US Navy Harrassed By China

[WVwoodsman]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...tional-waters/



WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon charged Monday that five Chinese ships shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. Navy vessel in an apparent attempt to harass the American crew.

Defense officials in the Obama administration said the incident Sunday followed several days of "increasingly aggressive" acts by Chinese ships in the region. The incident took place in international waters in the South China Sea, about 75 miles south of Hainan Island.

U.S. officials said a protest was lodged with the Chinese government over the weekend and it was to be repeated to a Beijing military attache at a Pentagon meeting Monday.

The USNS Impeccable sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away. Despite the force of the water, Chinese crew members stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the Defense Department said.

"On March 8, 2009, five Chinese vessels shadowed and aggressively maneuvered in dangerously close proximity to USNS Impeccable, in an apparent coordinated effort to harass the U.S. ocean surveillance ship while it was conducting routine operations in international waters," the Pentagon statement said.

Click here to see the full statement from the Department of Defense.

The Chinese ships included a Chinese Navy intelligence collection ship, a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries Patrol Vessel, a State Oceanographic Administration patrol vessel, and two small Chinese-flagged trawlers, officials said.

"The Chinese vessels surrounded USNS Impeccable, two of them closing to within 50 feet, waving Chinese flags and telling Impeccable to leave the area," officials said in the statement.

"Because the vessels' intentions were not known, Impeccable sprayed its fire hoses at one of the vessels in order to protect itself," the Defense statement said. "The Chinese crew members disrobed to their underwear and continued closing to within 25 feet."

Impeccable crew radioed to tell the Chinese ships that it was leaving the area and requested a safe path to navigate, the Pentagon said.

But shortly afterward, two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the Impeccable, forcing it to an emergency stop to avoid collision because the Chinese had dropped pieces of wood in the water directly in front of Impeccable's path.

"The unprofessional maneuvers 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 Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman.

"We expect Chinese ships to act responsibly and refrain from provocative activities that could lead to miscalculation or a collision at sea, endangering vessels and the lives of U.S. and Chinese mariners," Upton added.

In Beijing, Chinese officials did not immediately respond to voicemail messages and e-mail.

China views almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its territory. China's claims to small islets in the region have put it at odds with five governments -- the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Upton said U.S. Navy ships and aircraft routinely operate in the area and that Chinese ships and aircraft routinely steam or fly nearby. "However, these actions were considerably more aggressive and unprofessional than we have seen."

He said the Impeccable is one of five surveillance ships that gather underwater acoustical data.

The incident came just a week after China and the U.S. resumed military-to-military consultations following a five-month suspension over U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. And it came as Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was due in Washington this week to meet with U.S. officials.

Pentagon officials said the close encounter followed several other incidents involving the Impeccable and another U.S. vessel Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

-- On Wednesday, a Chinese Bureau of Fisheries Patrol vessel used a high-intensity spotlight to illuminate the ocean surveillance ship USNS Victorious as it operated in the Yellow Sea, about 125 nautical miles from China's coast, the Pentagon said. The move was made without notice or warning, U.S. officials said. The next day, a Chinese Y-12 maritime surveillance aircraft conducted 12 fly-bys of Victorious at an altitude of about 400 feet and a range of 500 yards.

-- On Thursday, a Chinese frigate approached USNS Impeccable without warning and crossed its bow at a close range of approximately 100 yards, the Pentagon said. This was followed less than two hours later by a Chinese Y-12 aircraft conducting 11 fly-bys of Impeccable at an altitude of 600 feet and a range from 100-300 feet. The frigate then closely crossed Impeccable's bow yet again, this time at a range of approximately 400-500 yards without rendering courtesy or notice of her intentions.

-- On Saturday, a Chinese intelligence collection ship challenged USNS Impeccable over bridge-to-bridge radio, calling her operations illegal and directing Impeccable to leave the area or "suffer the consequences."

Sunday's incident is reminiscent of a similar early foreign policy crisis that forced former President George W. Bush to deal with Beijing shortly after he took office -- China's forced landing of a spy plane and seizure of the crew in April 2001.

That incident between a Chinese jet and U.S. Navy spy plane infuriated Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who responded by breaking off U.S. military contacts with China for a time.

The Chinese fighter jet collided in midair with a U.S. Navy EP-3 surveillance plane. The Navy plane was so badly damaged that it made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island.

The Chinese pilot died and the U.S. crew of 24 was detained by the Chinese military for 11 days. China refused to allow U.S. officials to fix the Navy plane and fly it off the island; eventually it was shipped home in pieces.

[trimmmed]

Same crap as the plane rubbing incident. Let's us know when our spying is effective. The more the chinese flip out the closer we are to something.....probably that silent sub again.

[Krusty]

So who else on this site is ex-Navy?

[weimedog]

Get used to this crap...Bush was going to fix it, Obama is going to complain...negotiate....complain. Everyone out there knows the risk is low now to antagonise and challenge the US military. After Obama & his buddies are finished this is going to get some of our kids, yours (and mine) hurt. Remember Somolia? Thats that level of support our kids can expect from this administration.

[WVwoodsman]

Krusty:
While I never served my country in the military, I have a lot of respect and admiration for those who have. My father spent 20 years in the USAF and my grandfather was in the Army Air Corps.

[fubar2]

Perhaps the Chinese sailors have deceided it time to call in the loan?

[mga]

wait a sec......i was never in the navy, so maybe some one can explain this:

The USNS Impeccable sprayed one ship with water from fire hoses to force it away. Despite the force of the water, Chinese crew members stripped to their underwear and continued closing within 25 feet, the Defense Department said.

so, why did they strip down to their underwear? because they were wet? i mean, don't sailors usually get wet some times?

But shortly afterward, two of the Chinese ships stopped directly ahead of the Impeccable, forcing it to an emergency stop to avoid collision because the Chinese had dropped pieces of wood in the water directly in front of Impeccable's path.

wood??? ummm....was that going to cause some damage to one of our ships? they make it sound like theyr were dropping mines or something.

something doesn't sound right...

[Krusty]

If you suck something big and hard through your props it can damage them. Especially if they're CPP (controllable pitch propellor) units. However I would think wood would be soft enough to just get chewed up. I know if a ship runs over a fishing net it can really get tangled up in the props. Ice of course can do damage. I'm trying to think of a wood hard and dense enough to chew up a prop. Teak maybe? Anybody know?

On the underwear thing. No idea. I know US Navy ships have women aboard. Maybe those Chinese sailors had been at sea for a while?

[kam]

All this crap, and Americans still flock to Walmart to send US dollars to China. If polititions won't do the right thing and impose trade sanctions, then it's up to the average American
citizen (consumer) to stop buying crap from China.

[mga]

All this crap, and Americans still flock to Walmart to send US dollars to China. If polititions won't do the right thing and impose trade sanctions, then it's up to the average American
citizen (consumer) to stop buying crap from China.

stop with that. we stopped fighting "the reds" back in the 50's.

christ, mexico does more damage to our economy than china, and no one raises hell about that.

[mga]

If you suck something big and hard through your props it can damage them. Especially if they're CPP (controllable pitch propellor) units. However I would think wood would be soft enough to just get chewed up. I know if a ship runs over a fishing net it can really get tangled up in the props. Ice of course can do damage. I'm trying to think of a wood hard and dense enough to chew up a prop. Teak maybe? Anybody know?

On the underwear thing. No idea. I know US Navy ships have women aboard. Maybe those Chinese sailors had been at sea for a while?

so, a simple piece of wood will disable a huge ship? i don't think they were dropping logs into the water.

if a 2x4 would do that, then why do we spend so much on military defense?

being sarcastic here.

but, what happens if a ship runs into a huge piece of driftwood?

[Krusty]

If a ship runs into a huge piece of driftwood it can damage the ship. How severely depends on the ship. If it's a wood or figerglass hull and the ship is moving at 8 knots or better chances are decent it will pierce the hull.

Steel hull, it would have to be an extraordinary set of circumstances for it to pierce the hull. Same thing with aluminum. Think large piece of wood and the ship moving at speed.

If the ship is maneuvering there is a chance a piece of driftwood could get sucked into a bow or stern thruster. If it's a tough piece of wood it could do damage.

It can damage props or jam a rudder. Sometimes a piece of driftwood will be wrapped in chain, this chain can wrap itself around a prop and cause all sorts of hell.

The biggest danger in shipping lanes is containers. Containers wash overboard in a storm and float half submerged. I can think of 3 ships that have been sunk by hitting submerged containers.

[flashpuppy]

So who else on this site is ex-Navy?

I am (was). Seabee. CM2.

[kam]

Mexican military are not involved. The Mexican entering the US illegally, is doing to try for a better way of life for themselves and their family. It's hard to blame them for that as it is a basic human goal to better oneself. If situations were reversed, I'm sure you or I would also be jumping the fence. It's just luck that
you and I are citizens of a wealthy country (BTW I'm Cdn, I thank my ancestors for choosing to emigrate to Canada , giving me an oportunity for a better life).

I certainly don't advocate military response against China, but
why should we prop up the enconomy of a country that opposes our way of life.

[peanut]

If a ship runs into a huge piece of driftwood it can damage the ship. How severely depends on the ship. If it's a wood or figerglass hull and the ship is moving at 8 knots or better chances are decent it will pierce the hull.

Steel hull, it would have to be an extraordinary set of circumstances for it to pierce the hull. Same thing with aluminum. Think large piece of wood and the ship moving at speed.

If the ship is maneuvering there is a chance a piece of driftwood could get sucked into a bow or stern thruster. If it's a tough piece of wood it could do damage.

It can damage props or jam a rudder. Sometimes a piece of driftwood will be wrapped in chain, this chain can wrap itself around a prop and cause all sorts of hell.

The biggest danger in shipping lanes is containers. Containers wash overboard in a storm and float half submerged. I can think of 3 ships that have been sunk by hitting submerged containers.

I was in the Navy, (DCFN AW/SW), my best friend was a BT. He explained that on the oil burners you had a "suction sea chest". That is what brought seawater in for use in the boiler(s). My guess is that billings would do damage to the intakes, not the propellers.