Thursday, May 8, 2003

70 dead in Chinese Submarine disaster This is somewhat old news, but I thought I'd record it here. 70 persons (on a boat that normally carries 50?) were lost due to a disaster which has not been clearly explained onboard a (PRC) Chinese submarine. The sub was a diesel-electric type sub - a copy of a Russian design - which is a copy of a WWII era German design. Although "diesel-electric" sounds pretty archaic compared to the modern Nuclear powered submarines used in the U.S. navy, it turns out that the older type of power is more stealthy (and therefore deadly) when running underwater on battery power. Of course, there are more limitations on range and endurance, but if your goal is to defend the area around your coast (and or interdict U.S. Naval forces coming to the rescue of Taiwan), those limitations probably aren't as much of a factor. The Chinese "Ming class" subs are pretty old though, and may not be as good as modern "diesel-electric" attack subs (which are still being built by other countries even today.) China is said to be spending more money and putting more effort into training and retaining experienced crews to improve its submarine forces. (SARS may be a speed bump in this process.) If you want to read a GREAT book about the U.S. submarine force's cold war adventures (where many heroic and unbelievable actions took place that most people never even heard about), I recommend reading the non fiction book Blind Man's Bluff. One can only wonder if the U.S. submarine forces are playing the same tricks on the Chinese that they used to play on the Russians. 12:31:00 AM      comment Strategy Page 's "military news about China" section reports that the economic impact of SARS in China will force reductions in military spending. (The Chinese military is trying to modernize, especially the Navy, which is seeking to create a Navy capable of engaging the U.S., and perhaps sufficent to secure and defend a successful invasion of Taiwan.) 12:10:16 AM      comment

© Copyright 2004 John W. Williams II. Last update: 11/5/04; 1:15:02 PM.