This kind of stuff happened all the time back in the early eighties in the Indian Ocean — except in those days we were harassed by Russian Krivak destroyers.
Like the Russians were then, the Chinese are just keeping up the tension, and probing our reactions. We couldn’t do much then but perform collision avoidance, and I’m thinking we can’t do much more — and likely even less — now.
Guns and barrel diameter, I suspect, are not the deciding factor. Some 5 inch projectiles are rocket propelled and can go much further than your typical 5 inch gun.
And the Standard missile has a surface to surface capability: Imagine a ripple of a dozen of those coming at the Chinese Destroyer at Mach 3+.
Totally OT -
I remember during the early phase of OIF, one reporter called the guided cruise missile destroyer as “Battleship”, because you know they look big, and mean, and scary. So it must be a battleship.
(Back to your original programming)
At least now they (journalists) call them “warships”.
Don’t mess with the “Mighty Moo”!
ChiPing.
They (WH) don’t have the likes of Rumsfeld in charge anymore.
All our enemies and non-allies cheer ever since. Our allies shake their heads at Obama and HRC/JFnKerry/Rice...
A wake up call for those who thought they could depend on the good old buddy USofA.
Do you suppose more bowing and apologizing will cause them to be less aggressive Mr. President?
“Chinese garbage scow.....this is the USS Cowpens. Drop your garbage to the bottom of the ocean and get out of our way, or we’ll help you get your garbage to the bottom of the ocean.”
You can thank Barack OCarter and his campaign of appeasement for this carpola. Weakness always invites agression.
What is the equivalent to splash one in naval terms to sinking a ship.
I will make it plain. I will make it simple. As a combat veteran, I will say one thing about our so called commander in chief. He is a pure coward. He is a clown. I would not follow him to DisneyWorld. He is a simple minded puke. Sometimes when you walk across the yard, you step in him and curse out loud and have to clean off the smelly Obama from your shoe. End of statement.
USS Cowpens (CG-63) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser in service with the United States Navy.
Armament:
2 × 61 cell Mk 41 vertical launch systems
122 × Mix of RIM-66M-5 Standard SM-2MR Block IIIB, RIM-156A SM-2ER Block IV, RIM-161 SM-3, RIM-162A ESSM, RIM-174A Standard ERAM, BGM-109 Tomahawk, or RUM-139A VL-ASROC
8 × RGM-84 Harpoon missiles
2 × Mk 45 Mod 2 5 in / 54 cal lightweight gun
2 × 25 mm Mk 38 gun
2–4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) gun
2 × Phalanx CIWS Block 1B
2 × Mk 32 12.75 in (324 mm) triple torpedo tubes for lightweight torpedoes
The big question here is not the ships involved, but the boats. Specifically submarines. You can bet your bottom dollar that at least one of the ships had one or more submarines backing them up.
President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to seek a new type of major power relationship during a summit in California earlier this year. However, the exact nature of the new relationship remains unclear.
If it’s like the relationship between democrats and
the GOPe we are so screwed.
the POSOTUS will bow to his overlords....
Well, since this is obviously a story that leaves a lot to be desired, evidence-wise...
In my expereince, and any other Naval personnel with operational (bridge/command) expereince will know that to determine who actually had the “right-of-way” in this situation, that is what dictates “who” manuevers, and “who” is allowed by international maritime agreements to those rules of the road, to stay on course and speed...
Since we do not have the “DRT” traces, or ships log, Manuevering boards, and any other electronic tracking data, it will be hard to determine who was right or wrong in this case...
If the US ship was the vessel that was required to manuever to avoid collision, then they would have done so, no skin off anyone’s back...The same could be said for any other vessel if they were required by the rules to be the manuevering ship...It is nothing contentious, if you agree to follow the rules...
If the PLA ship decided to play chicken, and make the Cowpens manuevering to avoid collision to be more abrupt than necessary, then hell yeah, someone is going to get a sternly worded letter from John Effin’ Kerry’s sad sacks...
If the PLA ship was doing what it was supposed to be doing in screening or manuevering with their High Value Target (their carrier), that needs to be factored in...They might have had a station to keep, but the rules still apply to them as well...
The Cowpens, if it was independently steaming, then they were on a course to wherever they were going and could have done some things, within reason to avoid closing on any other vessels along its intended course...
Its all up to the data that we do not have...And I can tell you from experience that all that data is being reviewed by people wayyyyyy up the chain of command...
Thanks mark.