Posted on 01/16/2008 12:53:42 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Tense battle-ready standoff in Taiwan Strait
(Hong Kong=Yonhap News) Chung Juho = U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk (and its battle group) had 28-hour battle-ready standoff with a Chinese submarine and a missile destroyer in Taiwan Strait last November, it has been revealed.
This was the first military standoff between U.S. and China since the Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1996.
According to Jan. 16 dispatch by China Times in Taiwan, on Nov. 23 last year, Kitty Hawk battle group was en route to Japan after China refused its port call in Hong Kong, entering Taiwan Strait instead of using its normal route. China immediately dispatched a Song-class submarine which happened to be in the neighborhood, and had it track the battle group.
China also sent a missile destroyer Shenzhen from its Southern Fleet which was readying itself in Hainan Island for the (upcoming) visit to Japan, joining the Kitty Hawk watch.
The battle group with the carrier and its eight escort ships were sailing northward at an even distance away (from China and Taiwan,) and the Chinese submarine and the destroyer were following and watching the battle group from the western side along the Chinese mainland.
Carrier Kitty Hawk was alerted by a P3-C anti-submarine plane from U.S. forces in Japan that a Chinese submarine and its destroyer were following them. The group stopped sailing and went into battle-ready mode, sending out warplanes to protect the fleet.
After tense 28-hour standoff, the battle group was able to return to Yokosuka base in Japan only in Nov. 24.
According to an U.S. military source, the Chinese submarine sneaked into Taiwan Strait from west after taking a detour around Taiwan's southern shore from east, in an effort to monitor Kitty Hawk battle group. S-2T anti-submarine plane from Taiwanese navy was conducting the regular patrol in the area, but was not able to detect the submarine.
>> Bailing out or ditching most likely would have killed some or all of them.
In any confrontation in today’s “modern” navy, the MOST important thing is to keep all the girls on board safe. That’s way more important than the mission or US military secrets.
The Brits think (or should I say “feel”) the same way (ref naval incident off Iran a few months ago).
Steroids and chicoms, what an unwatchable combination.
Oh there may be some out there who will put a chart or two up as to how dominant out economy and military are over the Chicoms..........but for how long?
I am so angry and disgusted with our government for allowing corporate and governmental greed and neglect to go on for so long with little protection for the average American.
But it’s good for the economy...some say. Selling out Americans for the almighty dollar???
Our government has betrayed us. China is NOT our friends. They have a long term goal in place to become superior over the U.S.
Our government is allowing this to happen, with this constant facade that Americans “want cheaper goods”.
That’s a big lie. Now look at who we have to choose from in the presidential field.
There all PRO-GLOBALIST CFR AFFILIATED candidates.
The PRC is already at war with us - hacking, bribery, etc.
Our military folks know that death and danger are a pivotal part of their job, and they are indeed expendible when it comes to completing their mission. It's not like being a civilian where if you don't like your job conditions you can just quit and look for a more pleasant environment. There are greater issues at play besides your personal happiness and your life.
It surprises me that a lot of FReepers can't wrap their brains around that concept.
There was a show on History Channel a while back, and an old WWII vet said that his commanding officer told him, prior to embarking on a hazardous mission, to either come back after successfully completing the mission, or to not come back at all. That sums it up.
Probably... I for one recognize most of them for what they are.
LLS
Note that the USN was. Last year's bogus "Song class submarine stalks carrier group undetected" story is completely debunked by this story.
The crew was reported to "consider" ditching but thought it too dangerous to themselves:
In my opinion (and it is only that) - they had their priorities misplaced.
A news report I read at the time said weather conditions were reported by the Navy as "ideal" for ditching. As you said, you actually want light winds (rather than no wind) because the wind slows down your speed prior to flaring in the water.
Bailing out or ditching most likely would have killed some or all of them.
Again, that should not have been his primary motive. His primary motive should have been to protect a TOP SECRET aircraft, equipment, methods, and documents.
He failed in that regard, as -=SoylentSquirrel=- said:
Our military folks know that death and danger are a pivotal part of their job, and they are indeed expendable when it comes to completing their mission. It's not like being a civilian where if you don't like your job conditions you can just quit and look for a more pleasant environment. There are greater issues at play besides your personal happiness and your life.
It is, simply, the feminazation of the culture.
That the “airman did the right thing and kept his crew alive and safe” is right up there with those cops hiding behind their cars at Columbine as children were slaughtered.
Another element of the feminazation of American culture: We won’t ever be hearing the words “coward” or “cowardice” applied to any failure of any military unit in any action the field. I mean to say it is not even a concisous possibility from the get-go.
The crew was interrogated for 11 days.
It has never been made public what, if anything, the Chinese were able to extract from them.
In any case, the entire debacle was an intelligence bonanza for the ChiComs.
China 'Likely' Saw U.S. Secrets
"Likely?"
How about - "Definitely."
If the dims keep Congress, or win the presidency, they will probably give the commies Taiwan.
It doesn't surprise me at all how many armchair warriors around here are willing to fight to the death, so long as it's with other people's lives. Death is always a part of the job, but as an officer I was always taught not to throw away the lives of the people under me. I wasn't on that airplane so I have no idea what the aircraft commander's thought process was. I've never been in the same position he was in. And because of that I'm not willing to second guess him or condemn his decisions, especially since the end result was all his people coming home alive. And until you're faced with the same set of circumstances he was, I suggest you do the same.
In the 50 years that the P-3 has been in service I'm only aware of a handful of successful ditching attempts.
It's easy to criticize the pilot for not sacrificing his life or the life of his crew. We weren't there.
If the Taiwanese want to do us a favor they ought to be investing heavily in anti-sub capability; for our good and theirs
1) Turn the plane over to the ChiComs, and compromise our intelligence-gathering abilty, and our military secrets, that serve to keep 250 million Americans safe from harm, or
2) Turn the plane over and help our enemies leap 20 years forward in their technology, technology that most agree will be used against us in the future.
If there is something I missed feel free to fill me in.
The best anti-sub platform is another sub. Taiwan's having problems finding someone to sell them any.
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