Ok, so a destroyer is a lot smaller than a battleship but you get the point. The meme makers will have a lot of fun with this one! But let’s be serious. A 5k Ton destroyer is a big step up for the North Korean Navy. It’s not as advanced as similar class ships from South Korea or other Pacific nations but it’s advanced enough to cause other countries to start factoring in dealing with the increased threat. North Korea actually has one in the water going through trials. Now a second one is in the water – sort of. Things went badly wrong while launching it, and the bottom was torn open so it’s sitting partially sunken on the bottom of the harbor!
Launching a ship, especially a warship is often a big deal. Ceremonies, speeches, bands and a party atmosphere. Such was the case this time. Little Rocket Man and wannabe ‘Lord Admiral Nelson Kim’ was of course in attendance. Alas, as the Associated Press tells us a mighty splash as the new warship hit the water followed by it sitting there all decked out with bunting as everyone cheered their brains out isn’t what happened. According to the AP:
During a launching event at the northeastern port of Chongjin on Wednesday, the newly built 5,000-ton-class destroyer became unbalanced and was punctured in its bottom sections after a transport cradle on the stern section slid off first and became stuck, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
As far as we know no one was hurt or killed, at least from the accident itself. So having some fun at North Korea’s and Kim’s expense, laughing at their “Oopie” is warranted. The extent of the damage is unknown, or is classified at least until Hegseth organizes another Signal Chat to yuck it up with his pals. The linked article (and others that have reported on this) frame things in a way that North Korea put out the story right away to send some type of message about them being a growing threat.
Well, as I’ve already said we already knew they’d increased their capability. Still, did Kim really have any choice? You can see the disaster of the sunken destroyer from a satellite! You can be sure there are far more detailed satellite photos, and perhaps some taken at ground level via intelligence operatives. I don’t want to seem dismissive of the sobering fact North Korea is engaged in a serious attempt to upgrade its Navy. Still, that first destroyer hasn’t been through “blue water ops” as in deployed where it has to deal with a lot rougher sea conditions than just off the coast. When the weather is good. We’ll have to wait and see.
More of an issue is this is only the second attempt by them to launch a ship this size and clearly they’ve got issues to work out! It’s trickier than you might think, and as the AP tells us there are indications there was a rush to get this thing in the water so they could start fitting it out for full operations. I suspect that whatever weapons and systems NK has acquired, basic stuff like building the platform (ship) on which they are to be deployed and getting said platform to sea are still a ways off for them.
In the meantime there is one highly embarrassed and pissed off dictator right now. Not that life in North Korea doesn’t flat-out suck for most people to begin with, but for anyone who works at that shipyard, or has access to it, or was involved in the design of that ship or the “launching cradle” and who knows what others it’s about to get worse. And OVER for a whole bunch of folks unless someone can convince “Little Kim” that killing a bunch of the too few people he has with the requisite knowledge and skills (albeit clearly skills in need of practice) will set back his dream of a more powerful (and threatening) Navy.
But Kim IS pissed and it’s easy enough to imagine the proverbial ‘Butcher’s Bill’, the casualties which will include DEAD people will be a big one. He’s casting his net of blame far and wide:
According to KCNA, Kim, who was present at the ceremony, blamed military officials, scientists and shipyard operators for a “serious accident and criminal act caused by absolute carelessness, irresponsibility and unscientific empiricism.” Kim called for a ruling Workers’ Party meeting slated for late June to address their “irresponsible errors.”
You might be asking how the hell this happened, especially since NK did get one of these new ships launched and in condition for fitting out and sea trials. Well, it turns out that one was “launched” in a dry dock. One things are ready gates are opened and the dry dock floods, and once floating the ship is towed out. THIS incident was different because the shipyard built the ship so it could be launched sideways into the water, a method not normally used in that country. Clearly they didn’t have the expertise needed for this trickier method. I wonder if another ship there slated for the same thing one day will fare better?
Well, things went to you-know-what and the brand new North Korean destroyer is rolled almost all the way over on it’s side with most of the hull submerged. That blue you see in the cover photo? Those are tarps hiding how much of the ship is submerged and presumably even some of the damage to the keel. (that ship’s bottom for you landlubbers) Again, it would be funny except for all the people who will wind up facing Kim’s wrath. Unlike Trump who is probably laughing his ass off (like the rest of us) over this the retribution won’t come via nasty tweets and facing primary opponents or lost government contracts. No, people (and their families) will be imprisoned or even executed.
In the meantime Kim will step up launching other weapons to prove he’s got them and that he’s a threat. That’s BAD. So keep an eye out for news in the Pacific.
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our navy lost two fighter jets and their trailers.
just the way things are going these days….
That’s why Hegseth will want to organize a special signal chat – so he and others can chortle over the hapless North Koreans without being pestered with comparisons to our own f-ups lately. It will be a big ass group allowed in on their fun, which means it’s likely we’ll learn about it. It could even lead to Hegseth finally getting fired. But I don’t think he will be able to resist.
Hegseth doesn’t have much to gloat about after splashing not one, but two planes from one of our aircraft carriers.
Don’t forget the one lost in December to “apparent friendly fire”. The article I checked said that “details remain limited”. Heh.
North Korean Navy Admiral Me Di Soon reportedly apologized to Chairman Kim for the mishap.
Admiral Me and his family have not responded to requests for further comment on the matter.