Article

2018-10-02 China-Japan-Koreas

Chinese ship comes ‘within 45 yards' of US destroyer in South China Sea

[Independent] An American navy ship came dangerously close to a Chinese warship during a recent exercise, forcing the US destroyer to perform evasive manoeuvres to avoid a collision.

The incident has been called an "unsafe" encounter between the two ships by Pentagon officials, and at one point the Chinese ship was reportedly around 45 yards from the American vessel.

"A [Chinese] Luyang destroyer approached USS Decatur in an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre in the vicinity of Gaven Reef in the South China Sea," Captain Charles Brown, a spokesman for US Pacific Fleet, said in a statement.

Mr Brown said that the Chinese ship "conducted a series of increasingly aggressive manoeuvres accompanied by warnings for the Decatur to depart the area".

The US warship was in waters near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. The crew was conducting a freedom of navigation routine, which is a regular mission and intended to ensure open trade routes.

The close encounter comes as the US and China have seen an increasingly tense relationship, with the two super powers disagreeing over trade policy, and on issues related to election meddling. Just recently, officials with the Department of Defence told CNN that Defence Secretary James Mattis has cancelled a planned trip to Beijing later in October.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-10-02 08:09|| || Front Page|| [11128 views ] Top

#1 The clock is ticking on this one.

Posted by Besoeker 2018-10-02 08:18|| 2018-10-02 08:18|| Front Page Top

#2 Cue Fred Thompson in Hunt For Red October ("this business will get out of control.")

Shame on me, but my first reaction was that after the McCain and Fitzgerald incidents the Chinese captain had brass equipment to get that close to a USN ship. Somebody please tell me I'm wrong.

Posted by Matt 2018-10-02 13:59|| 2018-10-02 13:59|| Front Page Top

#3 Ditto Matt. Trump, Mattis, Pompeo, Bolton.... backing down, not in their DNA. I wonder how many will die before it gets shut down ?

Posted by Besoeker 2018-10-02 15:17|| 2018-10-02 15:17|| Front Page Top

#4 I'm not too worried. It's the non-warship encounter with the US Navy that I am worried about. What, they had two collisions last year or so?

Posted by Clem 2018-10-02 16:55|| 2018-10-02 16:55|| Front Page Top

#5 ...At fifty yards, they should have trained the forward 5" mount on the ChiCom's bridge and sounded the siren.

Mike

Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2018-10-02 19:15|| 2018-10-02 19:15|| Front Page Top

21:10 newc
20:17 SteveS
18:44 magpie
18:33 Frank G
18:33 badanov
18:26 Hellfish
18:23 Hellfish
17:40 swksvolFF
17:34 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:30 Ebbuger Whuque4103
17:02 Melancholic
16:27 Gravilet Snanter4154
16:20 Chaise Speaking for Boskone7897
16:02 Skidmark
16:01 Skidmark
15:46 Skidmark
15:41 Skidmark
15:37 swksvolFF
15:36 Skidmark
15:34 Skidmark
15:27 Skidmark
14:48 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:16 NoMoreBS