look at the hole...
Posted on 03/28/2010 4:38:07 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The government has yet to present a clear-cut explanation on how the naval patrol boat Cheonan sank Friday evening or countermeasures.
Worse, surviving crew members have given differing statements about the incident, fueling suspicion over the disaster.
1. Vessel split into two? External attack suspected
Until soon after the accident, an explosion of unknown cause reportedly created a hole in the bottom of the Cheonan’s hull. The vessel sank three hours later at 12:30 a.m. Saturday.
Cheonan Captain Choi Won-il told a briefing for the families of the 46 crew members who went missing Saturday, “One second after the explosion, the ship split into two, tipped over vertically, and sank in a matter of seconds.”
“After hearing the bang from the explosion, I went out to the captain’s room and saw the stern disappear.”
When the families of the missing crew said, “That statement is nonsense,” Choi replied, “I was wrong to say one second, but the ship sank instantly. I saw it with my own eyes.”
Choi’s comments, however, seem to contradict those made in the initial briefing on the incident by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which said the vessel started to sink after a hole was created in the hull.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young also said Saturday, “The vessel seems to have split into two,” adding, “When we checked (the ship’s condition) with a thermal observation device, the ship looked (as if it had split in two).”
In contrast, a naval command official who accompanied the missing crew’s families to waters near Baengnyeong Island, where the Cheonan sank, reportedly said yesterday, “The Cheonan’s captain reportedly said the vessel split into two instantly, but I cannot understand that in light of common sense.”
(Excerpt) Read more at english.donga.com ...
A structural failure may have sounded like an explosion.
Does anyone really think they don’t know what happened here? It sounds more and more like South Korea is being pressured to keep the lid on this until it gets “sorted out” and some deals can be cut to defuse the situation.
Perhaps not impossible, but a catastrophic structural failure in calm waters seems very unlikely.
My money is on some kind of outside agency.
I’d suspect that more if all the stories were the same. Coulda been a mine, coulda been a bomb on inside or outside of the ship, coulda been an accident.
look at the hole...
*ping*
“Perhaps not impossible, but a catastrophic structural failure in calm waters seems very unlikely.”
Its my bet it was helped by some kind of explosive.
No. I saw a picture of the wreck from yesterday, and it appears that she lays in reasonably shallow water. I would be surprised if they haven't already surveyed the damage with divers and video equipment. If so, they've already narrowed it down to several things - either an internal explosion or external explosive device (ie mine or torpedo). But, they'd no from the damage patterns if it was something from outside the hull virtually immediately. After that, it would take a little work to determine what the actual cause was.
Didn’t this occur on the SK president’s birthday? I thought I read that somewhere.
No idea if it was his birthday.
“But, they’d no from the damage patterns if it was something from outside the hull virtually immediately.”
Excellent point. They have to know that by now; the fact that SK hasn’t said it was internal, thereby defusing the situation, makes one wonder.
I think they are trying to cover up their own incompetence. Somebody screwed up real bad. Actually several somebody’s did. They are all trying to cover themselves. That’s why there are so many conflicting stories.
This isn’t good. If the whole s korean military is this incompetent there’s not much hope of them being useful if the norks get upity.
Yeah, one carried in a tube with a little propeller on the end of it.
They were in shallows, with only 24m (78 ft.) of water. To me this suggests a tethered mine. But that being said, if they continue to hem and haw, it likely means that they are going to publicly keep quiet, but work some revenge on the Nork navy.
looks like what they are describing.
Tethered mines are used in deeper waters.
damn good post!
That’s my understanding too. Modern torpedoes explode below the ship causing an air pocket and the ship first rises then falls and breaks in half. That’s what I learned from the Military Channel anyway.
It wasn’t calm. The story describes 3 meter waves prevented a quicker response from their rescue ships.
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