ROK Warship Reported Sunk

[tomahawk6]

Pyongyang figured the time was ripe to ramp up tensions. As these things go most times there is no retaliation. But if there has been a heavy loss of life the South will be forced to take action.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/7528140/South-Korean-navy-ship-with-104-onboard-sunk.html

South Korea's military said a ship from its navy was sinking in the Yellow Sea but could not immediately confirm if it had fired at an unidentified vessel.

The Seoul government convened an emergency security meeting after the sinking of its ship off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong.

The 1,500-ton vessel sank between 9:00 p.m. (1200 GMT) and 10:00 p.m. near the island but the cause of the incident was unknown, the Navy said. A rescue operation was underway.

MBC television said about half the crew had so far been saved.

Yonhap news agency quoted officials as saying there was an explosion in the rear of the ship but the cause was unknown.

The disputed border in the Yellow Sea was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.

Earlier on Friday, North Korea's military accused the United States and South Korea of trying to topple the Pyongyang regime and said it was ready to launch nuclear attacks to frustrate any provocations.

The military General Staff cited a South Korean newspaper report as evidence of "desperate moves of the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet warmongers" for regime change.

"Those who seek to bring down the system in the DPRK (North Korea)... will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," a General Staff spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency.

 

[karl28]

          I sure hope that the South Korean's and their US allies can save at least some of the crew from the sunken vessel very sad day for there family members .

 

[tomahawk6]

The ROK MND has reported that 58 of the crew have been recued. This is crucial to determine if the ship was attacked or experienced some type of accident.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I suspect they have an ROV on it's way to inspect the damage, It should be fairly easy to determine if the cause was internal or external.

 

[karl28]

  tomahawk6      thanks for the update  good to here at least 58 of the crew where saved .  Do you know if the rest of the crew was lost  or are they still getting survivors out of the water .    Should be interesting to see what happens next .

 

[CougarKing]

More details:

CNN blog link

Report: South Korean navy ship sinking near North Korea

[Updated at 12:11 a.m.] South Korea's president has told his military to focus on rescuing sailors from one of their navy ships sinking in the Yellow Sea near North Korea, aids told the Yonhap News Agency.
Yonhap reported 58 sailors had already been rescued. Navy vessels and helicopters were rescuing crew members, some of whom reportedly jumped into the sea after the blast, an official told South Korea's Korean Broadcasting System. The ship, the Cheonan, was patrolling southwest of the island around 9:45 p.m. when the explosion took place, a military official told KBS.
The official said the Sockcho, another South Korean navy vessel patrolling nearby, fired at unidentified ships north of the area.The South Korean government issued a statement saying the reason for the incident remains unclear.

(...)

Below is a picture of one of the Pohang class patrol combat corvettes from globalsecurity.org, the class to which the two warships mentioned above belong:

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Report from MSNBC which reports that:

A senior U.S. national security official told NBC that South Koreans had quietly issued a statement saying it was unlikely North Korea was involved in the sinking of their naval vessel.

and

Yonhap [S. Korean news agency] reported that a South Korean ship fired shots toward an unidentified target in the direction of North Korea, raising fears of an exchange of gunfire. The military official confirmed that South Korean troops fired shots but said the object detected by radar may have been a flock of birds.

Appears that there is some confusion as to what exactly happened, but it seems that everything is being downplayed for the time being until the exact cause of the sinking can be determined. However, it does appear that there have been casualties, some fatal.

 

[tomahawk6]

The ROK plans to raise the ship. The skipper was among those rescued so he might be able to shed some light on what happened.

 

[AJFitzpatrick]

Is there a possibility that it might be a unswept Korean War vintage mine ?

or is that way beyond a conceivable effective lifespan of a mine?


Edit for coherence

 

[old medic]

Hope fades for South Korean marines after ship sinks
CTV.ca News Staff
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100327/ship_sinking_100327/20100327?hub=TopStoriesV2

The search for missing marines continued in the waters near the disputed border between North and South Korea Saturday amid fading hope of finding survivors after an explosion caused a naval ship to sink.

Officials said military divers who entered the water Saturday were thwarted by fierce waves and high winds. Divers twice attempted to get to the wreckage. They were unsuccessful both times, Rear Adm. Lee Kisik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told lawmakers.

The 1,200-ton Cheohan, with a crew of 104, had been on a routine patrol mission. Fifty-eight members of the crew have been rescued. Authorities say it is likely that the 46 missing marines got trapped in the vessel, and hope of rescuing them is fading.

An explosion at the back of the ship shut down the engine and caused a power loss on Friday. The ship sank just over three hours later, Lee said.

There has been speculation that the ship hit a landmine, but no official cause for the explosion has been determined.

Elliot Tepper, a South Asian studies specialist at Carleton University, said the only certainty is that there was a maritime tragedy.

"There was a report that the ship fired on something before it sank; now it's coming out that, no, it was a second ship, it was further south, and it was maybe a flock of birds," he told CTV News Channel Saturday. "There is confusion."

The families of the missing marines are angry about a lack of information about what happened, and some have protested at a South Korea naval base.

On Saturday, about 150 relatives of the missing marines pushed by security guards to confront military officials at the Pyeongtaek naval base. Some screamed "Liars!" and climbed onto the car of a rescued captain as he drove off.

A picture of a chaotic explosion and marines desperately trying to get off a sinking ship is emerging from the accounts of survivors and witnesses.

Staff Sgt. Shin Eun-chong, 24, told his relatives that he was on night duty when a huge boom echoed behind him and split the ship apart. The vessel began to tilt, and his glasses fell off his face as he fell to the deck, relatives at a Pyeongtaek naval base told The Associated Press.

"Yells and screams filled the air," Kim Jin-ho, a seaman who was on a local passenger ship bound for Baengnyeong, told cable news channel YTN. "Marines on deck were desperately shouting: 'Save me!"'

Military planes and boats searched the waters off the South Korean island of Baengnyeong, which lies just 17 kilometres from North Korea. Because the ship sank in waters that are part of the disputed maritime border between North and South Korea, there were initial fears that the explosion was caused by an attack.

There is no evidence tying North Korea to the explosion, and the cause of the sinking may not be revealed for some time.

"There was a sinking a few years ago and it took them 17 days to come up with an answer," Tepper said. "It would not surprise me if it turned out to be some kind of a mine that was an accidental hit. Those waters are mined; mines float."

The sinking of the Cheohan is one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Local media reported that the country's worst maritime accident occurred in 1974, when a ship sank off the southeast coast in stormy weather, killing 159 sailors and coast guard personnel. In 1967, 39 sailors were killed by North Korean artillery.

The sinking comes after North Korea had threatened "unpredictable strikes" against South Korea and the U.S., after hearing a report that the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in North Korea.

With files from The Associated Press

There has been speculation that the ship hit a landmine

But not very good speculation...  About as good as speculating it was t-boned by Hyundai
that ran a red light.

 

[old medic]

Survivor suggests outside attack on ship
By Song Sang-ho ([email protected]) Korean Herald
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2010/03/27/201003270064.asp

A survivor from the sunken naval patrol ship Cheonan on Saturday raised the possibility of the 1,200-ton vessel sinking due to an attack from an outside force.

“There is no possibility whatsoever that the ship sank due to an internal explosion or a collision with a reef. I guarantee that,” a navy lieutenant was quoted as saying by participants in a briefing session organized by the Navy’s Second Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province -- the home port of the ill-fated ship.

“Another cause could be an attack from an outside force and that is not exact as of yet. The military is currently conducting an investigation and I am not in a position to comment on that,” he added.

About 300 relatives of the 46 missing sailors from the sunken ship attended the session, which was not open to the press. The vessel sank in waters near the western maritime border with North Korea at around 9:45 p.m. on Friday after an explosion ripped a hole in the rear bottom of the ship.

Some burst into tears and screamed when a survivor described the sinking of the boat with its 104 crew members aboard.

Fifty-eight sailors have so far been rescued. Thirteen of them suffered injuries and are now being treated at hospitals. No one is in critical condition, officials said.

In another briefing session held in the afternoon, commander Choi Won-il, who led the sunken ship, said the explosion appears to have been caused by “internal or external shocks.”

“The exact cause of the explosion can be verified after the ship is salvaged and a thorough investigation is carried out,” he said. “The ship was broken into two parts and the rear of the ship abruptly sank. I tried my best to rescue my soldiers and I feel sorry that I came alive alone.” The Second Fleet Command said that it would take some representing families of the missing soldiers to the scene of the incident aboard a Navy ship on Sunday.

During an emergency session of the National Assembly’s defense committee, Lee Gi-sik, chief of the Defense Ministry’s intelligence operations, said that captain Choi reported the situation to the chief of naval operations with his mobile phone right before the ship sank.

“All electricity was cut off at the time so the captain reported the situation with his cell phone,” Lee said.

“There was a big detonation and the engine stopped and the electricity was cut off. I went up to the deck and couldn’t see the stern of the ship there. All happened within two minutes,” the captain was quoted as saying by Rep. Kim Hak-song of the ruling Grand National Party who chairs the committee.

Some reports earlier said that the government presumes that the possibility of North Korea’s involvement in the incident is low.

According to them, as the Northern Limit Line, which serves as a de facto sea border, is about 10-12 kilometers away from where the ship sank, a North Korean warship’s infiltration would have been easily revealed. They added that the waters where the ship sank were relatively shallow, meaning the operation of a North Korean warship would be difficult.

The U.S. forces in Korea are also said to presume that the possibility of North Korea’s involvement is low as there were no suspicious activities or movements detected before and after the ship sank.

“The exact cause of the incident has yet to be verified, but if we sum up investigations conducted by related ministries, the North does not appear to be involved in the incident,” a government source was quoted by Yonhap News as saying.

“Currently, the Navy has dispatched its Underwater Demolition Team to the scene of the incident to investigate the incident and rescue survivors. So we cautiously reckon that the cause, though roughly, would be verified sooner or later.”

The North has so far remained silent on the incident. When skirmishes occurred in 1999, 2002 and last year in the waters near the NLL, the North made official comments blaming the South within hours.

The North does not recognize the NLL, as it was unilaterally drawn by the U.S.-led U.N. command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

President Lee Myung-bak convened the emergency meeting of security ministers twice on Saturday, calling for the speedy rescue of survivors and prompt verification of the cause of the incident.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said that a 3,000-ton naval ship will be deployed to the scene for the rescue operations on Sunday.

“Without a rescue ship, there are limitations in carrying out the rescue operations under the bad weather conditions. With the deployment of the ship, the rescue efforts will pick up speed,” he told reporters.

The military on Saturday sought to begin the work to ascertain how the ship sank along with the operations to rescue the survivors, but the work failed to proceed due to adverse weather conditions.

In the afternoon, the Navy dispatched 18 divers of its Ship Salvage Unit to search survivors and check the hole on the bottom of the ship. But they could not dive into the waters due to high waves. As the day waned, the search operations could begin on Sunday, officials said.

 

[Eye In The Sky]

RIP to all those who lost their lives, regardless of the cause.

 

[jollyjacktar]

RIP to all those who lost their lives, regardless of the cause.

Well said, and further as a fellow Sailor my heart especially goes out to the lost.  A shitty way to go. 

 

[CougarKing]

Apparently they found the stern of the sunken South Korean warship:

Agence-France Presse link

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AFP) - Searchers have found the stern section of a South Korean warship that was torn apart by a mystery blast near the North Korean border and divers will try to reach it later Monday, the military said.
A successful dive would provide clues about the fate of 46 missing crewmen and about the cause of the blast which sent the 1,200-tonne corvette to the bottom of the Yellow Sea Friday night.


Military divers will try at 2:00 pm (0500 GMT) to reach the stern portion of the 88-metre (290-foot) Cheonan, where most of the missing are believed located following one of the country's worst maritime disasters.


The ship sank near the tense disputed border with the North, scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November.


Seoul officials say there is no evidence so far Pyongyang was involved in Friday's blast.


The front portion was located over the weekend. But divers had to postpone attempts to reach it due to strong currents, poor visibility and high waves, stirring anger among families of the missing who demanded swifter salvage efforts.


The stern section was located by sonar late Sunday, the military said. The two sections are some 230 metres apart and divers Monday will try to reach both.
(...)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

The comments about the possibility of rescuing crew from the sunken section (if accurately reported) were likely to give the impression to the families that everything is being done to find your kin to help ease the pain of loss. A watertight compartment of a ship would not likely be able to withstand the pressure at even 30m deep, they are just not designed for that.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

The comments about the possibility of rescuing crew from the sunken section (if accurately reported) were likely to give the impression to the families that everything is being done to find your kin to help ease the pain of loss. A watertight compartment of a ship would not likely be able to withstand the pressure at even 30m deep, they are just not designed for that.

Even if it could withstand the pressure, I'm sure they would have ran out of oxygen by now. Not a nice way to go.

 

[tomahawk6]

If the initial blast didnt kill them then the flooding and or frigid water would have. The ROKNAV seems to be leaning toward a mine of unknown origin,although the ROK claims they have no mines in the area so that would leave a North Korean mine that either broke loose and drifted south or it was intentional. Either way the the ROKNAV will have to adjust their patroling with the the risk of encountering North Korean mines.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Is there a possibility that it might be a unswept Korean War vintage mine ?

or is that way beyond a conceivable effective lifespan of a mine?


Edit for coherence

Or a brand new North Korean mine... if so, here we go again

Warship may have hit mine

SEOUL - A NAVAL mine dispatched from North Korea may have struck the South Korean warship that exploded and sank near the Koreas' disputed sea border, the defence minister said as he laid out several scenarios for the maritime disaster.

Defence Minister Kim Tae Young told lawmakers on Monday there was no sign of a direct attack from rival North Korea, but military authorities have not ruled out North Korean involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan late on Friday night.

An explosion ripped the 1,200-ton ship apart during a routine patrol mission near Baengnyeong Island west of the peninsula. Fifty-eight crew members, including the captain, were plucked to safety; 46 remain missing. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the exact cause would remain unclear until the ship is salvaged after the rescue operation is over.

On Monday, mothers beat their chests with grief as divers went down to search for survivors, returning to report hearing no sounds inside the underwater wreckage. Mr Kim, grilled by lawmakers on what happened on Friday night, said the ship may have struck a mine left over from the war or deliberately dispatched from the North.
Many of the 3,000 Soviet-made naval mines North Korea planted in the waters off both coasts during the war were removed, but not all. Mr Kim noted a North Korean mine was discovered as recently as 1984. - AP

http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_508363.html

 

[Gramps]

Is there anyone out there that could maybe explain how some of  these mines work? Can they be remotely controlled/detonated? I am sure there is more to it than the old Second World War type mines we have all seen on the TV. I have no knowledge on the subject and am curious to know.

 

[tomahawk6]

Maybe one of our Naval experts might opine,but just like land mines there are a number of methods of detonation - remotely,accoustic and magnetic come to mind. The torpedo theory is still a possibility,but without knowing the attitude of the ship its hard to say for sure. A surviving crewman thought the explosion occured near the screw which could mean either a mine or torpedo. A stern shot from a sub at night is feasible but I wouldnt think its the optimum engagement for a sub. The waters near this island are shallow with tricky currents which would not be ideal for a sub engagement.