USS John McCain at Sasebo
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, USS John S. McCain has arrived at Sasebo for repairs after a Chinese sub collided with the ship’s towed-array sonar last Thursday according to Stars and Stripes.
“We do not discuss detailed operational capabilities or locations of our ships,” 7th Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Jeff Davis said.
He did say the McCain was operating in international waters and conducting routine operations. The McCain’s home port is Yokosuka Naval Base, about 750 miles by land from Sasebo.
The Associated Press reported that a senior researcher with the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy Equipment Research Center, Yin Zhuo, said the collision was likely an accident. He said the American destroyer appeared to have failed to detect the submarine, while the Chinese vessel set its distance from the McCain assuming it was not carrying sonar arrays, according to the state-run China Daily.
Ya know, I remember a similar incident about eight years ago in which a Chinese jet collided with an American plane. Now granted, that incident involved a crash landing and hostages, much more dramatic, but it seems like it was declared a “test” of the new American President. Funny how it’s always a Chinese craft colliding with a US craft, isn’t it?
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Foreign Policy
Jonn,
The Soviets used to try the same trick. See here:
http://www.destroyersonline.com/usndd/ff1047/f1047pho.htm
I was flying direct support missions out of Rota, Spain when this event (USS Voge) occurred, and there were some serious flight ops revolving around keeping an eye on the Echo II that tried the same stunt.
There were a couple of instances involved with Soviet Victor class as well, including one off Georgia in, I believe, 1983.
Folks can say all they want to, but I am convinced that the PLAN sub was trying to cut the towed array. Thing is, ASW was what I did. Diesel boats, like the Chinese “Romeo” copy are still difficult to detect when they go sinker and switch from diesel to battery power.
However, those towed arrays aren’t small, and they streak out aways. It takes a significant amount of turning radii to change direction, and speed also has to be limited to keep from damaging the array, not to mention the drag on the vessel from towing it.
There was no reason for the PLAN boat to be operating in that shallow a depth, that close to McCain, unless they were indeed trying to cut that cable. McCain couldn’t maneuver quickly, and that boat came straight on, closing the angle at speed.
Those Chinese sailors are lucky to be alive.
respects,