Chinese Vessels "Harrass" US Ship

[FSTargetDrone]

The Chinese crews strip for the US ship...huh?

Page last updated at 16:41 GMT, Monday, 9 March 2009

Chinese ships 'harass' US vessel

Five Chinese ships have manoeuvred dangerously close to a US navy vessel in the South China Sea, the US government has said.

US officials said the incident came after days of "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships.

These violated international law on respecting other users of the seas, a Pentagon spokesman said.

A protest was expected to be delivered to the Chinese military attache at the Pentagon on Monday.

The incident happened on Sunday as the USNS Impeccable was on routine operations in international waters 75 miles (120km) south of Hainan island, a US statement said.

The ships had "aggressively manoeuvred" around the Impeccable "in an apparent co-ordinated effort to harass the US ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters", according to the Pentagon.

Emergency stop

The US ship sprayed one Chinese vessel with water from fire hoses to try to force it away, it said.

But it said the Chinese crew stripped to their underwear and carried on approaching to within 25ft (8m).

The Pentagon identified the Chinese boats as a navy intelligence ship and four other vessels.

When the Impeccable radioed requesting a safe path to leave the area, two Chinese vessels dropped pieces of wood in its path, forcing the US ship to make an emergency stop, the Pentagon said.

"The unprofessional manoeuvres by Chinese vessels violated the requirement under international law to operate with due regard for the rights and safety of other lawful users of the ocean," said Pentagon spokesman Marine Maj Stewart Upton.

"We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea," he said.

No immediate response from the Chinese government was reported.

I guess the Chinese sailors didn't want to do the harassment in wet clothes.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The Impeccable is one of the few ocean surveillance vessels if I am not wrong? Perhaps they were close to or were spooking out a diesel sub.

[Kanastrous]

Is this some weird Chinese equivalent to penis-wagging...?

...or do Chinese sailors only get one uniform, and they have to take real good care of it?

[FSTargetDrone]

A more detailed article from Bloomberg reports that:

Chinese Vessels Harass U.S. Navy Ship, Pentagon Says (Update1)

By Tony Capaccio

March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Five Chinese vessels in a possibly coordinated effort yesterday “shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity” to a U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship as it conducted routine operations in international waters, the Pentagon said today.

Two of the vessels closed to within 50 feet (15 meters) of the USNS Impeccable, waving Chinese flags and telling the U.S. ship to leave the area, according to a Defense Department statement. The Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the boats in order to protect itself.

The incident took place eight days after the U.S. and China agreed to resume military exchanges after China in October froze some contact to protest arms sales to Taiwan.

The U.S. Embassy lodged a protest during the weekend with Chinese officials over the incident, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said today.

“We felt that our vessel was inappropriately harassed,” Wood told reporters in Washington.

Yesterday’s encounter took place in international waters in the South China Sea, about 75 miles south of Hainan Island, and included a Chinese Navy intelligence ship, the Pentagon said. The incident was preceded by days of increasingly aggressive conduct by Chinese vessels, the Defense Department said.

Vessel Challenged

On March 7, what the Pentagon described as a Chinese intelligence collection ship challenged Impeccable via bridge-to- bridge radio broadcast, calling the U.S. vessel’s operations illegal and directing it to leave the area or “suffer the consequences,” the Pentagon said.

Two days earlier, a Chinese frigate crossed Impeccable’s bow at a range of about 100 yards, according to the Pentagon’s account. Less than two hours later a Chinese Y-12 surveillance aircraft made 11 fly-bys of Impeccable, and the frigate crossed Impeccable’s bow again at a range of 400 to 500 yards.

On March 4 a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a high-intensity spotlight to illuminate the entire length of the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious several times, the U.S. said. The vessel then crossed Victorious’s bow in darkness, without notice. A Chinese Y-12 made 12 passes near Victorious the next day.

Impeccable and Victorious are part of the Military Sealift Command. Impeccable carries a crew of 25 civilian mariners and 25 military personnel, and Victorious has about 18 crewmembers, according to Navy Web pages on the vessels.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tony Capaccio at the Pentagon at at

acapaccio@bloomnberg.net

Last Updated: March 9, 2009 12:40 EDT

The Impeccable is one of the few ocean surveillance vessels if I am not wrong?

Correct:

USNS Impeccable is one of the five Ocean Surveillance Ships that are part of the 25 ships in Military Sealift Command's Special Mission Ships Program.

Here is a picture of Impeccable from the above:

Is this some weird Chinese equivalent to penis-wagging...?

...or do Chinese sailors only get one uniform, and they have to take real good care of it?

I was wondering about the mass-disrobing too, as somehow being an insult. Perhaps they were just screwing around? It seems rather bizarre, but maybe someone with more knowledge of Chinese naval traditions can speak to that, if it's just a bunch of foolishness or actually has some deeper meaning.

Edit:

A bit more detail about the ship from a November 2000 MSC Press Release:

MSC PAO 00-26
November 3, 2000

USNS Impeccable Christened Nov. 1

Champagne graced the bow of new Military Sealift Command ship USNS Impeccable during a christening ceremony on Nov. 1 at Halter Marine in Pasacagoula, Miss. The ceremony marked the official naming of USNS Impeccable, the only ship in her class.

MSC operates eight ocean surveillance ships that use a towed-array sensor system, called SURTASS, to support the Navy's antisubmarine warfare capability. The SURTASS mission is to gather ocean acoustical data for antisubmarine warfare and rapidly transmit the information to the Navy for prompt analysis.

Three SURTASS-equipped ships, the Stalwart-class, are mono-hulled, while the four remaining ships, the Victorious class, are small, waterplane-area, twin-hull, or SWATH, ships like Impeccable. MSC operates a fourth mono-hulled ship equipped for the SURTASS mission, MV Cory Chouest, on a long term charter. The Victorious-class SWATH ships provide a more stable platform for the use of SURTASS equipment than the mono-hulled ships. Two hundred and eighty-one-feet long, Impeccable is capable of a sustained speed of 12 knots and is considerably larger and faster than the 235-foot Victorious-class ships, which are capable of a sustained speed of 9.6 knots.

Impeccable has a more powerful propulsion plant and is designed specifically for deploying two towed-array sonar systems -- a passive system, which listens for acoustic information, and an active system which emits a low frequency and works in conjunction with the passive system to gather acoustic data.

"MSC has come a long way since 1958 when the Military Sea Transportation Service charter was expanded to include operating scientific support ships involved in oceanographic research, missile tracking, communications and other special missions," said Vice Adm. Holder, USN, Commander, Military Sealift Command.

Today, MSC operates about 30 Special Mission ships around the world providing operation platforms and services for unique U.S. military and federal government services with missions as varied as oceanographic surveying and counter-narcotic operations.

"USNS Impeccable will support the Navy as a platform for scientists from the Integrated Undersea Surveillance Systems community," said Vice Adm. Holder. "We at MSC will operate the ship. We will provide the civilian mariners for the engine room, the wheelhouse and the galley."

The Honorable H. Lee Buchanan III, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, delivered the principal address at the christening ceremony. Leah Gansler, wife of the Honorable Jacques S. Gansler, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, and Margareta Augustine, wife of Norman Augustine, former chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., served as the ship's co-sponsors and broke the ceremonial bottles of champagne across the ship's bow -- officially naming USNS Impeccable. Also present were Vice Adm. Holder and Rear Adm. Dennis Morral, USN, Program Executive Officer for Expeditionary Warfare, Chief of Naval Operations Staff.

Military Sealift Command, the ocean transportation provider for the Department of Defense, operates about 110 noncombatant Navy ships daily around the world. MSC ship missions vary from the transport and afloat prepositioning of defense cargo; to underway replenishment and other direct support to Navy ships at sea; to at-sea data collection for the U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies.

Interesting ship.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

It's no surprise it happened, seeing as the ship is obviously spying on the Chinese SSBNs and SSNs now based at Hainan island, and this is a natural response to that spying which most assuredly will not stop.

[Coyote]

I had images of Chinese ships coming up too close to the US ship and saying things like "shake your fantail for me, baby! You like it in the poop deck? Wanna see my gunwales?"

Really, I was also of the opinion that the US ship was stumbling too close to a Chinese sub and the surface ships were providing a diversion so the sub could scoot.

[FSTargetDrone]

Let it be known that after seeing what that ship looks like, I am not going to insert the obligatory The Spy Who Loved Me reference.

[Kanastrous]

Is it reasonable to suppose that there would be USN SSNs operating in conjunction with Impeccable? I doubt the Chinese can do much about *those*...

...funny; Impeccable sounds more to me like a name for a Royal Navy vessel.

[TheMuffinKing]

As disturbing as this incident is, I find it kind of humorous (it tickles my juvenile side) that Chinese sails stripped to their underwear. This whole ordeal was a pretty creative way of intimidation/distraction and IMHO reflects positively on Chinese naval leadership. I'm saying this keeping in consideration how badly a situation like this could deteriorate if shots were fired.

[Pelranius]

I suspect there have been similar incidents in the past, but this is the first time it's been reported in the press. Odd timing, wouldn't one think?

[The Grim Squeaker]

Let it be known that after seeing what that ship looks like, I am not going to insert the obligatory The Spy Who Loved Me reference.

"Tomorrow Never Dies", not "The Spy Who Loved Me you twat

[Vanas]

No, that ship sure as heck looks like it eats submarines for breakfast. But more seriously, is this whole thing horribly suprising? Reminds me of the jets escorting Bear bombers out of their airspace, but with added dickery.

[FSTargetDrone]

Let it be known that after seeing what that ship looks like, I am not going to insert the obligatory The Spy Who Loved Me reference.

"Tomorrow Never Dies", not "The Spy Who Loved Me you twat

BOO. Because people are talking about submarines and looking for submarines and because the Impeccable looks like the Liparus with that great open maw ready to gulp up some hapless sub. Kind of. At lest more than it looks like the Stealth ship from TND!

The Stealth Ship:



Edit: And yes I know Impeccable is twin-hulled.

[FSTargetDrone]

Here is a picture of one of the Chinese vessels:

In this photo released by the U.S. Navy, crewmember on a Chinese trawler uses a grapple hook in an apparent attempt to snag the towed acoustic array Sunday, March 8, 2009 of the military Sealift Command ocean surveillance ship USNS Impeccable in the South China Sea on Sunday, March 8, 2009. Impeccable was conducting routine survey operations in international waters 75 miles south of Hainan Island when it was harassed by five Chinese vessels.
(AP Photo/U.S. Navy)

Isn't this going a bit far? It's one thing to escort another vessel out of a disputed area (assuming that was the case, though the Impeccable was apparently in international waters) or to simply tell it to leave, now. But to actually try to make physical contact? That can't be safe.

[phongn]

No, that ship sure as heck looks like it eats submarines for breakfast. But more seriously, is this whole thing horribly suprising? Reminds me of the jets escorting Bear bombers out of their airspace, but with added dickery.

Back in the Cold War, US surface ships would occasionally drop themselves into the landing paths of Soviet carriers to put up a nice, hot exhaust plume. Lots of dickery all around.

[Kanastrous]

USN ships in the landing pattern of Soviet carrier aircraft during the Cold War?

What?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

USN ships in the landing pattern of Soviet carrier aircraft during the Cold War?

What?

Yup, we did it all the time.

Of course, they got nice and cozy, too:

Here's a picture of a Krivak slamming into the USS Yorktown back in 1988.

[FSTargetDrone]

After seeing Duchess' picture, I withdraw my concern about the Chinese grappling hook guy taking things too far.

Wow.

[Sea Skimmer]

Soviets actually did steal a US frigates towed array in 1983, when a Victor III ran into it (not clear if it was deliberate or not). The poor Victor however had its hard stolen prize wrap around its propeller, forcing it to surface, which was the first time the US was able to photograph the submarine class up close. The Soviets had to cut away most of the array, and be towed to Cuba, but they still brought home a nice big chunk of the latest US sonar.

http://www.hazegray.org/features/russia/vic3-02.jpg
http://www.hazegray.org/features/russia/vic3-05.jpg

You can sort of see the towed array cable in the former picture, and the latter shows the crew attempting to free the prop. Silly communists.

Its telling though that it takes a squadron of Chinese ships to harass a single unarmed US auxiliary. I doubt they’d be so willing to challenge something that could open fire. The PLAN knows it sucks crap.

[Kanastrous]

USN ships in the landing pattern of Soviet carrier aircraft during the Cold War?

What?

Yup, we did it all the time.

Of course, they got nice and cozy, too:

Here's a picture of a Krivak slamming into the USS Yorktown back in 1988.

Considering that Soviet carrier aircraft during the Cold War were either helicopters or STOVL jets, it's kind of tough to see how US Navy ships would have been able to get into their landing pattern.

[phongn]

Considering that Soviet carrier aircraft during the Cold War were either helicopters or STOVL jets, it's kind of tough to see how US Navy ships would have been able to get into their landing pattern.

There's still a landing pattern they adhere to. The incident in question is in the book Electronic Greyhounds.

[Kanastrous]

Cool, I'll look it up. Thanks!

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Yeah, that and the Soviet jump jets were not exactly top o de line, so to speak.

[Pelranius]

Looks like the Chinese were using the bloody coast guard or someone just requistioned some fishing trawlers for the whole exercise.

[erik_t]

After seeing Duchess' picture, I withdraw my concern about the Chinese grappling hook guy taking things too far.

Wow.

It seems unlikely that the ramming in question was intentional, whereas there is little doubt re the Chinese.