Mystery sub sparks Japan alert

news.bbc.co.uk...

Japan's navy went on alert on Wednesday after an unidentified submarine was spotted inside the country's waters.

Surveillance aircraft detected the submarine near the southern island of Okinawa, and it left soon afterwards.

Officials said the government was trying to establish the vessel's country of origin, although Japanese media said it was possibly Chinese.

Japanese officials refused to speculate on the submarine's nationality. But Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted defence officials as saying it was a Chinese nuclear-powered sub.

testing the waters (so to speak)... of japan's coastal defences?

[edit on 10-11-2004 by Lucretius]

Probably just got lost!!

Seriously, I think this will be an increasing occurrance. China has stated that the increase in naval forces is for self protection only, but we all know how that goes by now, don't we.

[edit on 11/10/2004 by Montana]

apparently there was 2 chinese surface vessels in the border area recently

A sub rescue ship and another unidentified vessel

How come japan or s korea never do anything about the incursions? A chinese sub is not just going to get lost. Test?

Japan and South Korea do a lot about incursions.

SK has had repeated clashes with NK gunboats over the years,most recently several years ago , although they are getting better arrangements in place.....signed a protocal last year to reduce clashes.

Japan MSDF and Coast Guard have ended up clashing with NK ships on at least one occassion recently....I beleive a NK gunboat fired on a Japanese Coastguard vessel.

A few years back Japanese Coast Guard and PLA-N had a standoff both sides claiming a lump of rock.

Scuse. 11th Hour 11th Day 11th month. One minutes silence here Armistice day/Rememberence day. End of WW1

Sorry............Nationalists both sides trying to plant a flag.....no shots....I think the authorities were there to drag each drag thier own off it.

So a sub is in the wrong place. Its not as if anyone who has them is shooting at each other. It would have to be doing a lot more than just being there to warrant attacking it.



[edit on 10-11-2004 by craigandrew]

craigandrew
So a sub is in the wrong place. Its not as if anyone who has them is shooting at each other. It would have to be doing a lot more than just being there to warrant attacking it.

They could of attacked the sub if they wanted, since it was in their waters. But I doubt they would have, because then the chinese gov would of said "it went of course and was lost, and that the japanese should of approached them with one of their own subs to see why they were there, or if they were having any problems." Which of course would never happen unless they were allies.

How many subs does Japan have? and what kind are they?

I highly doubt that the sub got lost. I highly doubt that China didn't gain anything fro mthis incursion.

Subs are built to go places, folks. Is it really all that surprising to find one in your back yard? That's what they are made to do. Every nation that has subs sends them to places they are not suposed to go.

I think it would be more worring if they didn't show up somewhere. It's much better to know where they are. By observing the operating patterns, a lot can be learned about capabilities etc. By observing the way they conduct training a lot can also be learned about the strategic concepts on how the Chinese plan to use them.

I agree, subs do not just attack things, they are also particularly useful for intelligence gathering. Sneak in, have a look, and sneak out. It also tests anti submarine capability and state of readiness of Japanese navy and air-force.

During the cold war, US and Russian submarines played all sorts of funny little games, but firing on each other was to be avoided at all costs.

The Japanese are now giving chase to the sub to see if they can identify where it came from:

news.bbc.co.uk...

Shall we start taking bets?