The Norks are Suspected of Sinking South Korean Shipping.

[Big Orange]

Things happen all the time with North Korea (with American GIs supposedly getting randomly killed in a diplomatic gathering) but could this be the straw to break the camel's back?

S.Korean ship sinking from suspected N.Korea attack - report

SEOUL (Reuters) - Several South Korean sailors were killed and one of its naval ships with more than 100 aboard was sinking on Friday after possibly being hit by a North Korean torpedo, South Korean media reported. A South Korean vessel fired at an unidentified vessel towards the north and the South's presidential Blue House was holding an emergency security meeting, Yonhap news agency said.

South Korea's YTN TV network said the government was investigating whether the sinking was due to a torpedo attack by the North.

The network also quoted a government source saying it was unclear yet whether the incident was related to North Korea.

"We are currently focussing on rescuing people," the source said.

The incident took place near a disputed Yellow Sea maritime border off the west coast of the peninsula that was the scene of two deadly naval fights between the rival Koreas in the past decade.

Local media reports said at least 59 South Korean sailors survived the attack and an unknown number appeared to have been killed or were missing. A rescue operation was under way.

Navies from the rival Koreas exchanged gunfire for the first time in seven years in the Yellow Sea waters in November, damaging vessels on both sides.

The latest incident comes as destitute North Korea is facing pressure to end its year-long boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks, where it can win aid to prop up its broken economy in exchange for reducing the security threat it poses to the region.

(Reporting by Cho Mee-young and Kim Miyoung; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Reuters

[Stuart]

The South Korean corvette Chon An is reported to have been sunk by an explosion while patrolling in the disputed areas off the South Korean coast. The 1,200 ton corvette has a crew of 104, 58 of whom have been rescued so far. South Korean warships and helicopters are taking part in the rescue mission while other South Korean ships are reported to havee engaged North Korean vessels with gunfire to drive them off.

At the moment, the cause of the explosion is not clear although some reports suggest that it may have been caused by a torpedo hit or a mine. Whatever was responsible for the explosion, it appears to have done a lot of damage very quickly. The explosion is reported to have been in the rear of the ship. This may indicate an acoustic mine or a homing torpedo but current data is insufficient to give any positive conclusions

This is very dangerous. A couple of soldiers here or there can be swept under the carpet but a ship of this size is a major national asset and its loss is not neglectable. Current reports are that the Chon An was torpedoed and that South Korean ships are returning fire. This is going to be tense.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Aren't most of the gun battles between both navies around that area pretty intense? The Norks tend to walk away with their ships with plenty of holes everywhere.

Of course, this time round, a S.Korean ship is actually sinking.

[Stuart]

Sunk, past tense, she went down at 9:21pm according to Xinhua. Normally these gunfire exchanges are machine gun fire. Throwing an eel is a massive escalation.

[Sarevok]

Other than torpedo what other reason could there be ? Is there underwater mines in that area ?

[Serafina]

If it was a mine, could it have been an accident?
Could the mine have been thrown "of course" or something like that?

[FSTargetDrone]

The South Korean corvette Chon An is reported to have been sunk by an explosion while patrolling in the disputed areas off the South Korean coast. The 1,200 ton corvette has a crew of 104, 58 of whom have been rescued so far. South Korean warships and helicopters are taking part in the rescue mission while other South Korean ships are reported to havee engaged North Korean vessels with gunfire to drive them off.

I can't find a "Chon An" but South Korea's YTN TV network is identifying the vessel as the Cheonan.

South Korean naval ship Cheonan patrols the sea in an unidentified location in the territorial waters of South Korea in this undated file picture released by local Yonhap news agency in Seoul March 26, 2010.
REUTERS/Yonhap/Files

Here is another undated photo, supposedly of the same ship:

Navy men cast absentee ballots on the Cheonan naval ship near an island off Incheon, west of Seoul in this undated file picture released by local Yonhap news agency March 26, 2010.

[cosmicalstorm]

Let's hope they chill out, from everything I've been told a war between the two would be a stupendously nasty affair.

[Stuart]

That's her, transliteration is a wonderful thing. The explosion could be a mine, perhaps acoustic given the position of the strike, but my betting is a torpedo - but its based on very little data and is subject to revision at any time. I'll update as data comes in.

[Simon_Jester]

Why would you bet on a torpedo over a mine?

[Pelranius]

The South Koreans are probably smart enough to scan the areas their ships pass through and would have probably noticed a mine or minefield, though this begs the question of how the North Koreans launched the torpedo in question.

[CJvR]

Potentially very dangerous.

Ships improving each other's ventilation is one thing but when you fire torps then you really really mean it.

It could be a simple accident or a magazine explosion, perhaps a drifting mine if there are naval minefields around but if it was a torpedo this has the best chanse in a long time of turning the Korean war back on.

Perhaps we will get a 12th season of MASH...

[Stuart]

Why would you bet on a torpedo over a mine?

It is unlikely that the South Koreans would take their ship into known mine-infested waters. That would leave either a drifing mine or a covertly mined area. The latter apepars improbable but may be the case and a drifting mine is always plausible. This just smells like a torpedo to me.

[FSTargetDrone]

That's her, transliteration is a wonderful thing. .

Heh, I've also found it identified as "Cheon An."

Anyway, a bit about the ship from the above. It is a Pohang- (or Po Hang) class vessel:

Pohang

IOC: 1984
Total Production: 22

Also Known As
PCC (Patrol Combat Corvette)

Origin
South Korea

Contractor/s
DSME
Hyundai Heavy Industries

Guided Missiles:
MM38 Exocet (2)

Torpedoes:
Mark 46

Power plant:
LM2500

Guns & Missile Launchers:
76/62 Compact

Description: The Pohang, also referred to as Po Hang, is a class of patrol boats designed for the Republic of Korea Navy (RoKN) and built by Korea Shipbuilding Corporation, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding, and Korea Takoma. The lead ship, named Pohang, was delivered to RoKN in 1984 and the last in 1993 totaling 22 ships. These ships can perform anti-submarine (ASW), anti-surface (ASuW), and anti-aircraft (AAW) warfare in the littoral environment.

The Pohang-class corvettes propulsion system combines two diesel engines for cruise with one LM2500 gas turbine. The ASW corvettes were provided with hull-mounted PHS-32 or SQS-58 sonar systems, torpedo tubes and depth charges. They are equipped with two or one 76mm OTO Melara naval guns. The AAW corvettes feature two 40mm guns and fire control system. Two MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles were provided to each ASuW Pohang-class corvette.

Specifications

Accommodation: Crew 95

Guns: Main Gun Caliber 76 mm

Dimensions: Beam 10 m, Draft 2.9 m, Length 88 m

Weights: Full Displacement 1,300 t

Performance: Top Speed 31 kt (57 kph)

Power: Power 27,200 shp

More from Global Security:

Pohang (PCC Patrol Combat Corvette)

The Pohang class ships are classified as Patrol Combat Corvette (PCC). The external form is similar to that of the Tonghae class, but is update in several respects, with a full loaded displacement of 1,300 tons. The primary mission is coastal patrol, and the class consists of 24 ships deployed as the main force for coastal defense. These ships meet complicated missions of modern naval warfare, anti-ship, anti-submarine and anti-aircraft warfare with its compact design for cost effectiveness in operation as well as in acquisition.

These ship have a multi- role capability with all the weapons and sensors for attack, ASW and self defense mission. The Pohang class ships are divided between the ASUW type and ASW type, which aere distinguished according to guns, and ASW or SSM capability. The first four of the Po Hang class are fitted Exocet and the remainder have the improved Harpoon combat data system. The ASUW type consists of 4 ships (756-759), which have 2 Exocet SSM, 1 OTO Melara 76mm gun, 2 Emerson 30mm AA guns but no ASW capability including sonar and torpedo. The ASW type consist of 20 ships (761-785), which have 2 OTO Melara 76mm guns, 2 Breda 40mm guns, sonar(PHS-32), 6 torpedos, 12 depth charges but no SSM. The last 2 ships, ROKS Sinsung (PCC-783) and ROKS Kongju (PCC-785), have improved electronic equipments for reinforced AAW capability.

Machinery is controlled from the Ship Control Center. Main propulsion power is provided by 2 MTU diesel generators. The engines drive two shafts through the installed gearboxes.

This class of ships was built by four shipbuilders in South Korea. The ROKS Pohang (PCC-756), the first ship of this class, was launched in 1984 by Korea S.E.C. at Pusan South Korea, and commissioned on December 1984. The ROKS Kongju (PCC-785), the last ship, was launched on 1993 by Korea Tacoma Marine Industries Ltd., at Masan South Korea and commissioned on July 1993. After early confusion with names and pennant numbers, this program are terminated in 1993.

The Pohang class ships were named after cities in South Korea. Pohang is port city located in coastal of East Sea and famous for the large iron works called Pohang Ironworks.

UPDATE:

Here is a better view of another ship of the same class. This is apparently the Iri (768), commissioned in the same year (1989) as the ship in today's incident. Both are ASW types, as mentioned in the GS article.

[SapphireFox]

Why would you bet on a torpedo over a mine?

It is unlikely that the South Koreans would take their ship into known mine-infested waters. That would leave either a drifing mine or a covertly mined area. The latter apepars improbable but may be the case and a drifting mine is always plausible. This just smells like a torpedo to me.

Could it have been a missile like the two exocets the victim had?

[Scottish Ninja]

I'm fairly sure a missile would have been extremely obvious both before and after it hit.

[KlavoHunter]

Not to mention that missiles typically don't sink ships - sure, they might set the upper decks on fire, but that doesn't really make a hole that lets in a lot of water, unless you get lucky with secondary explosions.

[MKSheppard]

Current update:

Ship sank in 45 minutes, 58 alive, 26 dead recovered, 20-30 went down with the ship.

[SapphireFox]

Not to mention that missiles typically don't sink ships - sure, they might set the upper decks on fire, but that doesn't really make a hole that lets in a lot of water, unless you get lucky with secondary explosions.

While I'm sure the destroyer HMS Sheffield and the 15,000ton Atlantic Conveyor would disagree on that. Considering the effect two exocets had to the frigate USS Stark in 1987 leaving a 3 meter by 4 meter hole in the ship I think that a small corvette like the victim would have sunk quite easily but not immediately. That is not to say that it has to be an anti-ship missile just until we hear more that it might be considered a possibility.

[Straha]

A spokesman for the South Korean president said that the North is not suspected in this now.

A South Korean presidential spokesman said North Korea did not cause the sinking of the South Korean vessel Cho An. Even though lack of subsequent military conflict shows that the incident has now become a political event, the maritime boundary of the Korean Peninsula should be watched closely in the coming days to see how the incident fits within Pyongyang’s attempts to hold its own as it approaches the resumption of international negotiations and an important leadership transition.

I'll see if I can get more on that in a little while

[MKSheppard]

Bullshit. Ships don't spontaneously explode and sink in first world nations.

At worst, you get engine room fires or explosions that kill a few people in the compartment, not cause the damn thing to sink in less than an hour with half the crew dead.

The south koreans are just buying time to find some way to whack the north with a stick that doesn't cause a retaliation at Seoul.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Yeah, this is a cause for war, so they're playing down the responsible parties to gain as much time as possible to try and respond to the crisis without an artillery corps opening up on Seoul. It isn't like the Maine loaded with coal dust. I mean, they don't even have depth charges aft like that Brazilian WW2 cruiser that sank itself when one of the dumbass gunners on anti-air firing drill put some autocannon shells into the depth charges. There's very, very little that could have caused her to blow up internally... except, oh, sabotage to the magazines. But otherwise the shell magazines or missiles would have required a fire to ignite, and the ship didn't burn, there's no reports of that, it sank.

[FSTargetDrone]

English-language Korea Times:

03-26-2010 23:09
Navy Patrol Boat Sinks in West Sea

By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter

A South Korean Navy patrol ship sank off the west coast at around 9:45 p.m. Friday near the disputed maritime border with North Korea, officials said.

As of 9:00 a.m. Saturday, 58 of the 104-crew members were rescued from the 1,200-ton ship Cheonan, but some 40 others were missing,

President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting, while the military deployed patrol boats and helicopters in a rescue operation.

The possibility of a North Korean attack was raised when local residents reported having heard "loud artillery firing" for at least 10 minutes from 11 p.m., according to Yonhap News.

Military officials were quoted as saying a South Korean vessel fired a shot northward at an unidentified ship, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the object caught on radar appears to have been a flock of birds.

"We have been unable to pinpoint the exact cause of the incident as of this moment," the Navy said.

Sources say an unexplained explosion in the rear of the ship may have ripped a hole in the vessel's bottom.

The United States said it had no evidence that North Korea had been involved in the tragic sinking.

"Let's not jump to conclusions here," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

"I'm not aware of any evidence to that effect. But I think the authoritative source here would be the South Korean government."

The ship, which sank Saturday, was first deployed by the South Korean Navy in 1989, and was equipped with missiles and torpedoes, according to officials.

The incident comes amid increased tension between the two Koreas, which technically remain at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

North Korea has said in recent weeks it is bolstering its defense in response to joint annual South Korean-U.S. military drills that were held this month.

The disputed inter-Korean border in the West Sea was the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.

That's all I can find out of Korea that isn't in Korean.

Another Guardian article:

South Korean ship in troubled waters

Details are sketchy, but if the sinking of Cheonan was intentional, it creates a serious crisis for the Koreas' neighbours and the US

Robert Farley

guardian.co.uk, Friday 26 March 2010 19.01 GMT

Late last night, the South Korean patrol ship Cheonan suffered an explosion and sank. As of midnight Korean time, 58 of the 104 member crew of the Cheonan had been rescued. The cause of the sinking of the Cheonan, a 1,300 ton missile corvette, is as of yet unknown. However, the South Korean cabinet has convened an emergency meeting to deal with the situation, and some reports suggest that a North Korean torpedo may have struck the Cheonan.

Details remain sketchy, and at this point it is unclear whether Cheonan sank as the result of an attack, or because of an accidental explosion. Another South Korean patrol ship reportedly fired on North Korean targets in the area. The area in which Cheonan sank has recently seen several skirmishes between North and South Korean forces. In January, patrol vessels from each nation exchanged gunfire with one another. A similar exchange in November resulted in severe damage to a North Korean vessel, and the death of a North Korean sailor. The disputed area involves several islands that are claimed by both sides. South Korea recognises a UN-drawn line of demarcation, while North Korea does not.

If Cheonan sank because of an accident, the incident will serve as an example of the challenges presented by high tension situations like that between North and South Korea. In such situations, a lack of information can lead to considerable danger, as both sides face pressure to react without having a grasp of the full situation. If, on the other hand, Cheonan was destroyed by a torpedo, the situation must be considered extremely grave. Forty-six crewmen at last report have yet to be accounted for, and are unlikely to survive long in cold Korean waters. South Korea cannot ignore a provocation of this magnitude, and will likely be forced to respond in some fashion. South Korea's navy substantially outmatches its North Korean counterpart, but the North Korean response to any South Korean retaliation remains uncertain.

The problem of discerning North Korean intentions complicates factors. It is possible that the North Korean government ordered the attack in order to provoke the South, but the attack may instead have been launched by lower level local commanders. Even if this were the case, however, it would be impossible for South Korea to divine genuine North Korean intentions.

If the sinking of Cheonan was intentional, it creates a serious crisis for the Koreas' neighbours and for the United States. None of the US, Japan, or China desire the threat of major military action on the Korean Peninsula. The US, still embroiled in Iraq and Afghanistan, doesn't want another military confrontation on its plate. At the same time, it will be difficult for the US to restrain South Korea from some form of retaliation. Japan's patience with North Korea has similarly run thin, and it is unlikely that Tokyo could be relied on too heavily as a voice of caution. Beijing has only limited affection for its North Korean client, but certainly does not want war, or even the threat of war. North Korea's intentions remain mysterious; if it intended to signal its toughness and resolve to South Korea, it may have bitten off more than it can chew.

At this point, I suspect that officials in Beijing, Washington, Tokyo, and perhaps even Seoul are hoping that Cheonan sank becaue of an accidental explosion. If the North Koreans sank Cheonan and killed dozens of South Korean sailors, the situation in northeast Asia may become very dangerous very quickly.

[MKSheppard]

I believe it is time for Operation Jiefang Chaoxian (Operation Liberate Korea in Chinese).

[The Romulan Republic]

As if America has the troops or money for another major war right now...