According to the military website “The WARZONE”, satellite images show that around June, a newly built submarine docked at the Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan suddenly almost completely disappeared from the pier. Surrounding the submarine were four floating cranes, and the floating dock where it was moored also showed signs of displacement, indicating that the new submarine seemed to have encountered a major problem.
On June 15th, an inexplicable scene was captured at the Wuchang Shipyard along the Yangtze River in Wuhan. The submarine that was originally docked next to the floating dock suddenly disappeared almost entirely from the surface of the water. There were four lifting ships operating around it, and on the right side of the work area, an orange oil containment boom specially designed to absorb surface oil spills could be seen. The originally moored floating dock also experienced displacement. All signs indicate that this submarine seemed to have capsized due to an accident.
Although we do not know the exact cause of the incident, submarines have many doors and valves that connect to external seawater, including possibilities of malfunction such as: faults in the pressurized water tank door or control circuit short-circuit, torpedo tube door, exhaust port check valve, fracture of the main shaft watertight bearing, etc. Since multiple 039A submarines have already been in service, the likelihood of a major design flaw in the hull is low. If the issue is internal, it could be a mechanical failure, while if it’s external, it could be a collision.
The specific details of this accident still need to be observed further, but in recent years, incidents involving Chinese submarines seem to be more frequent compared to other countries.
On the morning of June 18th this year, a Type 094A strategic nuclear submarine of the Chinese Navy surfaced in the Taiwan Strait and was spotted by a Taiwanese fishing boat, then escorted by a warship as it floated north through the Taiwan Strait. The Type 094A submarine is very new, and it deviated from its normal route through the deeper waters off the east coast of Taiwan, opting for the shallower waters of the Taiwan Strait, leading to suspicions of a possible malfunction.
In October 2023, the British “Daily Mail” reported that a Type 093 nuclear submarine of China disappeared in August during a naval exercise in the Yellow Sea due to a possible catastrophic failure in the oxygen system. However, in May 2024, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau Director Tsai Ming-Yan stated in the Legislative Yuan that the incident involving the Type 093 nuclear submarine was not a severe sinking event, but did experience some accidents, and the National Security Bureau has since tracked the location of that submarine.
This recent incident with the 039 submarine reminds me of the accident involving the 361 submarine. That was a major submarine incident that occurred in 2003, where all crew members were found dead at their posts when discovered, with the last entry in the navigational log dated April 16th, which was 10 days before the submarine was found. The Navy Commander at the time, Shi Yunsheng, and Navy Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing were dismissed from their positions. Vice Commander of the Jinan Military Region and Commander of the North Sea Fleet, Ding Yiping, and Political Commissar of the North Sea Fleet, Chen Xianfeng, received administrative demotions. Additionally, eight other personnel involved faced disciplinary actions such as administrative demotions and dismissals. This was the largest number of senior officers punished in a single incident since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, including two generals and two major generals.
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