The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday (September 26) that the latest Chinese Communist Party (CCP) nuclear-powered attack submarine sank in the Wuhan waters this spring and official efforts have been made to cover up the incident.
According to the report, the incident happened at the end of May or early June when a submarine, the first of its kind with a distinct X-shaped tail, sank near a shipyard in Wuhan. The submarine was built by the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and was last seen being equipped at a dock near the Yangtze River at the end of May.
Satellite images from the scene show that after the submarine sank, a large floating crane was set up in early June in the relevant waters to lift the submarine from the riverbed.
“Although the United States does not know if the submarine was carrying nuclear fuel at the time of sinking, experts outside the U.S. government believe it is highly likely,” reported The Wall Street Journal.
The CCP military has been aiming to diversify the production of nuclear-powered submarines. While submarine production has traditionally been concentrated in the northeastern city of Huludao, the Wuhan Shipyard near Wuhan has now been converted to manufacture nuclear-powered attack submarines.
According to the Pentagon’s China Military Power Report released last year, as of the end of 2022, Beijing had 48 diesel-powered attack submarines and 6 nuclear-powered attack submarines.
This incident of the new nuclear-powered submarine sinking has dealt a significant blow to CCP ambitions of expanding its nuclear submarine fleet.
Brent Sadler, a senior researcher at the Traditional Foundation in Washington and a retired U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer, told The Wall Street Journal, “The sinking of a new nuclear submarine produced in a new shipyard will slow down China’s (CCP) plans to expand its nuclear submarine fleet significantly.”
Both the CCP military and local governments have not acknowledged this event.
A senior U.S. defense official told The Wall Street Journal, “It’s not surprising that the CCP Navy would attempt to cover up the incident of its newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sinking at the dock.”
“In addition to obvious issues such as training standards and equipment quality, this incident also raises deeper questions about the CCP military’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s (CCP) defense industry, which has long been plagued by corruption,” the official added.
When problems first arose at the shipyard near Wuhan, Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. submarine officer and senior defense researcher at the New American Security Center, was the first to publish a series of posts on social media on June 16, pointing out the unusual activities of the large floating crane captured by commercial satellite imagery.
Shugart speculated that the incident might involve a new type of submarine, but at that time he did not know it was a nuclear-powered submarine.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Shugart said, “Can you imagine a U.S. nuclear submarine sinking in San Diego, and the government covering it up, not telling anyone? My goodness.”
While the submarine has been salvaged, it may take several months before it can return to the sea.
“The whole ship will be flooded,” Shugart added. “You have to clean all electronic equipment. Motors may need to be replaced. It’s going to be a heavy job.”
U.S. officials have not found any signs indicating that the CCP government has conducted radiation sampling in the waters where the submarine sank or in the surrounding environment. The sinking of the submarine likely resulted in casualties or injuries, but U.S. officials stated they do not know if there were any casualties.
Shugart mentioned that the risk of a nuclear leak is likely low because the submarine did not venture out to sea, and its reactor may not have been operating at high power levels.
After the publication of The Wall Street Journal article, Shugart updated on social media, saying, “The U.S. Department of Defense confirms:
– A newly built Chinese submarine sank at the Wuhan dock
– The submarine is the first of a new class of submarines (Type 041)
– Chinese (CCP) authorities are desperately trying to cover up the truth
and
– The U.S. Department of Defense reveals that the submarine is nuclear-powered.”