Oops!

[Minimalist]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/...index.html

China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank earlier this year, US officials say

Technologies

CNN — 
China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank pierside in the spring and the Chinese Navy tried to conceal the loss, according to two US defense officials.
The attack submarine was the first of its new Zhou-class line of vessels, the official said, under construction at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan. The Zhou-class submarines have a distinctive X-shaped stern, designed to improve maneuverability underwater.
A satellite image from March 10, taken by Maxar Technologies, shows the Zhou-class sub, with its signature x-shape tail, docked at the port. Additional Maxar imagery reviewed by CNN from later in June shows that the sub did not return to the pier.
“It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” said the senior US defense official.

At the pier?

[Cavebear]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/...index.html

China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank earlier this year, US officials say

Technologies

CNN — 
China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank pierside in the spring and the Chinese Navy tried to conceal the loss, according to two US defense officials.
The attack submarine was the first of its new Zhou-class line of vessels, the official said, under construction at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan. The Zhou-class submarines have a distinctive X-shaped stern, designed to improve maneuverability underwater.
A satellite image from March 10, taken by Maxar Technologies, shows the Zhou-class sub, with its signature x-shape tail, docked at the port. Additional Maxar imagery reviewed by CNN from later in June shows that the sub did not return to the pier.
“It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” said the senior US defense official.

At the pier?

Yeah, "at the pier" sounds rather unusual. But it does suggest something about aggressive foreign nations pushing hard for completions of their projects and that never bodes well regarding safety. Catching up to better industrialized nations is always hard to do well.

[Inkubus]

Handy tips before launching a new submarine. Number one:



Close these.

[Deesse23]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/...index.html

China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank earlier this year, US officials say

Technologies

CNN — 
China’s newest nuclear-powered submarine sank pierside in the spring and the Chinese Navy tried to conceal the loss, according to two US defense officials.
The attack submarine was the first of its new Zhou-class line of vessels, the official said, under construction at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan. The Zhou-class submarines have a distinctive X-shaped stern, designed to improve maneuverability underwater.
A satellite image from March 10, taken by Maxar Technologies, shows the Zhou-class sub, with its signature x-shape tail, docked at the port. Additional Maxar imagery reviewed by CNN from later in June shows that the sub did not return to the pier.
“It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” said the senior US defense official.

At the pier?

Maybe, just maybe it was just diving?

[Cavebear]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/...index.html




At the pier?

Maybe, just maybe it was just diving?

Maybe some one forgot to close the hatch after the Moo Goo Gai Pan delivery guy brought the 100 deliveries...

[Minimalist]

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/26/politics/...index.html




At the pier?

Maybe, just maybe it was just diving?

At the pier?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Here's a picture of the recovery effort:

[Deesse23]

Ok, wasnt diving.

[pattylt]

Did they have an unexpected diving event? I mean, it did dive…it was just unintentional!

[mordant]

At the pier?

The article says it was there, then it wasn't, and says it "didn't return to port". So ... there may be some assumptions or speculations here. The water would normally be shallow at a pier so if it sank in place, the sub, or salvage activities, should be pretty evident.

I suppose someone might have opened the wrong valve during a test of some kind, pier side. More likely it went out to sea and didn't survive its first dive.

[mordant]

Here's a picture of the recovery effort:

Ah, that's what I was looking for if it really sank at the pier.

[Inkubus]

Here's a picture of the recovery effort:

I was just about to open Google Earth for a better look at the area. Then I copped me sell on.

Anyway I found this:

http://www.hisutton.com/images/China-Wuchang-Sat.jpg

With the slipway in view in  easier to get some perspective.

Having said that; I still don't know what I'm looking at.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Here's a picture of the recovery effort:

I was just about to open Google Earth for a better look at the area. Then I copped me sell on.

Anyway I found this:

http://www.hisutton.com/images/China-Wuchang-Sat.jpg

With the slipway in view in  easier to get some perspective.

Having said that; I still don't know what I'm looking at.

In shipbuilding terms, fitting-out means installing equipment like electronics, missiles and ancillary equipment, periscopes in this case, and so on -- in other words, stuff not needed to retain positive buoyancy, which is typically already established by the completion of the hull. Mind you, with a submarine, upper panels of the hull will need to be left off for this process, so if for some reason the sub settles deeper into the water, the hull may flood through the incomplete topside.

In the inset in the upper right of your pic, the Yuan would be at the end of the left-most pier, it seems, judging by the focus of the recovery cranes being there. Outboard of the submarine is probably a repair/maintenance ship assisting the process of fitting-out.

In the picture I posted both submarines are gone. Four floating cranes have been brought in for recovery, along with at least one and perhaps two barges for equipment support and/or storage for recovered parts.

It should be noted that at least one American sub has sank at quayside during construction.

This is all educated guesswork on my part, and the "educated" part may fairly be questioned

[Rhythmcs]

In fairness, I've never managed to sink a boat anywhere -but- a pier or dock. Loose moorings, big waves or wake, maybe you get wedged or tipped by the edge. If it's under construction it's still more boat than sub.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The mysterious Chinese submarine that apparently sunk in a shipyard earlier this year was the first of a new class featuring a hybrid nuclear/conventional propulsion system, according to a new report. The latest development in the saga of the Type 041 Zhou class submarine would seem to clear up some of the previous uncertainty about the boat as well as signal that China is working on novel solutions for its fast-growing underwater fleet.

In a recent report citing unnamed defense officials, the Washington Times notes that the Type 041 “employs both conventional and nuclear propulsion,” specifically, “a small nuclear reactor” in addition to a conventional powerplant.

[...]

The concept of a hybrid propulsion system, with a nuclear reactor being used intermittently to charge batteries, or when a higher level of performance or longer range is needed, is an intriguing one, to say the least.

Even before the possibility of hybrid propulsion was raised, it was notable that Chinese submarine developments were following a two-pronged path, with both nuclear- and conventionally-powered designs, in stark contrast to the all-nuclear U.S. Navy.

[...]

There is also the possibility that the Type 041 may combine its micro-nuclear reactor with lithium-ion batteries, meaning they can remain charged while fully submerged as needed, which would be a hugely significant development. Normally, a submarine with lithium-ion batteries needs to snorkel for charging, while the fuel cell is range-limited. An onboard nuclear generator could solve those issues.

[...]

Whatever the plans for the Type 041, there’s also the fact that the first of these boats sunk, according to U.S. defense officials, raising questions about the status of the program and whether the boat is even salvageable.

https://www.twz.com/sea/chinese-submarin...ant-report

[mordant]

I thought someone in this thread posted a link about this happening to a US sub some decades ago, but can't find it. Anyway I read about it and it was a real comedy of errors. What basically happened was that two crews working at opposite ends of the boat and not in communication with each other were fiddling with the ballast trying to level the boat and working against each other until it sat low enough to start taking on water while everyone had gone to lunch. They tried to close watertight doors but many were blocked by cables and other equipment involved with fitting out. So down it went.

Ironically just before this incident someone was advocating for better communication and coordination and safety protocols, but no one took it seriously.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I thought someone in this thread posted a link about this happening to a US sub some decades ago, but can't find it. Anyway I read about it and it was a real comedy of errors. What basically happened was that two crews working at opposite ends of the boat and not in communication with each other were fiddling with the ballast trying to level the boat and working against each other until it sat low enough to start taking on water while everyone had gone to lunch. They tried to close watertight doors but many were blocked by cables and other equipment involved with fitting out. So down it went.

Ironically just before this incident someone was advocating for better communication and coordination and safety protocols, but no one took it seriously.

I posted it in post #13: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Guitarro_(SSN-665).