China is, to be sure, a nation with big ambitions. They want a big, ocean-spanning navy like a wolf wants a sheep, and they seem to be determined to get one. But they are going to have to step up their game. The country has been beset by quality problems in everything from shipbuilding to buildings to electric scooters, cars, and cell phones. Until they figure out their quality problems and learn to develop tech of their own that is on a par with Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and the United States, we will continue to see incidents like this laughable failure of their vaunted new killer submarine - that sank alongside the pier. //

Alpinealan
13 hours ago
USS Thresher, SSN-593, was the first sub in its class. It failed during deep sea tests on April 10, 1963 with the loss of all on board. Building these boats requires the utmost in quality control...something the slave labor force at China's shipyards are probably not able to deliver.

SSN674 Alpinealan
13 hours ago
The Thresher incident led to significant changes in the design, construction, and operation of submarines. The lessons learned from the Thresher incident have had a profound impact on submarine safety and have helped to prevent future tragedies. These lessons continue to be applied to the design, construction, and operation of submarines today. //

anon-1tw9 Alpinealan
13 hours ago
This.
A simple brazed pipe joint behind a reactor control panel failed, causing the reactor to scram (shut down), She slowly sank stern first because the emergency ballast blow system had a fatal flaw in it.
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Point is, all took was one bad pipe joint.

My dad served on Plunger, her sister. They were tasked with developing tactics for this new breed of killer, and killers they would have been, because they were just that far advanced. The Soviets would have never stood a chance.

SSN674 anon-1tw9
13 hours ago
Also, a couple critical factors contributing to the tragedy was the presence of moisture in the high-pressure air system. This moisture condensed and froze within the lines leading to the main ballast tanks, preventing them from being blown to the surface. Additionally, when the reactor scrammed, the main steam supply lines to the engine room automatically shut down. This prevented the crew from using ship's power to drive the submarine to the surface.

Despite the crew's efforts and constant communication with the Thresher during sea trials, there was ultimately little that could be done to prevent the disaster.

They fixed the moisture issue and changed stopped automatically closing of the main steam supply values after the incident. //

anon-1tw9 SSN674
13 hours ago edited
Yup. They had a small debiris screen on the end of the air piping feeding the tanks, and it would ice up because of the moisture.

I forgot which sub almost killed themselves finding that out that problem in the investigation. They almost went down too, or maybe just a harrowing experience, I can’t remember. //

DonH-Texas
15 hours ago
Did they order their sonar equipment from the same company that supplied the Hezbollah pagers?

Laocoön of Troy DonH-Texas
15 hours ago
By the way...look at the hull planform of their nukes. All kinds of sharp angles guarenteed to make more noise than my oldest's speakers set to eleventy. I'm told that their boats are god-awful noisy. Not a great survival strategy at sea.