Chinese submarine collides with towed array of destroyer USS John S. McCain

[CougarKing]

The PLAN has obviously been busy snooping off the coast of the Philippines.

China sub collides with array towed by U.S. ship: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Chinese submarine accidentally collided with an underwater sonar array being towed by a U.S. military ship, CNN reported on Friday, quoting an unnamed military official.

The incident occurred on Thursday near Subic Bay off the coast of the Philippines, according to the CNN report.

The destroyer USS John S. McCain was towing the array, deployed to track underwater sounds.

"The John S. McCain did have a problem with its towed array sonar. It was damaged" on Thursday in Subic Bay, a Pentagon spokesman told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The spokesman, who asked not to be identified, would not confirm other details of the CNN report, including whether the array collided with a Chinese submarine. He said the U.S. destroyer was not damaged and was not hit by another vessel.

The U.S. Navy does not view the incident as a deliberate move by Beijing to harass military ships operating in the region, CNN reported.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Peter Cooney)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090613/ts_nm/us_china_usa_submarine

 

[tomahawk6]

Shouldnt this be in the PRC superthread ? ;D

 

[CougarKing]

Shouldnt this be in the PRC superthread ? ;D

I would have thought something like this would have resulted in as much discussion- in a thread of its own- like the USNS Impeccable incident earlier this year, IIRC.

 

[Yrys]

Another U.S./China Naval Collision, TIMES

So the U.S. destroyer John S. McCain is the latest ship to run into trouble with the Chinese navy
in the South China Sea. In this case, a Chinese submarine, which was undoubtedly tracking the
vessel, ran afoul of a sonar tracking device being towed by the ship. The incident took place
outside of Subic Bay in the Philippines, where even the most extreme Chinese  territorial claims
don't reach, I don't think. Still, it's instructive that from a senior Chinese officer's point of view,
the incidents won't stop until the U.S. leaves the area completey. Here's the money quote from
the story in the China Daily:

Major General Luo Yuan, a senior researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences in Beijing,
said though the collision was accidental, the existence of US ships in the South China Sea is cause
for potential incidents.

    "The best way to avoid such collisions is for the Pentagon to stop its unfriendly moves toward China
    in this region," he said.

 

[CougarKing]

And here is an update on USS John S. McCain.

Destroyer McCain in Sasebo after array damage
By Andrew Scutro - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 15, 2009 17:18:47 EDT

http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/06/navy_mccain_061509w/

Navy officials still are not confirming reports that it was a Chinese submarine that collided with a towed sonar array trailing from the destroyer John S. McCain on June 10 off the Philippine Islands.

Lt. Cmdr. Tamsen Reese, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon, would say only that the multi-function towed array sonar was “damaged” after “it hit something.”

The McCain, homeported in Yokosuka, Japan, was conducting “routine operations” in “international waters,” when the sonar was damaged, Reese said. Previous news reports have said the incident took place in or near Subic Bay.

Reese would not say if the Navy knows what the sonar hit or if the equipment separated from the ship and was lost at sea.

The McCain did not return to its homeport and instead is in port in Sasebo, Japan, where the damage can be assessed, she said.

Time of day and weather conditions were not available.

Chinese newspapers reported that it was one of their country’s subs that collided with the towed cable and called the episode an accident.

If the Chinese sub did hit the sonar cable, it will be the latest in a string of close calls involving U.S. Navy ships and Chinese vessels. On May 1, the ocean surveillance ship Victorious was harassed by Chinese fishing vessels 170 miles off the coast of China. On March 8, five Chinese vessels surrounded the surveillance ship Impeccable, 80 miles of Hainan Island. Both ships, of the Military Sealift Command, deploy towed sonar arrays to listen for submarines.

 

[Bane]

Submarine hits array designed to detect submarines... Irony-1 USN-0

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Submarine hits array designed to detect submarines... Irony-1 USN-0

: Like any sensor equipment it must be turned on to detect, ever consider the fact it may have been streamed to conduct maintenance or training?

 

[Bane]

Yes I did consider many things, I also have a sense of humour.  :nana:

 

[Jammer]

Is Senator McCain aware of this slight against his namesake?
I'll bet Darth Cheney will blame this on Obama too.

 

[tomahawk6]

This is true irony. The USS McCain has been directed to intercept the NK merchant ship so it can be boarded and searched.