Zhou (nuclear submarine)

2024: Submarine sinking

On September 26, 2024, it became known that the newest Chinese nuclear submarine sank at a shipyard near the city of Wuhan in Hubei province. It is noted that the authorities PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA tried to hide information about the incident.

According to The Wall Street Journal, a Zhou-class submarine built by China State Shipbuilding Corp. at the Wuachang shipyard sank. It was the first vessel of its type. It is not clear what caused the incident or whether the submarine was carrying nuclear fuel at that point. The last time the submarine was seen on the Yangtze River at the end of May 2024. The published satellite images indicate that special cranes were subsequently sent to the place of the alleged flooding to get the ship from the bottom.

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CNN.com

A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said China's first-in-class attack submarine sank at the pier sometime between May and June 2024. In turn, a representative of the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that they had no information on this issue.

We do not know anything about the situation in question, and at present we do not have any information for official publication, the Chinese official stressed.

The US Department of Defense says that in addition to obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident "raises deeper questions about the PLA's (China's People's Liberation Army) internal responsibility and oversight of the defense industry, which has long been plagued by corruption."

It is not surprising that the PLA Naval Forces tried to hide the fact of the sinking of the submarine, the American official added, quoted by Reuters.[1]

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