay home in peace. Paranoid and delusional - all of them.

www.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Good find.

If you do not mind I will post this in the New Great Game linking this to your thread.

This is one of a dozen mishaps in that area of the world concerning the US Navy and the Chinese Navy.

Where are the Brits?

No problems at all. Post it where you like, I don't own the link to the news source!

If all they want to do is to push their pieces aroud the battlefield, then they're better off playing Chess, Warhammer 40K or Magic The Gathering.

reply to post by tezzajw



Thank you.

I will post this and gather some more Navy pissing contests for your thread as we need to be aware and deny ignorance.

At least as much as we can. lol

Good find.


This type of thing happens ALL the time. What doesnt happen is any type of media coverage bout it. No big deal.

I wonder real hard about the whole unintentional part of this scenario. Why was a Chinese sub that close to an American ship number one, and secondly .... ponder the validity of a "collision". I think it might have been not the sub that hit the array, but maybe a weapon? Just my thoughts

Yeah, ... in open waters what are the odds of two ships colliding ??? ...

Personally I think the chinese sub was trailing them to pick up any incoming/outgoing communications. sneaky bastards.

I think the Chinese sub was trailing the destroyer. Whether the destroyer knew it was there is debatable. Towed arrays are sensitive, but depending on the range and angle of attack, maybe it got through a blind spot ?

I don't know about the Chinese Navy, but if an American sub captain got the boat entangled in the array of a foreign naval vessel, they would be relieved of command ASAP.

It's obvious the Chinese sub was tailing the US destroyer. Think of how large the Pacific Ocean is. Does anyone here honestly believe that this is just some freak encounter?

This isn't the first time a Chinese sub has tailed a US Navy ship. They have tested their submarines' ability to avoid detection using US Navy ships in the past. They've even succeeded before if I'm not mistaken.

Personally, I'd take this as a compliment. Not to sound like an arrogant American, but we do have the best naval force in the world. That's indisputable. China obviously knows this and is trying to narrow the gap.

Yes, this is a sign of growing threat, but at the same time, it's a compliment.

reply to post by Schaden


Exactly, sounds like a bad day for that Chines sub commander. In a war situation an accident like this could have meant the loss of a Chines sub.

It's nice to know that we aren't exactly on the same side but and incident like this could happen and both vessels can go their separate ways. At least we are not on the verge or war or anything like that.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


It is nice. We have to consider that subs are made to avoid detection so we are not always going to know where they are but I don't think destroyers travel alone. The best a sub could hope for is a hit and run. I think subs are more vulnerable when they are preparing to fire, which makes me wonder how good the defense systems on US ships are for that type of attack.

Originally posted by Styki
In a war situation an accident like this could have meant the loss of a Chines sub.

How? It's pretty obvious the Chinese sub had quite the tactical position being directly behind the destroyer with no suspicion from the destroyer. Although we've got the best navy on the planet, I think we'd be picking up the pieces of our destroyer off the Pacific Ocean floor.

Originally posted by NovusOrdoMundi
It's obvious the Chinese sub was tailing the US destroyer. Think of how large the Pacific Ocean is. Does anyone here honestly believe that this is just some freak encounter?

To know for certain, I'd want classified details. Those arrays can be very long. It was possibly an accident. Outside of major ports, there are sea lanes equivalent to highways for ships. I've seen traffic jams of oil tankers and cargo ships lined up waiting to get through congested areas.

If intel showed the Chinese boat had been underway for several weeks and the US destroyer recently left the PI, the sub was probably lying in wait. But for all we know, the destroyer or a helicopter's sonar buoy spooked the sub.

reply to post by NovusOrdoMundi


Well like I said, I would find it hard to believe that the destroyer was out there all alone. Also I don't know what kind of defense capabilities our ships have these days, I would assume that we have come up with something to defend against subs. If not then when they hit the sonar they just gave away their advantage.

The USS John McCain, good name.They snuck up on em, wow!


Yeah this is happening way too often, subs dont just run into things. Its just guys throwin the weight around. China is very powerful.

[edit on 13-6-2009 by unknown known]

Originally posted by unknown known
subs dont just run into things.

Oh yes, this is the cat and mouse game, but here you will see how they were caught with there pants down a while ago which obviously left alot of naval commander with jaws dropped to the floor. Note: It was a diesel..!
link

Do not want to hijack the this post.

Peace.

Oh man, I bet the captain of the sub was red in the face over that one! Who wants to bet he's replaced by morning and no one ever hears from him again.

Originally posted by unknown known
The USS John McCain, good name.They snuck up on em, wow!


Yeah this is happening way too often, subs dont just run into things. Its just guys throwin the weight around. China is very powerful.

[edit on 13-6-2009 by unknown known]

If they had there sonar array deployed they were looking for the sub and apparently found it. Just not in the way intended most sub commanders wouldn't be that shallow.