S. Korea: Cheonan's Bow Salvaged(many photos)

Yonhap News ^ | 04/24/10

[WellyP]

In the explosion were under the engine room it is likely the force of the explosion would have lifted the stack and surrounding structure.

[patton]

“MegaMovers”, indeed.

[Flag_This]

Do you know if they store any live ammo in the turrets, or is that brought up from the magazine when needed?

[patton]

Both - a couple of rounds in the turret.

[razorback-bert]

Thanks, will look closer later.

At first glance, I thought they had brought up the whole ship.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Small pics aren’t much problem.

[GonzoGOP]

"WTF happened to the Bofors?"

I was wondering the same thing...secondary ammunition explosion, maybe?

Or got damaged in the lift. Look at the size of those lifting chains. Drag one of those across the sheet metal or fiberglass housing of that turret and you are going to do some serious damage.

[Grampa Dave]

It appears that there was an explosion on the starboard side with a lot of intense heat which burned the paint off beside blowing the ship apart a little aft of its mid point.

[Flag_This]

"Or got damaged in the lift. "

I'm just speculating, but it reminded me - on a much smaller scale - of the turret explosion on the U.S.S. Iowa.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Ship was sunk by an explosion low and aft of midships, near or under the engine room. It sunk, rolled over and went down with the hull high up when it struck the bottom. (See the crushed superstructure flattened by the ship’s weight: a flattened squished surface, but no explosive damage.)

The fiberglass Bofors gun casing was likewise cracked open by a rock sticking up from the bottom (or the bottom itself) like an eggshell would be cracked between a flat book and a countertop.

May their gods have mercy on the sailor’s souls.

[patton]

Fiberglass? Really? Talk about a paper tiger...

[VOA]

bump

[Vinnie]

The size of the crane is incredible!

[GonzoGOP]

I'm just speculating, but it reminded me - on a much smaller scale - of the turret explosion on the U.S.S. Iowa.

There wasn't much external damage on the Iowa, aside from the weather boots being blown inside out. The gun houses on the old battlewaggons are tough.

As for this on the paint doesn't seem damage enough. If you had an ammo fire you would expect a lot of scorching and smoke damage. The turret appears to have been ripped apart by a giant version of Freddy Kruger.

The reason is suggested the lift chains is if you notice two of them are lined up just behind the turret. Prior to the lift those would be slack and laying across the ship. Then when they started lifting they would go taught and crunch anything in their path.

[GeronL]

So they were NOT hit by their own torpedo I guess?

Did they actually think that was a possibility?

[rlmorel]

LOL...if someone is on dial up these days, even using the Internet is nearly impossible.

[Flag_This]

"The fiberglass Bofors gun casing was likewise cracked open by a rock sticking up from the bottom "

Maybe. But to me, it looks like the damage is more to the side of the turret, than the top of it. It seems like the damage would require a very convenient rock.

[rlmorel]

I firmly believe the rat bastard Korean communists sank that vessel. No question. I believe those scumbags in their military and government have a long deserved beat down coming in their future.

In payback for the crew of the USS Pueblo (my father was an acquaintance of the skipper, CDR Bucher) and the murdered crew of the EC-121 that was shot down in 1969, I believe they have it coming.

I still think we should send in a B-1 with about ten MK84 JDAMS to put the poor USS Pueblo to rest.

[Danae]

That is massive catastrophic destruction. That ship went down very fast.

And the blow came from below, there is no indication of fire on the upper surfaces of the ship indicating destruction from above, and destroyers don’t just cut themselves in half behind the conning tower.

Torpedo.

[Danae]

I was thinking large debris falling through the water hitting after the Bow found the bottom.