Posted on 07/01/2016 8:25:52 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The domestically developed Hsiung-feng III (Brave Wind III) missile was accidentally launched at 8:10 a.m. (0010 UTC) Friday and flew about 75 kilometers (47 miles) before striking a fishing boat, Taiwan's defense ministry said.
The skipper on the "Hsian Li Sheng," a 60-ton trawler based in the southern Kaohsiuing city, was killed and three other crew on board, including a Vietnamese and a Filipino, were injured in the explosion.
"An initial investigation showed that the incident has caused the death of the skipper," defense ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi told reporters. "We apologize to the family of the skipper and would like to convey our condolences to them."
The navy said it was not immediately clear how the missile had come to be launched, but suggested it could have been due to human error.
"Our initial investigation found that the operation was not done in accordance with normal procedure," Vice Admiral Mei Chia-shu told reporters, adding that an investigation had begun.
Both Beijing and Taipei respect the virtual middle line in the Taiwan Strait, and the two sides do not allow their planes or ships to cross the line.
The anti-ship missile was launched from the 500-ton patrol boat Chinchiang that was undergoing an inspection inside Zuoying military base in southern Kaohsiung City.
(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...
ping
TWA 800.
D’oh
George Bush perhaps?
Ooops. But on the bright side, at least it works . . . .
Some toys require adult supervision.
Hey-oohhh!
I seem to remember an inadvertent launch of a Harpoon missile from a Navy ship in port in Italy during a maintenance operation back in the 70’s.
Taiwanese military missiileers, Sum Ting Wong and Ho Lee Fuk were immediately thrown in the brig.
A neighbor of mine who has since passed was on a destroyer at Anzio and later on a sub in the pacific. We would sit in his back yard drinking ice tee and I would get him to tell me war stories.
On the destroyer, one of his jobs was checking the firing mechanisms of the depth charges. He was to remove the electrical fuse and pull the manual trigger.
Once while in a mid ocean refuel, he forgot to pull the fuse and dumped a bunch of depth charges between the destroyer and the refuel vessal.
The refueler turned away, ripping all the lines out.
He said he got reamed out for that one, had to put the fuses on the captains bunk each time he did his tests from then on.
The captain was later killed by firing a Tommy gun into the steel grate next to the deck at a surfacing sub next to them.
He was a great guy, had lots of great stories...
Had a young Italian girl show him the Blue Grotto personally by row boat. They were the only ones there he said.
What was their first clue?
Taiwan set to announce that the fine-tuning “targeting systems” modifications for the Hsiung-feng III are now complete.
At least they know that the missile works.....
In San Diego, it was bad enough just latching on to a live Tartar missile instead of a TSAM in the magazine. The permissions required to cycle it onto the rail and back into the magazine were horrendous. I thought it was going to take an act of Congress to finish that day’s DSOT.
“Taiwanese military missiileers, Sum Ting Wong and Ho Lee Fuk were immediately thrown in the brig.”
Yup, same guys.
Taiwan admiral: “What does this button do?”
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