Posted on 03/09/2009 7:20:38 AM PDT by boughtwithaprice
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Monday that Chinese ships shadowed and maneuvered dangerously close to a U.S. Navy vessel in what appeared to be an effort to harass the American crew.
The Obama administration is protesting to the Chinese government. The protest will be delivered to Beijing's military attache on Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Those ships have MSC personnel running the vessel and contract personnel running the mission.
Might be.
Really
Sailed MSTS on six crossings of the Pacific. It was back when the Army had its own Navy.
i'm not a bit worried about US security. At least not from anything that the DPRK can do.
The real worry is the upheaval that would be caused in the region. The Chinese do business with the south, it's good business, and in the present economic climate, they can't afford to have it end.
Next Korean war won't be fought primarily with US and ROK troops. It will be fought with with ROK and Japanese troops. The ROK and Japanese aren't on the best of terms due to valid historical issues.
Still, the Japanese are REALLY p!$$ed at the DPRK over their missile tests.
If hostilities flare up, i'd expect to see the IJSDF to invade the north and tie up what they can send against the south.
Logistically speaking, the DPRK can only sustain combat operations for about 60-90 days, depending on operational tempo. Probably less, they're not going across rice paddies any more. Trying to move armored forces through built up metropolitan areas that now exist is suicide for those forces, (whether the structures exist or are rubble) and target practice for ROK A-10 Warthogs. Kim Jong Il (or who ever is presently running the DPRK government) might have an earlier-than-expected "retirement".
Were you on SURTASS vessels?
SURTASS vessels just go in a search pattern for 90-120 days at about 2kts. They don’t really go anywhere and operate far from normal sea lanes. Of course, with all the stuff in this part of the world, they are lots closer to people than they used to be.
No wonder the Red Chinese are getting the yips...
No one likes surveillance done close to home.
The first SURTASS ships were monohulls, about 240’ with a beam of 40’ or so and a round bottom. 120 days straight in seastate 4-6 at 2kts, is probably the worst seagoing job on the planet.
40’ beam is kind of narrow. Sounds like they were created for the Great Lakes.
It was impossible to sleep in your rack, if it wasn’t tied down, it was on the floor, including your bed.
One of our crossings included ten days of really rough weather. Huge swells that looked like they were taller than the ship gave almost everyone the heaves. I remember going down to the bathroom area and seeing several gallons of barf rolling back and forth as the ship rocked back and forth.
We had a monohull off the Kamchatka peninsula that took a wave completely over the ship. Water went down the stacks, and dead in the water for a couple of days. No resue vessel or even a fly-over like was promised.
That’s a mean wave...
Yeah, a boat that size really makes you humble when you’re in the middle of the ocean.
Sounds like a really nice cruise.
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