China ‘might’ have lost a stealth nuclear attack submarine

Did China Lose a Nuclear Submarine? Rumors circulated early last week that a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine crashed in the Taiwan Strait, with the loss of all hands, during major exercises by the People’s Liberation Army Navy.

While nothing is certain when it comes to such matters, at least for now, the rumors seem to point this being untrue.

By the end of the week, the Taiwanese government released a statement declaring no knowledge of a submarine incident in the waters separating the island from China.

With no acknowledgement by the Chinese government and no statements by Western intelligence services, it seems clear the rumor has no substance.

Chinese Military Drills

While the origin of the rumor is unknown, it is doubtless connected to the major military drills Beijing launched around Taiwan following a visit by the island’s vice president to the United States. The exercises were an expected response to the visit. They involved eight ships and over 40 aircraft, many of which penetrated Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone.

China’s Eastern Army Command released a statement describing the drills as “a serious warning against Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces to provoke.” The U.S. condemned the exercises as needless provocation.

Introducing China’s Type 93

It is unclear what prompted speculation on the crash of the sub. Most nations that use nuclear-powered submarines spend a great deal of time keeping an eye on everyone else with these vehicles. Furthermore, submarine crashes usually produce major disturbances that can be picked up by civilian and military monitoring stations. When the Russian submarine Kursk tragically sank in 2000 in a similar situation, the detonations that took her down were detected by a seismographic monitoring station in Norway.

The submarine in question was a Type 093 Shang-class attack boat. These are some of the newest subs in the Chinese fleet, and the loss would have been a major blow. The first Shang-class vessel was commissioned in 2006, and while it may not yet rival U.S. or Russian designs for silence, it is still a remarkable step up for the Chinese navy.

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