Just looking by eyeball: if it broke apart amidships, it very well could have been an engineering casualty.
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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| S. Korea continues rescue operations on sunken ship |
| 2010-03-27 |
| Follow-up from yesterday. Still nothing specific to suggest a Nork attack. I'm downgrading this to non-WoT unless something pops up. SEOUL, March 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea stepped up operations Saturday to search for dozens of sailors missing after a Navy ship sank in waters near the western sea border with North Korea in one of the worst tragedies in the country's naval history. The 1,200-ton patrol ship Cheonan sank Friday night, apparently after an unidentified explosion punched a hole in the bottom of the vessel, according to military officials. A total of 104 sailors were aboard the ship, and only 58 of them have been rescued so far. Thirteen soldiers have been hospitalized for injuries such as cerebral hemorrhages, but their conditions are not life-threatening, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The ship's captain, who was rescued unharmed, was to join the rescue operations shortly, but it is feared that unpredictable ocean currents in the Yellow Sea will hamper the operations, the JCS said. President Lee Myung-bak ordered a "quick and thorough" investigation with "all possibilities" in mind as he convened a second emergency meeting of his security-related Cabinet ministers early Saturday, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye told reporters. "The military should make all-out efforts to rescue as many survivors as possible," Lee was quoted as saying during the meeting held at the underground bunker of the presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae. Lee also instructed his government to update the other members of the six-way talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programs with the development of the related situation, Kim added. The stalled six-party talks involve the U.S., China, Russia, and Japan. Suspicions of North Korea's possible involvement were initially raised because the area was the scene of deadly skirmishes between the navies of the two sides in 1999, 2002 and November last year, and residents on a nearby island reported hearing "loud artillery firing." Military officials later said that a separate navy vessel, which was nearby the sunken vessel, opened fire northward toward an unidentified target, but it was later found that the object caught on radar appears to have been a flock of birds. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency has remained silent on the incident. The North's military is showing no unusual moves, and cross-border traffic between the two Koreas remains normal, with seven South Korean company officials visiting a mountain resort in the communist nation as scheduled, according to the Unification Ministry. "We are detecting no unusual movement from North Korea," JCS spokesman Park said. Another JCS officer, Lee Ki-shik, said the military is "very cautious about pointing fingers at North Korea or any other causes at the moment." In Washington, the State Department said it has no evidence of North Korea's involvement. Other possibilities include the vessel's collision with a rock, a torpedo attack from outside forces, including North Korea, or an internal explosion due to the gunpowder and explosives the ship was carrying. The navy plans to salvage the sunken vessel for investigation to determine what caused the incident, a long process that may take at least 20 days, officials said. The Cheonan is a Pohang-class corvette commissioned in 1989. The ship, first deployed in 1989, was equipped with missiles and torpedoes, according to officials. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #11 The damn machingery of a ship is usally in the center. Not necessarily. Depends on the purpose of the ship. Many times it's in the aft third of the hull, or the engine rooms are staggered. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-03-27 19:22 |
| #10 Off topic...but some good USN footage to pass along. Link. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-03-27 14:05 |
| #9 Most important thing is that gas turbine being right about where the ship apparently came apart. Just saying... conservation of (rotational) energy can be a rough master when a turbine comes apart. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-27 13:40 |
| #8 Awesome illustration. Shows why all dem smoke staacks are in the middle... I thought it was for asthetics. tl;dr The damn machingery of a ship is usally in the center. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-03-27 11:14 |
| #7 Thank you for the pic and the explain, OS. That helps a guy like me (zero knowledge of ships) understand things much better. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2010-03-27 10:39 |
| #6 Look at the speed of sinking and the distribution of crewmembers lost in relation to assigned duty stations, as well as the distribution of injuries to assess the cause. I was taught years ago to be highly dubious of coincidence, and destabilizing NORK, recent N-S confrontations at sea, along with SKOR willingness to be less than forthcoming, adds to this attitude in this case. And as icing to this sad cake, a second vessel fires at "birds" in the area? BS alert is sounding in the background.... |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2010-03-27 10:38 |
| #5 CODOG is Diesle Or Gas. GT is Gs Turbine. DE are Diesel engines. There is a gearing leading into the Diesels and a set of clutches that disengages the diesel when the turbine is engaged for "sprint speed". Diesels are used for routine maneuver and cruise speed. CODAG are when the engines share the same sham=ft - a bit more complex in gearing but simple in terms of drive. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-27 10:26 |
| #4 Drive and engine for this ship. Just looking by eyeball: if it broke apart amidships, it very well could have been an engineering casualty. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-03-27 10:21 |
| #3 If SKOR vessel was sunk on own accords, I still have questions. Was this in "marked off territory" by Nork. Was it rogue general? If so it may mean better. This is kind of a big deal for the nature of proximity and I think we passed the 24/48 threshold here. It may be war or another corporation going into a death spiral. I see the dear leader getting ready to play fornication games in hell with satan and think this is more led by some general that wants attention. Either way, find out what he needs. Kim is gone for all intensive purposes and it is time to intelligently recruit generals from NORK to make sure the NORK has a smooth transition into governmental collapse. And that has already collapsed. There are major rumors of the abandonment of the dear leaders mess right now especially at the top of the chain. And we see some willing participants in the game of becoming governable by rational power. Someone in Langley need be looking this up. Screw this up and you lose Asian Naval role. Though I can think there is no less than they can have than they already have, it may still be tense. I think they want help overall in the governance of that newly formed (what do you call it? a GULAG). Either China will do it or they want to continue playing "flyed lyce" jokes on us with it. They presented their plan. They damn well do have responsibility for NORK - they MADE it what it is today. SORK determines soverign right. |
| Posted by: newc 2010-03-27 03:16 |
| #2 cerebral hemorrhages indicates munitions of some type, because an engine explosion would have likely directed the force outward. The ship's armament consisted of: Harpoon missiles, 76 millimeter cannons, 30~40 millimeter cannons, Six torpedoes. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-03-27 00:53 |
| #1 FOX NEWS is repor that Perts cannot rule out an INTERNAL ENGINE ROOM OR OTHER SHIP SYS EXPLOSION = ACCIDENT AT THIS TIME. |
| Posted by: JosephMenduiola 2010-03-27 00:41 |